County official says District 95 shortfall was a calculation error, not missing funds

Philip (staff member) told the Edgar County Board on July meeting that an apparent multi-year shortfall reported by District 95 resulted from incorrect historical numbers used by the district's bond counsel, not from missing county funds. "There is no 3 quarter of a million dollars that's missing," Philip said, adding that corrected numbers reduce the size of the discrepancy and that two of the years actually show a surplus. Philip said he and Ben Lucan plan to present the corrected figures to the District 95 board on Monday and will then brief the county's study session attendees.

Why it matters: the district's earlier presentation created public concern that several hundred thousand dollars were missing. County staff said the presentation used the wrong numbers for the wrong years, producing the appearance of a major shortfall. Philip said the county will also "clean up some of our reporting so that things should be easier to track in the future."

Discussion and next steps: Philip said he has been working with Ben Lucan to identify the discrepancy and that the county plans to meet with the district superintendent and present corrected figures to the district board. He also told the county board the corrected figures trace back to reporting differences and interest payments recorded in some years. No formal county action or vote was recorded on the issue during the meeting; staff described it as an informational update and a commitment to present corrected numbers to District 95 and to the county's study session. The county clerk's office said it will continue coordinating with the district and with the county treasurer's office as the presentation and reporting changes move forward.