Budget committee to circulate 274 transfers after member presses for transparency

TIMBERLANE REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT — A lengthy exchange at the Sept. 11 budget committee meeting focused on budget transfers and transparency after committee member Sheila Lowes pressed staff for detailed documentation of transfers made in fiscal 2025.

Lowes cited the number of transfers and said the movement of funds made it hard for the committee to assess whether lines had been under‑ or over‑budgeted in prior years. "The total of those transfers with $7,000,000 — that's a lot of money going from line to line," Lowes said, asking for the Right‑to‑Know materials she had obtained to be shared with the full committee so others could "see exactly what was going on."

Maria, district finance staff, explained why transfers occur and defended the accounting practice: transfers are used to charge expenses to the correct account after the fact and to maintain accurate reporting to the state. "When you're looking at reports that Maria provides, when you're looking at the prior year spend, that is the actual spend that happened," Maria said, adding that year‑end reports can be viewed either as the voted budget or as the budget with transfers applied.

Committee response and next steps Committee members agreed to circulate the transfer documentation Lowes requested. The chair and staff said they would share the Right‑to‑Know response and related journal entries with the budget committee and — if the committee wishes — set the transfers as a scheduled agenda item for more detailed review at a future meeting.

Clarifying figures discussed in the meeting - 274 budget transfer entries in FY2025 (Maria) - Transfers discussed in the meeting totaled roughly $7,000,000 (Sheila Lowes) - One example line increased from about $757,000 (an earlier actual) to about $3,200,000 in two years; presenters said that rise included transfers and new service costs - A board "circuit breaker" threshold of $25,000 was noted in the discussion as a point of internal control the parties referenced

Why it matters: Lowes and others said the transfers make it difficult to see trends in consistent under‑ or over‑budgeted lines and to prepare a coherent budget for the coming fiscal year. Finance staff emphasized that transfers are made to ensure expenses are recorded in the correct account and noted that the district must report account coding to the state. Staff agreed to supply the documentation for committee review and to place the item on a future agenda if members request it.