Doyle wants to restore credibility to numbers

PALMER -- Financial experts from across the Valley have been asked to review the Mat-Su Borough School District's financial records and analyze the district's "bottom line."

"We want a group to sit down and say, in a fixed sense, 'What is our revenue,' and 'Is there enough to pay all the expenses coming down the pike,'" said Bob Doyle, chief school administrator, at last week's school board meeting. "We want to get past this whole idea that there is no integrity with our numbers."

In a letter dated Oct. 16, Doyle asked "respected business and financial expert[s]" from the community to serve on a financial advisory committee. The committee will help scrutinize the district's financial records and determine if the district will indeed face the $5 million fiscal gap it predicts for fiscal year 2005.

"Before we can begin our FY 05 budget process, we must confirm our financial position," Doyle said in the letter.

The committee will meet three times in November. Doyle's letter states that prior to the group's first meeting, the district's finance director Jack Sherman "will send a condensed version of the district's budget along with the recently completed audit of [its] FY 03 financials." In addition, the letter promises "open access to all budget information," and ensures that Sherman will produce "any or all documents necessary" to analyze the district's financial position. The district's auditor will also be available to answer any questions the committee may have.

The letter makes it clear, though, that the committee will not be asked to "prioritize the budget" or "recommend areas for reduction."

The district has released the letter, but will not release the names of those asked to serve on the committee. Kim Floyd, the school district's public information specialist, said this is being done to protect the privacy of the individual committee members. She said releasing the names prior to the committee meetings might taint the process. Individual members, she said, might be harassed or bombarded with phone calls.

"Our intent is to restore credibility to the budget process," Doyle said in the letter.