Finance director reports Q2 spending up; audited fund balance $13.1 million, projected year-end narrower

A staff member presenting the district’s second-quarter financial report explained that the district’s final audited ending fund balance for the prior year is $13,100,000, representing 10.3% of the budgeted current-year expenditures. The presenter said the board’s earlier preliminary unaudited number differed by less than $150,000 from the final audited figure.

The presenter described a preliminary projected ending fund balance for the current fiscal year of $3.78 million and cautioned it is “a very preliminary number” subject to variability in revenues and expenditures between now and the fiscal year end. He cited higher-than-budgeted spending driven primarily by staffing costs tied to collective bargaining cost-of-living adjustments, inflationary pressures and the addition of some teaching and special-services staff.

Why it matters: fund balances and projected year-end reserves are used to assess the district’s short-term fiscal health and inform budget and staffing decisions.

The presenter noted expanded year-to-date expenditures (including encumbrances) of roughly $105 million to $168 million for the six months ended Dec. 31, and explained that encumbrances include payroll obligations and issued purchase orders that reserve funds for contracted services and supplies.

Board members asked for more frequent, top-line monthly numbers and a refreshed financial model once the state updates its school-fund estimates; the presenter said he plans to provide an updated projection when that information arrives. During discussion the presenter also pointed to higher central-services disbursements compared with the same period last year and attributed much of the change to increased special-services costs, including hiring more SEAs earlier in the fiscal year.

No formal board action was recorded on the financial report during the meeting.