It has always been my understanding that when preparing a budget, you first determine what your income is, and then you plan your outgo based upon the income figure. Preparing a budget which anticipates having to borrow a sizeable sum in order to be able to spend what you wish is not what a sensible person would call “budgeting.”
The Cobb County School District should take a course in elementary accounting and quit trying to emulate Obama and his Democrat satraps who, as far as budgets are concerned, seem to think that preparing a budget which relies on the fiscal equivalent of winning the lottery is fiscally prudent. Such financial wishful thinking is neither prudent — nor is it “budgeting”!
Scott Chadwick
Marietta
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What they need to do is stop the continuation budget and bring a new thought process into budgeting, especially for things that are variable, where needs are strictly based on student head count. If a new school is built and a nearby school loses 30-40% of their population, do they really need the same amount of money to operate? The answer is of course no, but heaven forbid they reduce any budgets. When student count goes down they reduce teaching positions, why not look at other things? If they are renting out buildings to third parties do they charge enough rent to cover the supplies they use and is their supply budget reduced or do schools just use this as a slush fund, a "fundraiser" per se.
You always hear about the personnel costs, but if they really enforced some reasonable attendance guidelines and made people show up for work (and produce), like most businesses do, perhaps they could operate with fewer people. There are options, but it would require the leaders to think like a business and since very few seem to have any business accumen, that is probably a pipe dream
The district operates on a continuation budget and starts by fully funding 180 school days of education, taking state mandated maximum class sizes into account, state mandated transportation, state mandated salary schedules and several federal requirements on top of all that.
Add mandatory testing, state scheduled step-salary increases, and text books just for grins.
The district is, and has remained, debt free for some time. Cuts (i.e. furlough days, increased classroom sizes, reductions in staff, fewer positions being replaced, etc.) have been made to deliver a state required balanced budget.
No borrowing has taken place to balance the budget. Doubtful it will happen this cycle.
The law requires that excess SPLOST funds be returned to taxpayers through a millage reduction if there is no debt. Look up Georgia Code 48-8-121.
Rather than support teachers, less furlough days and smaller increases in class sizes, it appears you support the opposite. Our students and teachers deserve better.
Tim Stultz suggested your approach during last year's budget discussion. Rather than a 19.9 mill rate brought down to 18.9, he wanted to bring the rate down from 18.9 to 17.9 mills. He quickly discovered that action would result in the loss of more than 300 teaching positions.
I suggest that you do a little research, first on what I said, and second on what has happened for the past two years.
They are definitely using the "raise the millage, then buy it back down with execess SPLOST funds" dodge to cover budget shortages.
You canc all it wahtever you like, It is still converting money from SPLOST funds, to General funds.
There were no more SPLOST II projects which is the only category where the funds could be spent.
There was no debt to retire since the district is debt free.
The law calls for excess proceeds to be returned to taxpayers by reducing ad valorem taxes which the district did.
There were no more SPLOST II projects which is the only category where the funds could be spent.
There was no debt to retire since the district is debt free.
The law calls for excess proceeds to be returned to taxpayers by reducing ad valorem taxes which the district did.