Lynda Rubino: As a Certified Public Accountant, with more than 12 years of experience as an auditor, I am the best qualified candidate to provide an honest and accurate accounting for each line of the school budget. If elected I will work with the board to inform our residents about the budget’s fixed and variable costs. We’ve been told that employee benefits totaling $23.8 million are fixed costs that we can’t control. If elected, I would ensure the board challenges all future contracts to reduce these obligations. In addition, variable costs such as general support must be reviewed each year for effectiveness and financial soundness. Controlling variable costs is key to keeping our budget increases under the tax cap.

I’ve been asked what programs I would add if elected. The district cannot continue to add programs without freeing up dollars from programs which are no longer effective or providing the greatest value to our students.

Finally, the cost side of the equation is important, but just as important is the revenue side of the equation. Our board and community must be more creative in our revenue generation, excluding increasing taxes, that will help to fund our budget.

What are your feelings on the 2013-14 budget?