Mayor Davey: Do as I say, Not as I Do

Mayor Davey and outgoing Sup't of Schools, Donna P have been in a slap down of sorts lately as Dave is considering not funding Kenai Schools to the cap. Carey has accused the schools of being reluctant to share information about any budget surplus they might have. Here's an exchange reported in the PC.

"They give us a budget, they say that we need this, we give them everything they ask for right to the cap because they say that's what they need. Now to find out, and its been greatly increasing the last few years, there's $9 million more that they've been holding on to," Carey said.

Melody Douglas, chief financial officer for the district, said that presently the district has $19 million in its general fund fund balance. She explained that $9 million of that is in reserves per state statute...She also noted that information on district's budget is all available for public viewing on the district Web site.

Donna Peterson said the amount in savings could easily be wiped out by any of the unforeseen circumstances it is being set aside for.

"The way I look at it is, the amount of money we have in savings is minimal in our budget. It's more than we've had in the past, but far les than any business should have in savings," she said.

"It would take only a few things to wipe that out, like a couple months on increased healthcare costs, a rise in energy costs or if we miss the enrollment projections for next year. If we miss it, there goes the fund balance. Gone. It is not prudent to not have funds set aside."

Now, in Mayor Davey's own 90 Transition Report, the Kenai Borough has a $22 million unreserved fund balance.

Wait a minute - Davey doesn't want the district to have a reserve fund, but it's OK for the borough to have a reserve fund?

Might this be a little grandstanding by hizzoner? Gotta look like you're the little man with a plan to get spending under control. But it could be that his puppet strings are being pulled by ACT.