By N. Clark Judd

As a result of the fiscal faux-pas that cost Sylvia Alexander her Community Board 8 job in March, the City of New York will also have to absorb as much as $30,000 in overruns from the board's bloated budget, according to board officials.

Last summer, the board hired Nicole Stent, an attorney, longtime city employee and former board member, as district manager. The board's officers set her salary at the highest level allowed by the city - more than $100,000 - making her the highest-paid district manager in the borough. Several Bronx district managers make almost as much as she does and Board 8 Chairman Tony Cassino has said that Ms. Stent's experience in city government warrants her high salary - she worked for mayors Ed Koch and David Dinkins, and came to the board from a post at the city Health and Hospitals Corporation. However, she had not worked for a community board prior to coming to Community Board 8.

In late September, city Office of Management and Budget officials notified Mr. Cassino that the board's expenditures would exceed its budget. Mr. Cassino announced in March that Ms. Alexander, who had been working part-time as an assistant to former district manager Grace Belkin, was let go so the budget would be square for the next fiscal year.

But it wasn't enough to save this year's budget. Keeping Ms. Alexander and Ms. Stent both on the payroll while the board bargained with OMB for more money ran up a tab they couldn't pay - but, Mr. Cassino says, OMB agreed beforehand to foot the bill.

"There will be a deficit in personal services, which covers salaries," Ms. Stent said Monday. "The deficit will be forgiven by OMB and the comptroller's office."

A comptroller spokesman said it was entirely an OMB matter.

An OMB spokesman said his agency was aware of the issue.

Ms. Stent and Mr. Cassino say the board will go into a deficit next month or in June. Ms. Stent said she is still figuring out exactly how much more the board spent than it was supposed to, but Mr. Cassino puts the number between $20,000 and $30,000.

Ms. Stent will deliver a more detailed explanation to the board's executive committee during its May meeting, she said.