Finance presenter: district finances stable this year; charter schools captured majority of new state formula dollars so far

At the March 17 meeting Miss Loredo presented the district’s monthly financial report and a summary of recent state budget activity.

Miss Loredo reported total revenues to date of $188,422,415 and said expenditures left the district with positive cash flow of roughly $50,499,000. She said the district had collected about 96% of approved budgeted tax collections to date, up from 92% at the same point last year.

On impact fees she reported $83,142,992 collected to date, noting collections have been drawn down to cover Flint Hill Middle School construction and that about $400,000 remained in escrow for impact-fee collections pending the next construction invoice.

Miss Loredo provided an update on the state budget process, saying the House "House 1" version generally follows ways-and-means recommendations and includes a $2,000 increase in the teacher minimum starting pay to $50,500. She cautioned that the bill still must pass through the Senate and potentially conference committee.

She and board members discussed initial allocation figures that, in their review, show traditional districts receiving about $101 million of the new formula dollars while charter schools received about $180 million; one board member summarized that roughly 60% of the new money went to charter schools, while charters serve a much smaller share of statewide students. Miss Loredo said the district is awaiting population and millage percentage numbers from the South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office to better compare districts and that those numbers were expected in about two weeks.

Board members asked clarifying questions about hold-harmless language, per-pupil funding effects and how the district will incorporate the House numbers into its local budget planning. Miss Loredo said the district will continue analyzing the master spreadsheet of allocations and present more details at future meetings.