Cobleskill-Richmondville is looking to close a mammoth gap between costs and revenue in the school district’s 2018-19 budget.
The gap––$866,459––may be closed by further cutting and possibly a raise in state aid.
That’s what officials are shooting for, anyway.
A draft budget, hardly the final document, shows C-R’s 2018-19 expenses at $42 million, up $1.6 million from this year’s $40.4 million.
When administrators, the school board and the Citizens Budget Committee began working on the budget, the gap between costs and revenue stood at $1.4 million.
Superintendent Carl Mummenthey said Friday C-R whittled that gap down to $866,459 several ways:
•Hiring lower-salaried new personnel for two teachers and three or four staffers who are retiring.
•A steep savings in health insurance.
•Further savings on bus fleet and building insurance.
•Looking at every staff vacancy to see whether it can be filled with a part-timer or shared position.
Those savings brought C-R’s tax levy down to four percent, well under the district’s levy limit of nearly 12 percent.
Still, a four-percent increase is too high for C-R officials.
“I just have a bad feeling about this budget,” said school board President Bruce Tryon.
One issue is debt on a 2003 capital project. State aid on the project––the geothermal field and renovating the Shelter Building––ended last year, so C-R must pay the remaining $1.2 million over the next three years without help from Albany.
But even with that issue, Mr. Mummenthey believes the district can drive down the $866,459 gap much further.
“We can close as much as we can by reducing expenses,” he said.
More financial help may come from Albany.
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposed state budget has C-R receiving $300,000 more in aid.
The Assembly’s proposal increases school aid statewide by $1.2 billion, and the Senate’s would hike all school aid by $712 million.
Mr. Mummenthey believes the Assembly’s proposal is unrealistic––“That’s a ‘b,’ as in billion”––but feels the final state budget will yield more aid for C-R than the Governor’s original proposal.
Extra aid and continued cost-cutting should bring the budget within reasonable bounds, Mr. Mummenthey said.
“Like every family in the district, we have an obligation to live within our means,” he said.
Mr. Mummenthey estimated the budget would be finished in three to four weeks.

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Even as officials are wrestling with a difficult budget, the school board last Monday unanimously approved a three-percent salary increase for Mr. Mummenthey.
Mr. Tryon defended the raise, saying Mr. Mummenthey’s done a great job in his four years leading C-R.
“Carl’s overall management and leadership style creates a culture that fosters learning and provides our students with the opportunity to succeed,” Mr. Tryon said.
At the same time, he added that the district needs Mr. Mummenthey’s skills to get through troublesome finances.
“Carl has the knowledge and experience to maneuver C-RCS during these times,” Mr. Tryon said.