School Finance Boot Camp 2009

1
School Finance Boot Camp2009

• Craig Hansel, Chief Financial Officer, Ankeny
  Schools
• Galen Howsare, Vice President, Hawkeye Community
  College

2
Welcome!!!

• Introductions
• Housekeeping breaks/restrooms, etc.
• Table talk
• What do you expect?
• What are the burning questions you need to have
  answered before you leave?
• Ground rules
• No dumb questions
• Please interrupt!

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Packet Contents
4
Agenda

• Basic school finance overview
• Property tax basics
• Topics in school finance
• Counts (who, where, when)
• Allowable growth
• On-time funding
• Budget guarantee
• Special education
• Instructional support levy
• Spending authority

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Agenda continued

• Topics in school finance continued
• Financial Health Ratios
• Facility and other related levies
• Categorical Funds
• Finding and Saving money
• Fiduciary Responsibility
• Check for Understanding
• Summary and reflection
• Evaluation

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School Finance Basics
7
School Finance - Background

• Dillons rule
• School districts only have those powers expressly
  authorized by the Code of Iowa
• Home rule
• Cities and counties can do anything not expressly
  prohibited

8
School Finance - Background

• The Bright Line in School Finance
• Educational program expenditures are funded and
  equalized by the state foundation formula.
• Facility expenditures are not under the finance
  formula and may not be used for educational
  program expenditures (and vice versa).

9
School Finance - Background

• The school foundation formula relies on two
  sources of revenue
• State General Fund appropriations
• Locally raised property taxes

10
School Aid - Basics

• Purpose of the foundation formula
• Code of Iowa, 257.31
• equalize educational opportunity, to provide
  good education for all children of Iowa, to
  provide property tax relief, decrease the
  percentage of school costs paid from property
  taxes, and to provide reasonable control of
  school costs.

11
School Aid - Basics

• Foundation formula - ceiling vs. floor
• The foundation formula results in a maximum
  expenditure per pupil and therefore a maximum
  amount a district can raise and spend (note not
  every district has the same ceiling)
• Other states school aid formulas have created a
  minimum spending per pupil
• This has led to lawsuits nationwide
• Iowas Constitution does not guarantee
  educational equity

12
Operation of Foundation Formula

• Three components
• Uniform Levy - Property tax levy of 5.40 per
  thousand of taxable valuation
• State Foundation Percentage - Amount the state
  pays in excess of 5.40 - varies by district
  (87.5 of cost per pupil)
• Additional Levy - Property tax levy which funds
  the difference between the Combined District Cost
  and the sum of the Uniform Levy and the State
  Foundation Percentage

13
Operation of Foundation Formula
14
Operation of Foundation Formula

• Two factors affecting district Regular Program
  budgets
• 1. Enrollment - increases or decreases in
  enrollment affect district budgets
• 2. Combined district cost changes (Allowable
  Growth)
• Changes in growth in valuations - uniform levy
  rate (5.40) or foundation percentage have no
  effect on Regular Program

15
School Aid - Basics

• Basic Calculations - District Costs
• Regular Program District Cost - budget enrollment
  times district cost per pupil. 608.4 students x
  5,546 3,374,186
• Combined District Cost - sum of Regular Program
  plus special education, ELL, media services.
• What happens if less is spent? Carries forward
  as unspent budget authority. Can be used in
  future (one-time).

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Spending Authority

• Schools must keep two sets of books
• Normal Fund Balance set of books (think audit).
• Spending Authority set of books
• What controls school district spending cash or
  spending authority?
• Both are important, but spending authority is
  vital.

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Which scenario is best for Iowa school districts

• Legislature sets 4 percent allowable growth 18
  months in advance and due to low state revenues,
  an across-the-board cut reduces state aid, or
• Legislature sets 2 percent allowable growth 18
  months in advance and promises to increase it
  mid-year should state revenues exceed
  expectations, or
• Legislature waits to set allowable growth until
  revenues are known - 6 months before the start of
  the fiscal year.

18

• Any questions before we transition into Iowas
  property tax system???

19
Understanding Property Taxes

• Handout Chapter of New School Finance Manual
  Property Taxes
• Taxing authorities
• Taxing districts
• Basic equation
• Rate x Value Taxes due
• Tax rates
• Expressed in dollars per thousand

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Which is lower tax rate?

