DCMO BOCES official outlines administrative, capital costs that will raise component district shares

Mike Merlot, representing DCMO BOCES, told the Delaware Academy board that the regional BOCES' administrative and capital budgets are largely nondiscretionary and that several cost pressures will increase the share charged to component districts. "We know that we have to remain competitive with compensation for folks," Merlot said, noting workforce retention and contractual increases as drivers of a roughly $100,000 rise in noncertified salaries in the administrative budget.

Merlot said the BOCES uses the state's resident weighted average daily attendance (WADA) to allocate administrative and capital costs among its 16 component districts. He said Delhi's ARWAD climbed to 6.76 percent, which will raise that district's proportional charge. Merlot described average contract sizes across the BOCES (roughly $1.3 million to $8.9 million, with an average near $3.7 million) and said component surplus and aid combined are about $1.5 million across the BOCES.

The presentation called out several specific budget items: an increase in interest expense tied to revenue anticipation notes (RANs) of about $92,000 because of higher interest rates; a roughly $72,000 increase for services purchased from other BOCES (including a management software package, "WingCap"); and ongoing $500,000 capital projects such as boiler and water-heater replacements, dust-collection upgrades, cosmetology lab casework, and classroom door-lock upgrades to improve safety. "We actually dropped the amount of the RAN that we usually take just to try to keep the cost down a little bit," Merlot said, noting the tradeoffs involved in cash-flow borrowing.

Merlot emphasized the distinction between administrative/capital charges (statutorily driven and generally nondiscretionary) and program costs (which districts can choose). He urged component districts to consider those nondiscretionary costs when evaluating year-to-year impacts and highlighted that BOCES does not receive tax-collection cash flows like a school district and so sometimes uses RANs for liquidity.

Why it matters: For component districts such as Delaware Academy, a rising ARWAD or increased BOCES interest and purchased-service costs can mean higher annual charges that are shared proportionally. Merlot said the BOCES proposes only limited new positions, is working to control the rate of expenditure growth, and has committee structures for program development (CTE, special education, professional learning) that include district representation.

The presentation ran from the opening of the meeting through a subsequent board Q&A; board members asked about whether noncertified personnel are included in the administrative budget (Merlot: "That will be any of these kinds of folks that are the noncertified personnel") and about how surplus and aid are handled for component districts.

The board will consider the administrative budget as districts prepare final requests for services by April 15 and vote on the administrative budget as part of the special district vote on April 16. The presentation and Q&A did not include a formal board vote on the BOCES budget at this meeting.