MMSD Budget Mystery #6: FTEs from the Black Box Budget

Once again the strange MMSD budget process presents uncountable mysteries for our intrepid investigators.

Somehow the administration puts this year's budget and staff into a black box somewhere in the Doyle Building and miraculously out comes a prediction of the FTEs needed to continue the current level of services, as well as proposed FTEs for a balanced budget.

A look at this year's FTEs compared to the balanced budget FTEs produces a much different picture for investigation, as you can see from the attached Excel file.

Train your spy glasses on the puzzling FTEs in a couple of job classifications.

In 2005-2006 the district employed 34.70 supervisors. However, the administration said only 11 are need under the cost to coninue budget (page 41) and 12 under the balanced budget. Page 41 then shows an increase of one position, when the comparison between current FTEs and the balanced budget shows a reduction of 22.7. (As an aside, does the cost to continue with 11 supervisors mean that last year the district employed 23.70 supervisors who really weren't needed?) Very strange.

In another inexplicable change, the district employed 94.57 food service workers in 2004-2005. This year's balanced budget proposes 105.89 FTEs for Food Service Workers. Why? Why does the district need 11.32 more FTEs to serve about 300 fewer students? Maybe we're getting bigger eaters in the MMSD. Who knows?

Check this writer's facts, the district's facts, and come up with soluitons to the Mysteries of the Black Box Budget!

Posted by Ed Blume at April 25, 2006 8:11 AM
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