Task force troubles
Published 7:57 pm Tuesday, May 12, 2015
This week’s monthly meeting of a joint city/school task force brought more disagreement between members about the role of the committee.
The City School Advisory Committee on Collaborative Fiscal Concerns was formed with two members of the City Council and two members of the School Board to research joint money-saving opportunities.
Chairman Judith Brooks-Buck, a School Board member, maintains that she needs to get the permission of the full board to move forward with projects the committee is investigating. Councilman Mike Duman believes that’s a waste of time because the committee isn’t actually deciding how to spend money or what programs to pursue — only looking into how much money they’ll save.
“I still take issue with getting permission to do the research,” Duman said Monday. “I’m not sure that this group can function having to get permission to do anything.”
At last month’s meeting, the two disagreed on whether the full School Board needs to hear about a program known as energy performance contracting before the committee starts getting estimates of how much it could save the two bodies. The committee would not make the final decision on whether to sign a contract.
Brooks-Buck prevailed in that disagreement, over Duman’s objection that it would waste precious time. The School Board will hear a presentation about it this Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at Nansemond River High School.
“If you allow people to participate in the process, the buy-in is much greater,” Brooks-Buck said this week.
The energy performance contracting is a state program by which companies contract with public entities to do energy-saving upgrades to facilities like schools, jails and city buildings. The company guarantees the energy savings will cover the debt payments on the upgrades. If not, the company writes the public entity a check for the difference.
On Monday, the committee talked about employee health insurance. It hopes to explore potential cost savings by combining the two entities onto one plan or making other changes.
“If one department handled all of that, it seems to me the cost savings are right there,” said Councilman Tim Johnson, who also represents the City Council on the committee. He referred to the two separate departments that handle health insurance for the city and the schools.
“We’ve got to stay on top if it, because it is a huge expense, and it’s only going to get worse,” Johnson added.
The committee also briefly discussed finding a joint service location, where departments like maintenance and fleet for both the city and school division can be housed. That topic will be discussed more in depth in a future meeting.
The committee meets on the second Monday of each month at 11 a.m. at the City Council conference room in city hall, 442 W. Washington St.