Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Finance Ssut topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
CFO warns district loses about $5 million a year from online sales tax exclusion
Summary
Chief School Financial Officer Jay Duke told the board that the district receives no revenue from the state's Simplified Sellers Use Tax (SSUT) on internet sales, which he estimated translates to roughly $5 million annually; he also discussed a recent bulk school-bus purchase and monthly financials.
Jay Duke, the district’s chief school financial officer, told the Tuscaloosa City Schools Board of Education that the district receives no share of Alabama’s Simplified Sellers Use Tax (SSUT) on remote/online sales and estimated that gap at roughly $5 million per year.
Duke compared growth in SSUT receipts to brick-and-mortar sales tax and said that over time the divergence creates a significant funding shortfall for local governments and school systems that do not receive SSUT distributions. "That translates into about $5,000,000 a year that we are not getting because we are not getting anything from the SSUT tax," Duke said. He described the issue as potentially reaching "a crisis level" for some systems and said it may require litigation and legislative action to address.
Duke also reviewed the district’s general fund management through April 30 (seven months into the fiscal year). He noted the district is slightly below its 58.3 percent expenditure target at 54.71 percent spent. Duke explained a large April outlay associated with the arrival of about 49 school buses — he said that purchase accounted for roughly $3,000,000 of spending compared with roughly $611,000 in the prior year period.
He concluded by noting the monthly financial statement submitted to the Alabama State Department of Education covers all funds and that the district remains slightly under budget on expenditures through April.
Ending: Duke said the SSUT gap will remain a topic for the board and that the district will continue to pursue remedies; later in the meeting the board approved a resolution authorizing attorneys to begin legal action related to SSUT.
