Budget woes remain major problem in Saugus

SAUGUS – Town Manager Andrew Bisignani has said every day is a financial adventure with something new popping up.Something new just popped up again.The estimated tuition for Northeast Metropolitan Vocational School has dropped since last month but still hovers at $226,000. Bisignani said that would definitely impact the budget.Last month, the rise in tuition costs was estimated at $233,189, making tuition $2.08 million, up from $1.86 million. It also meant that Saugus would be the only school out of 12 spending over $2 million to educate its students and for sending fewer students than three other schools.Bisignani said the town took two additional hits when he learned it would lose $150,000 in Medicaid reimbursement for administrative services and realize an increase of $100,000 over the original snow and ice budget.Despite those hits, Bisignani said the town is still on track to hand the School Department “at least” $800,000 in additional funding.”I have to get the schools level-funded,” Bisignani said. “That’s my first priority to try and at the very least get them level-funded.”Bisignani said level-funding the schools means giving the department enough money maintain current services, which he added, “are wholly inadequate.”That is not exactly a rosy picture for the schools. Superintendent Keith Manville has insisted the School Department cannot exist under the same conditions it did last year, which is precisely what Bisignani is proposing.”They can survive. They just can’t move ahead,” he said.Bisignani recently updated his level-funding figures to match those of the School Department. The two figures were $1 million apart, now they are only $125,000. The difference is due to the Special Education transportation contract. Bisignani said the contract came in lower than expected and he reflected that in his figures.Manville had told the School Committee, “It’s not money in our pockets, it’s just, ?congratulations we don’t have to find this money.’ “Like the town’s precarious budget, School Committee Rick Doucette noted the transportation figures also have the potential to change rapidly and dramatically.”That Sped savings could evaporate if we have two kids move into the district that require busing,” he said.Police cruisers and hiring additional public safety personnel are all high Bisignani’s wish list as well but he said he’s afraid if the financial strain continues he might have to freeze overtime for the remainder of this year.”We have to be diligent, we don’t have the (financial) reserves we used to,” he said. “We’re barely maintaining minimum standards of service, we just don’t have the resources.”