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Pocahontas school board reviews finances, building-fund balance and millage context
Summary
At an Oct. 6 work session, Dr. Artbuckle reviewed FY22——through FY25 revenues and expenses, explained the building fund (including second-lien bond proceeds) and noted the district closed FY25 with about $17.8 million in its building fund before committing $12 million to a planned high-school project.
Dr. Artbuckle told the Pocahontas School Board at its Oct. 6 work session that the district has been carefully managing two main accounts: the operating fund for day-to-day expenses and the building fund for capital projects. "I want to start by looking at the bar graph," he said as he walked directors through fiscal-year comparisons and fund balances.
He said FY22 revenues were about $31.4 million while operating-fund expenses were $31,477,073, meaning expenses slightly exceeded revenue that year. The building fund, he said, included proceeds from earlier "second lien" bonds that produced roughly $8.2 million in FY22; portions of that cash will be spent in later fiscal years as bond-related expenses are paid.
Reviewing subsequent years, Dr. Artbuckle said FY23 revenue was roughly $33.36 million with $32.0 million in expenses (noting transfers and accounting presentation can make totals appear larger), and FY24 expenses (~$36.78 million) exceeded revenue (~$35.43 million). For FY25 he reported revenue near $35.135 million and expenses just under $34.245 million.
The presenter said the board initiated a "reset" beginning about 2020 to correct prior spending patterns that had relied on local dollars for capital while leaving state dollars underspent, a practice that risked reducing the state's future allocations. "When the state looks at our books ... they see Pocahontas isn't spending all the money we send them," he said, describing why the district shifted its approach.
Dr. Artbuckle showed peer comparisons across 25 similar-size districts. Pocahontas' current millage (32.81) places it near the lower end among those peers, he said, and the district's tax collection rate (~96.48%) is close to the peer average. He also said the building-fund (fund three) balance closed FY25 at about $17.8 million; after the board's commitment of $12 million to the planned high-school project, that reserve would place the district nearer to peer medians.
Board members asked what drove year-to-year variance in expenses. Dr. Artbuckle said causes could include one-time construction outlays, timing of federal funds or transfers, staffing changes and insurance costs; he offered to provide a more detailed breakdown. He emphasized cash-flow timing matters: the state—does not pay again until September, so districts must hold reserve cash for June—and August payrolls. The presenter estimated monthly payroll at about $900,000.
On the district's legal carryover limits, Dr. Artbuckle said districts cannot carry over more than 20% of their legal balance and that the district's legal-balance figure has been slightly under $4 million in recent years. Board members discussed keeping a roughly $5 million cushion in the building fund during the high-school project to reduce the chance of returning to voters for cost overruns and to cover rising insurance deductibles.
The board did not take a formal vote during the work session; members asked staff for additional detail about drivers of past deficits and the impact of recent and planned commitments.
The board's next steps include reviewing the detailed expense-driver analysis Dr. Artbuckle offered to provide and continuing community conversations about millage and the planned building project.