• 7.57 per 100 of taxable value
• or
• 12.50 per 1,000 of taxable value

21
Understanding Property Taxes

• Property Valuation

• Assessed value
• Classes of property
• Residential
• Agricultural
• Commercial/Industrial
• Gas and Electric
• Railroad
• Market value
• Productivity value
• Equalization
• Taxable value
• Rollbacks
• Credits

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Understanding Property Taxes

•   Computing school taxes paid on an individual
  property can be reduced to the following steps
•  Taking the assessed value, multiply by the
  rollback percentage which results in the taxable
  value
• Taking the taxable value, divide by 1,000 and
  multiply by the school tax rate to get the school
  taxes due without homestead credit
• Taking the homestead credit, divide by 1,000 and
  multiply by the school tax rate to get dollars of
  homestead credit
• Taking the taxes due without homestead credit,
  subtracting the dollars of homestead credit to
  the get the net school taxes due.

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Sample Calculation

• Home with assessed value 100,000
• Actual Rollback (2010-11) 46.9094
• District Tax Rate 14.55 per 1,000
• Homestead Credit on first 4,850 of taxable value
• 1.    100,000 x .469094 46,909 (taxable value)
• 2.     40,909/1000 14.55 595.23 (school taxes
  due without homestead credit)
• 3.      4,850/100014.55 70.57 (dollars of
  homestead credit if fully funded)
• 4.      595.23-70.57 524.66 net school taxes
  due

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Exercise 1

• Figuring your property taxes

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Understanding Property Taxes

• Property valuation characteristic of school
  districts (why we care)
• Property Rich
• Property Poor
• How is it calculated?
• Total Property Valuation / Enrollment
• Interaction
• High value lower property tax rate
• Low value higher property tax rate

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Understanding Property Taxes

• Tax Increment Financing
• Municipalities define an economic development
  need could be business, residential, or city
  property
• TIF freezes a property tax base for length of
  the TIF (all recent TIFs sunset)
• Taxes applied to all growth (increment) in the
  area pay for economic development improvements or
  provide revenue stream to municipalities

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Understanding Property Taxes

• Tax Increment Financing School Impact
• Costs the state 36 million last year to pay for
  loss of taxes generated by 5.40 levy (looks
  like increased school funding)
• Shifts taxes to other property tax payers in the
  district since TIF taxes on the increment go to
  the city (management, cash reserve, instructional
  support and additional levies)
• Loss of revenue to districts with capped levies
  (PERL levy or levies capped by either board
  promise or politics)
• Debt levy is exempt and PPEL levy may be exempt

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Property Taxes what can you do?

• Follow legislation and tell your districts
  story.
• Lobby against eroding the property tax base.
• Lobby for school district participation and
  accountability in the TIF process.
• Explain school district limits on authority (the
  state made you do it).
• Point out the difference between property tax
  relief and real school spending increases within
  the funding formula.

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• Questions about taxes before we go into the
  detailed topics in Iowa school finance???

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Detailed Topics in School Finance
34
Counts/Enrollment

• Why important?
• Pupil-driven formula
• Each enrollment category has associated revenue
• Determines total spending authority
• Terminology
• Regular program
• Weighted enrollment

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Counts/Enrollment

• Headcount October 1
• Basic v. budget enrollment
• Always use prior year enrollment for setting
  budget
• Special education weightings
• Levels
• Weightings
• Supplementary weightings
• English Language Learners ELL
• At-risk
• Pre-school
• Senior Year Plus

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School Finance - Weightings

• Why Weight?
• Some populations have higher costs than others.
  Two choices pay more per student or count
  students at value greater than 1
• Special education has three weightings .72,
  1.21, 2.74 depending on severity
• These are in addition to the 1.0 weight

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Special Education

• Revenue determined by weightings
• Iowas system is unique
• If you spend less than the weightings generate
  have to send back (gt10)
• What happens if spend more?
• Creates a deficit
• Does not cause long term spending from regular
  education
• Deficits may be recouped from property taxes

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Special Education

• Are weightings sufficient?
• No, special ed deficits growing statewide
• Number of kids increasing
• How solve
• Adjusting weightings more state s
• Adjust annually less sticker shock

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Counts/Enrollment

• Weighted enrollment
• Budget enrollment
• Supplementary weighting ELL
• Supplementary weighting At-risk
• Supplementary weighting PK, etc
• Special ed weighting
• 0.72 weight
• 1.21 weight
• 2.74 weight

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Counts/Enrollment

• Doing the math
• Facts
• October 1, 2009 headcount 672.6
• Special Education
• 6 Level I
• 9 Level II
• 4 Level III
• Supplementary weighting 12.82
• What is my weighted enrollment?

