Pottsgrove Ponders Future With An Extra $1 Million

The Pottsgrove School Board has a problem we'd all like to have -- more than $1 million in surplus funds it did not expect to have.

Now the question they have to answer is what to do with it.

The short version of the story is they put off most of the decision, at the urging of board member Rick Rabinowitz, until after the election on Nov. 7.

Because there is the possibility of new board members coming on, it would be inappropriate to make long-term decisions that will have an impact on the next budget, without giving potential new board members the opportunity to weigh in with their vote.

What the board did decide to do is to put the $375,000 this year's budget had built built to take out of the retirement fund to help balance the budget, back into the retirement fund given that it was not needed, as it turns out.

The board had been projecting a $600,000 deficit this year, but instead it came in with a surplus added to the savings, depending on how you count such things.

Business Manager David Nester said the primary reasons for the surplus were, no big surprise, savings and additional revenue.

The real estate transfer tax provided a nice bump when Upland Square was sold to another owner and salary and benefit costs came in below their projections.

But you'll have to wait until after the election to find out where the money goes and I have a prediction -- some will go into the capital reserve fund, and none will come back to you in the form of a refund check.

Here are the Tweets.