April 4th, 2016 by WCBC Radio
When appearing last month before the Allegany County Commissioners to make a budget request for FY 2017, Board of Education President Ed Root noted that the school system has taken some major fiscal hits- and has seen its reserve fund take a significant hit. The board had requested an additional two million from the county, largely due to growing health care costs. Root noted that the board’s reserve fund stood at $12 million when he came to office six years ago- but is now down to just three million. Jason Bennett, the county’s finance director, told the board that the county cannot fund the budget request, and advised the school officials to come up with a plan to balance costs. He questioned whether the board had a plan in place other than seeking more dollars from the commissioners…
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