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Counts/Enrollment
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Enrollment Key Point

• In preceding example, even though serving about
  672 children, the funding formula generated
  almost 712 children for the funding formula.
• Why important? Remember the credit card analogy?
• Our limit is being multiplied by 712 and not
  672. Thats 40 additional students.
• Weighting of students provides additional dollars
  to cover their unique needs.

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Allowable Growth

• What is it?
• Amount district cost per pupil may increase
• Percent increase gt increase
• Generates spending authority
• Tells us how much our credit card limit can go up
  by
• Only Foundation Formula (General Fund)
• What isnt it?
• Doesnt differentiate funding sources
• Doesnt guarantee budget increase

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Allowable Growth

• FY 2009 state cost per pupil
• 5,546
• Allowable growth rate for FY 2010
• 4.0
• FY 2010 state cost per pupil?

45
Allowable Growth

• Basic Calculations - Allowable Growth
• Last years minimum District Cost Per Pupil
  (e.g., 5,546)
• Allowable Growth Rate 4.0
• This years district cost per pupil growth
  5,546 x .04 221.84 (rounds to 222)
• 5,546 222 5,768
• If District Cost Per Pupil is higher than
  minimum, only get the fixed dollar - not 4.0.
  For example, 5,602 222 5,824
• Not 5,602 x 4 5,826

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Allowable Growth

• Basic Calculations (cont.)
• Differing District Costs Per Pupil
• Slightly over 50 of districts have a cost per
  pupil above the minimum, although the deviation
  is less than 4.5.
• Percentage differences will be reduced over time.

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Allowable Growth

• When is 4 allowable growth not 4?
• Common perception is all districts receive 4
  increase in budgets.
• FY 2004 2 allowable growth resulted in 32.4 M
  new money (1.4) of which 27.5 M was due to the
  budget guarantee.
• FY 2005 2 allowable growth resulted in 39.2 M
  of new money (1.7), of which 31.1 M was due to
  the budget guarantee.
• FY 2006 4 allowable growth resulted in 71.7 M
  of new money (3.0), of which 18.8 M was due to
  the budget guarantee.
• FY 2007 4 allowable growth resulted in 88.3 M
  of new money (3.7), of which 18.8 M was due to
  the budget guarantee.

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Exercise 2

• Allowable Growth

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On-time Funding

• Basic Calculations - On Time Funding
• Principle - Districts with increasing enrollment
  have a way of capturing growth. Due to a year
  delay in enrollment count in the formula -
  districts with increasing enrollment have
  shortfalls
• Calculation

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On-time Funding

• Exercise 3

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Allowable Growth

• Basic Calculations - Budget Guarantee
• Principle Districts receive what they received
  in the prior year for the Regular Program Budget
  regardless of enrollment changes.
• Base Calculation

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Budget Guarantee Phase-out

• Legislature phasing out the 100 Budget
  Guarantee beginning in FY 2005 and completely
  phased out by FY 2014.
• Created two alternate calculations
• Scale Down calculation
• 101 calculation
• Not a choice, automatically get greatest of the
  two calculations.

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Districts Receive

• If a district is eligible for some form of
  Budget Guarantee in FY 2005 or thereafter
• Greater of scale down v. 101 option

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Big Picture

• Scale down calculation was created to bring those
  with a lot of budget guarantee down slowly (soft
  landing/crash).
• The 101 calculation gives an additional year
  when enrollment declines.
• Relationship between allowable growth and budget
  guarantee Enrollment lost greater than
  allowable growth rate less guarantee.

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Policy Implications

• Districts must plan and forecast into the future!
• Will result in decreases in budgets from one year
  to next especially coupled with low allowable
  growth
• How do you plan?

