NORWICH – Faced with a gap of roughly $3 million between revenues and expenses – in addition to substantial cuts in state and federal aid – the Norwich City School District enlisted a retired administrator and educator to draft a long-range report on their financial situation.

Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan – who first met Dr. Richard Timbs of Bernard P. Donegan Inc., several years ago – said one of the school board’s 2011 goals was to come up with a three- to five-year financial plan, aimed at providing some long-range perspective. Timbs’ long-term planning report and presentation early last week were covered under a service contract the district has with Bernard P. Donegan Inc. as a financial consultant, according to Deputy Superintendent Rob Wightman.

While the ultimate fate of districts all across New York state remains in question, Timbs said, in his opinion, Norwich has done a commendable job weathering the financial storm to date.

Reading from a 50-page document he’d assembled from information provided him by the school district, Timbs constructed a detailed history of exactly how and where money was spent in the past and where the district could be headed in the next few years during Monday night’s school board meeting.

Even with the district’s combined administrative costs, hard-hitting, unfunded state mandates and other increasing costs – increases in pension contributions of $230,778 and health insurance premiums of $382,561 among them – Timbs said the district’s efforts appeared quite economical.