December 10th, 2015 by WCBC Radio
By a 4-1 vote Tuesday, the Allegany County Board of Education approved the unprecedented action of dipping into the fund balance to cover the health insurance reserve. Randy Bittinger, Chief Business Officer, informed the board members that the health insurance reserve budget has been exceeded in 15 of the last 18 months- leaving a shortfall of about $1.5 million. Bittinger said its tough to project how much will be needed for claims given the volatile nature of rising costs overall with health insurance. Larger claims, combined with an aging workforce are the primary cause for the shortfall. He said that taking money out of the school system’s reserve fund is not ideal, but there are few other acceptable alternatives…
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