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Exercise 4

• Figure New Money

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Instructional Support Levy (ISL)

• Local levy to increase regular program district
  cost per pupil
• Two questions
• How much do you want to increase (max 10)?
• How are you going to fund (property tax, income
  surtax)?

58
Instructional Support Levy (ISL)

• How do we get it approved?
• Board action for up to five years
• Subject to reverse referendum 30 of voters in
  last board election or 100 signatures whichever
  is greater
• Voter-approved for up to ten years
• Simple majority vote
• Series of board actions and resolutions
• Must be approved and in budget by April 15 work
  backwards to get timelines late January or
  early February is latest can start
• Be attentive to special election date limitations

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Instructional Support Levy (ISL)

• Uses
• Any General Fund purpose except cant supplant
• Dropout prevention
• Talented and Gifted
• Physical plant and equipment levy (PPEL) uses
• Management levy uses
• Specifically prohibits under any circumstances,
  use to offset
• Special education deficits
• May be more restrictive in use, but not less
• Check with auditor in advance

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Instructional Support Levy (ISL)

• Funding
• Property tax not rate limited limited on
  amount of expenditure
• Income surtax surtax on state income tax
  maximum combined surtax rate of 20
• State aid frozen 14 million annually, thus
  prorated. Current shortfall is 46 million.
• Split statewide 51 property tax, 41 income
  surtax, 8 state aid

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Instructional Support Levy (ISL)

• Who has it?
• 339 of 362 districts have it in place
• Generates 180 million
• 80 of districts generate full 10
• Increased use of income surtax
• 284 out of 339 have the surtax
• Average surtax is 6 to 7
• Lightens load of property tax

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New Special Elections Law
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• Any questions before we move on to spending
  authority?

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Big Picture Spending Authority

• Schools have to keep two sets of books
• Normal fund accounting set of books (think Audit
  or Certified Annual Report)
• Spending authority set of books (think credit
  card balance)

65
Spending Authority

• Two key concepts
• Spending authority
• Is the maximum a district could spend in a year
  if it chose
• Unspent balance (unspent budget authority)
• Is the difference between a districts total
  spending authority for a year and what they
  actually spent

66
Spending Authority

• Concept
• State gives each child a credit card with 5,768
  for FY 2010
• The funding formula decides the mix of property
  tax and state aid to pay the bill
• If spend less, carries forward and added to next
  years credit card

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Spending Authority

• Spending authority is the sum of
• Combined District Cost
  (property tax and state aid)
• Miscellaneous income anything not above
• Unspent balance from previous years
• Why important?
• Districts cannot exceed spending authority
• Not a measure of cash
• Why allow districts to carry forward unused
  spending authority?

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Building Blocks of Spending Authority
69
Total Spending Authority Total Certified Budget
Capacity
70
Another Way of Looking at SpendingAuthority
Cash
71
Unspent Balance vs. Cash
72
Financial Health Indicators

• What are they?
• Research based financial ratios
• Assesses different aspects of a Districts
  General Fund operations
• Shows if trends are going up or down relative to
  what has happened
• Good measurement tools for bondholders
• When used together they are a reliable predictor
  of financial health for the year ahead

73
Financial Health Indicators

• What they are not.
• Are not useful without a context or benchmark
• Use of single indicators for operational
  conclusions is not advised
• Assesses only General Fund operations
• They do not quantify managements future response
  to identified financial issues

74
Solvency Ratio

• Packet refer to Health Report handout on
  Solvency Ratio page 11

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Solvency Ratio Table Graph
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Solvency Ratio - Purpose
77
Solvency Ratio - Application

• Questions
• Your district receives notice that state aid will
  be cut by 10 - reductions are impossible. What
  happens to your solvency ratio for the current
  fiscal year?
• What does it mean for the upcoming fiscal year?

