The Levittown Property Owners Association met on Sept. 18, with President Jim Morrow president. The guest speaker was Levittown Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Herman A. Sirois who was invited after the community learned that the district had over-spent its voter approved budget 2006-2007 by $3 million. Members of the LPOA executive board met with Dr. Sirois over the summer after learning about the over-expenditures through Newsday and the Levittown Tribune. At that time we invited him and he agreed to speak on this topic at our Sept. 18 meeting.

Before Dr. Sirois spoke, Town Councilman Gary Hudes dropped by to let us know the status of the situation at 16 Constable Lane which was described in the June 12 minutes. He stated that "a lot has taken place, inspections have been going on during the summer, and problems are being reduced. The case is currently in the courts; a judge has ordered that the tenants must be evicted before the next court appearance, scheduled for Oct. 30." He will continue to keep us informed.

Dr. Sirois made an effort to explain how and why the over-expenditures in 2006-2007 occurred, distributing a 6-page summation. These pages showed graphs and boxed outlines listing how the errors occurred, if they were preventable, if they will recur, how they must be corrected. Dr. Sirois assured us that they will not increase the tax levy. The printed "explanations" given to the audience stated "these were isolated errors, not made by one person, not systemic; budget guidelines were ignored, funds omitted from specific codes, encumbrances not posted, and errors were carried over to the 2007-2008 budget." The errors were discovered when the books were balanced in July. The former superintendent for business and finance is no longer employed by the district. He had not allowed for additional teachers and programs in the budget, according to Sirois.

Dr. Sirois assured us that the errors were not a "crisis" since the district's five-year plan allows for reserves (now at $20-22 million) to be used to correct the errors, that other steps to correct the errors include a "temporary cut in the Capital Fund and reserves which will be restored later, applying for more state aid and maximizing it, conducting appropriate oversight of expenditure reports, implementing a non-instructional budget freeze. "Additional safeguards" include the request of an audit by the New York State Comptroller, regular public review of appropriations/ expenditures reports, a second internal verification of projected budget total, second internal mid-year verification of the appropriations/expenditures report, and a mid-year external verification of this report." Dr. Sirois insists correcting the errors will cause no change in projected tax levy increase if we "follow the guidelines of the multi-year budget process." He also stated that, "things would be back to normal in two years." (The printed "plan" he distributed says 2013 is the year for full restoration of the district's fiscal strength.)

Questions from the audience followed, including: "How did this happen? Who is responsible? It's astonishing that such errors could be made as not including teachers' salaries and programs in the budget. How did this go on for months without being noticed until the end of the year? Why not use the $3 million voters approved for lights and artificial turf to replace the $3 million shortage?" (The last question Dr. Sirois answered by saying many schools were adopting this use of turf as fiscally more responsible and practical.)

Even though Dr. Sirois was applauded for discussing the bad news, many were left wondering, "where the buck stops." He assures us that remedying the errors will involve no additional burden on the taxpayer, yet funding our schools ultimately comes out of the taxpayers pocket. The LPOA, after meeting with Dr. Sirois in August, also requested an outside audit of the district's finances by the State Comptroller. We received an affirmative response, such audit to begin this fall.

The next speaker was a resident of Island Trees school district in Levittown, Brian Kelty, who suggested the finances of that district could also bear examination by an outside (state) auditor. He was an impassioned speaker. He brought invoices (and gave copies to us) of luncheon meals provided by and billed to the district for teachers attending meetings, and suggested questionable policies and actions of former Superintendent Jon Segerdahl as he retired and took a position at another school, questioned school board actions on retirement incentives and other policies, and provided copies of letters he had sent to the school board and newspapers. He wanted to use an LPOA general meeting as a venue for a debate with the district's superintendent. The LPOA provides equal opportunity for all sides to participate in the discussion.

President Morrow told us that the MAC Oil Company which supplies about 70 members with deliveries and service contracts will be in touch with them as the company makes purchases of supplies in October when the prices are lowest, and will set their rates then.

Vice President Andy Booth asked those who plan to attend the Dec. 11 dinner/dance to mail the $25 per person fee to the LPOA, Box 804, Levittown, NY 11756 address. This social evening will be our general meeting for December.

The next LPOA meeting will be on Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the Levittown Public Library.