Board members debate adding checklist and graphics to agenda disclosures to improve budget transparency

A trustee proposed amending board bylaw 9322 to improve financial disclosure in board materials and to include simple, graphic elements and checkboxes showing whether an item is one-time or ongoing, what funding source it uses, and whether it affects other priorities.

"What I wanna propose is a bylaw amendment that revises our current financial disclosure process to add some type of graphical elements... that makes it clear how an item we're considering is being spent against budgets," Unidentified Speaker 1 said. The proposal aims to make it easier for the board and public to see when items are new expenditures that could displace prior priorities.

Staff and trustees discussed options including a template with a checkoff list (one-time vs. ongoing, funding source, measurable outcomes) and links to source documents (LCAP, contracts). Some trustees asked about thresholds for when the extra disclosure should apply and cautioned about the administrative burden on staff; staff said some existing internal tools could be adapted and pledged to bring draft templates for January and February for committee consideration.

Committee members agreed the checkbox/template approach could simplify consent-calendar discussions and improve transparency, but asked staff to balance clarity with administrative feasibility and to avoid carryover language that becomes stale. No formal bylaw change was adopted; staff will return with draft templates and implementation recommendations.