78
Facility Related Levies

• Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL)
• Debt levy
• State Penny for School Infrastructure

79
Physical Plant and Equipment Levy

• Two levies
• Board approved PPEL maximum of 0.33 property
  tax approved annually by board (cannot borrow
  against)
• Voter approved PPEL maximum of 1.34 property
  tax/income surtax approved by voters (50 simple
  majority)
• Maximum 10 years
• Can borrow against property tax portion of
  proceeds
• Must have at least 1 of property tax

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Physical Plant and Equipment Levy

• Allowable uses
• Purchase grounds, construct sidewalks, roadways,
  athletic fields, lighting, and demolition work
• Construction of schoolhouses or buildings
• Purchase, lease or lease-purchase of buildings or
  single unit of equipment or technology gt 500
• Repair/remodel/reconstruct facilities
• Transportation equipment
• See Iowa Code Section 298.23 for full details

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Debt Levy

• Voter approved levy for construction and
  renovation of school buildings, sites and other
  school facilities
• Two ballot measures
• One-time election if want to go from 2.70 to
  4.05
• Ballot language approving bond
• Both require 60 super majority for approval

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State Penny for School Infrastructure

• Replaced the School Infrastructure Local Option
  Tax with State Penny effective July 1, 2008
• Sunset 12/31/2029
• Need a Revenue Purpose Statement vote prior to
  expiration of existing SILO ballot OR if district
  wants to borrow against time period between
  expiration and 12/31/2029
• District election rather than county election.
• 50 plus one simple majority to pass

83
State Penny for School Infrastructure

• Current Revenue Purpose Statement or ballot is
  valid until expired or replaced
• Law requires lowering certain levies if a RPS is
  not approved
• Debt
• Voted and Board PPEL
• PERL
• Schoolhouse Levy
• Once levies are reduced, revenue can be used for
  any lawful purpose

84
State Penny for Infrastructure

• Allowable uses
• Original ballot language is binding until
  replaced by a Revenue Purpose Statement vote
• Any permissible debt levy use
• Payment of bonds either new or old property tax
  bonds
• Can borrow against proceeds

85
State Penny for School Infrastructure

• Full per pupil equity by 2014 after expiration of
  all grandfathered counties
• Distributed monthly reconciliation payment in
  November
• So, how does this help my General Fund?
• Cannot spend on direct General Fund purposes
  except those authorized by Code (buses,
  technology, etc.)
• Can use to reduce General Fund expenditures for
  example replace HVAC system with geothermal
  savings in natural gas and electricity accrue to
  General Fund but costs are paid through State
  Penny.

86
State Penny for School Infrastructure Other Issues

• Certificate of Need required for using
  supplemental funds for districts below 250
  enrollment or 100 in high school.
• State Penny revenue must be on hand to lower debt
  cant anticipate next years revenue

87
Other Levies Available to Districts

• Management levy
• Levy amount determined annually by the board for
  following purposes
• Unemployment benefits
• Liability insurance/judgments/settlements
• Early retirement benefits
• Dollars levied go to Management Fund not General
  Fund

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Other Levies Available to Districts

• Cash reserve levy
• Levy amount determined annually by the board for
  cash flow purposes
• Used to fund spending authority but does not
  create spending authority
• Limitation total cash reserves cant exceed 25
  of expenditures for the prior fiscal year
  (changes to 20 for FY2013)

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School Aid Formula Understanding the System

• Remember

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School Aid Formula Understanding the System

• Observations
• The foundation formula provides student equity on
  the instruction side of the equation
• The foundation formula provides some taxpayer
  equity
• The additional levy causes the most taxpayer
  inequity for the foundation formula

91
School Aid Formula Understanding the System

• Is this all the taxpayer inequity?
• Instruction side - ISL
• Facilities
• PPEL Debt service
• PERL
• Even though rate limited, because property taxes
  are not equalized, rates may be higher than
  otherwise would be the case
• Other
• Cash reserve levy
• TIF

92
School Aid Formula Understanding the System

• Student inequity
• Regular program - Differing costs per pupil
  (about 4)
• Facilities
• Debt service, PPEL and PERL generate
  approximately six times the amount in the
  property richest district as property poorest

93
School Aid Formula Understanding the System

• Helping make sense of all this
• IASB Finance Website Tools
• DE Finance Website Tools

94
Categorical Funds

• Appropriations from the State
• Strings must spend a certain way and account
  for the spending and report
• Outside of bargaining
• Dont tend to increase with inflation

95
Categorical Funds Examples

• Teacher Compensation Supplement
• Basic allocation
• Professional development
• Professional development Core Curriculum
• Gifted and Talented
• All Title Programs
• Grants
• Part B ARRA Monies

96
10 ATB Cut

• Set the expectation and keep it
• Minimize any negative effect on student learning
• Minimize any negative effect on student academic
  opportunities
• Be sustainable long-term
• Be based on realistic savings estimates /
  projections
• Be careful about using one-time sources of money
  for ongoing expenditures
• Maximize the use of non-general funds resources
  for qualified expenditures
• Maintain flexibility with all program
  modifications to adjust to student needs

97
Where to look for

• Title I (Reading and Math) carve out portion of
  regular staff development for Title 1 teachers
• Special Education TAG
• Early Childhood Intervention
  Class Size - State federal (K-3) Title V
• Grants

98
Where to look for

• Vocational Education
• Instructional Support Levy (board or vote)
• PERL max 13.5 cents / 1,000
• At-Risk prevention allowable growth (requires
  approved plan and SBRC request)

99
Where to look for

• Alter your schedules
• Monitor class sizes
• Supplemental weighting for Dual credit courses
• Early Outs (explain to parents it cannot be
  perceived as time off for teachers)
• Late starts? Is this easier on
  kids/parents/teachers?

100
Free up General Fund

• Use of State Penny PPEL buses,
  equipment, lease-purchases above 500
• Use of management fund property, casualty
  loss insurance or early retirement
• Review Master Contract
• Make energy efficiency improvements
  w/energy bank loans
• Participate in pooled purchasing
  programs

101
Four Questions

• Why do we have enough money to pave the parking
  lot but cant pay teachers?
• Why cant we just levy whatever we need to
  support the school?
• Why dont schools become more efficient?
• Why dont property taxes ever decrease?

102
Three Steps to Fiduciary Responsibility

• Crafting Policy to Guide Fiscal Planning
• Crafting Policy to Safeguard Fiscal Condition
• Monitoring Fiscal Management
• Source Carver Guide 3

103
Fiscal Planning-Budget

• Certified Budget (April) legal requirement
  that sets maximum spending limits and property
  tax rates
• Line-item Budget (August-October) management
  uses to allocate dollars to individual accounts
  in line with board expectations/success criteria
• Board Budget-Typically higher level reporting by
  function, location or object summaries
• Source Carver Guide 3

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Board Member Responsibility

• Board members are NOT budget managers and should
  not operate at the level of detail as the
  management staff.
• You should not be selecting pens and toner
  cartridges.
• Exercise appropriate control so that the right
  things occur and the wrong things dont
• Source Carver Guide 3

105
Financial Goal Considerations

• What should be the relationship of revenues and
  expenditures?
• How are revenues and expenditures projected?
  (conservative-what does that mean?)
• What are the right and wrong things for spending?
• Where are contingency dollars (unallocated) in
  budget?

106
Financial Goal Considerations

• What are the targets for financial solvency
  ratio, unspent balance, fund balance, and other
  measures of financial health?
• How much cash should be available?
• Inter-fund loans?
• Use of reserves?

107
Financial Goal Considerations

• Projections (recommended 3-5 years)
• Use informed instinct or (Best/Worse Case)
• Keep track of assumptions that match projection
• Enrollment
• Revenue and expenditures
• Spending Authority
• Fund Balance
• Others?????

108
Ummm, lets see! CIETCno audit committee, no
code of ethics, poor Internal controls, poor tone
of control set by executives, reasonableness???,
no fiduciary monitoring by boardWOW! ENRON,
WORLDCOM, Martha, Ramona, move over!!!
Dont let your name or district be added to this
list. Start NOW to begin implementing the best
practices from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and
other professional organizations.
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School Aid - Web Resources

• IASB www.ia-sb.org
• Dept. of Education www.state.ia.us/educate/index.
  html
• Legislature - bills, amendments, etc.
  www.legis.state.ia.us
• Legislative Fiscal Bureau http//staffweb.legis.
  state.ia.us/lfb/
• Dept. of Revenue and Finance www.state.ia.us/gov
  ernment/drf/index.html

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Summary/wrap-up/reflection

• Lets do the evaluation right now!!!

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Please fill out open-ended evaluation on table

• Thanks for coming have a great rest of the
  convention!!!