OHSD Wildcat Memorial Stadium: $11 Million, Financed by Local Property Taxes via the Debt Service Fund
In a recent Whidbey News-Times article, “Oak Harbor School Board discusses athletics, activities’ place in levy” the reporter wrote this about Oak Harbor School Board Director Corey Johnson:
““People say we need this levy because we can’t afford the stadium,” he said. “That is totally wrong.”
The stadium is being funded by other bonds, Johnson said.”
Really? I only bring this up because on the third page of the 150 page Oak Harbor School District No.201 F-195 BUDGET document for this school year, $743,039 is shown to be transferred OUT of the General Fund and $740,459 is shown being transferred INTO the Debt Service Fund.
The General Fund is the fund which most people think of when the school district “budget” is referred to, and it is the fund most closely associated with Maintenance and Operations (M&O) levies. The Debt Service Fund is that fund via which voter-approved bonds are paid off over time. “A Citizen’s Guide to Washington State K-12 Finance” is a good place to start if you desire to know more about K-12 $$.
The $743,039 transfer OUT is specified as “Other Financing Uses–Transfers Out (G.L. 536)” while the $740,459 is specified to be “Excess of Revenues/Other Financing Sources Over/(Under) Expenditures and Other Financing Uses“.
How is it that the OHSD has “excess” revenues this year, but allegedly has had no money to buy textbooks for students for the past 10 years but also allegedly now needs to double the local property tax for the M&O levy starting next year?
Here is a screen shot of that page from the budget document. (It becomes readable at full scale if you “click” on the image, which will then open in either a new browser tab or new browser window).
Screen shot of third page from “Oak Harbor School District No.201
F-195 BUDGET”
Tags: Citizens for Responsible Taxation, Corey Johnson, Debt Service Fund, General Fund, Maintenance and Operations (M&O) levy, Oak Harbor Education Association (OHEA), Oak Harbor school board, Oak Harbor School District (OHSD), Oak Harbor Wildcat Memorial Stadium, school levy is a scam, Time Responsibility Incentive (TRI), TRI-Days, TRI-Pay
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Sadly the Spokane Schools levy passed after the school district got caught whining over the cost of public records requests: http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/spincontrol/2012/feb/07/dist-81-seeking-charge-public-records-requests/
Several months later after passage a new Superintendent got a pay hike: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/apr/24/schools-chief-gets-pay-hike/
I don’t live in Oak Harbor but being I pay federal taxes as a sole proprietor and therefore pay federal impact aid for Oak Harbor schools, I hope voters think this through. I also hope voters make very clear in any event there will be further scrutiny of Oak Harbor Schools spending for years to come.
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OHSD superintendent Rick Schulte has already given notice to the Oak Harbor School Board that he intends to retire at the end of his current contract. No doubt some school board member will float the argument that the “new” superintendent should start out making at least what Schulte presently makes, or more, when he or she takes the helm, likely based mostly on the same “keeping up with the Jones’s” logic that seems to be prevail in K-12 land.
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It’ll be more if the levy passes.
Just watch.
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How do you know the transfer out of the GL536 went to the debt service fund? And if it did where did the extra $2500.00 that was transferred go?
Mine and most peoples eyes glaze over looking at these manipulations, especially when they are unexplained…
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On page 100 of 150 of that budget document, a page titled “SUMMARY OF DEBT SERVICE FUND BUDGET”, $740,459 is shown as being an additional source of revenue into the Debt Service Fund.
On page 100, the $740,459 amount raises the Ending Fund Balance on the Debt Service Fund from $1,490,222 to $2,230,681. (All other sources of revenue into the Debt Service Fund, i.e. local taxes, local nontax support, into the Debt service Fund are separately specified.
$243,039 was also transferred from Capital Projects (G.L 536) and on page 100 that same $243,039 was transferred into the Debt Service Fund (Line 9000 “Other Financing Sources”) – another transfer also specified on page three.
On page 9 of 150 is stated: “G.L.535 is an account that is used to summarize actions for other financing uses such as long-term financing and debt extingishments. Nonvoted debts may be serviced in the Debt Service Fund (DSF) rather than in the fund that received the debt proceeds. In order to provide the resources to retire the debt, a transfer is used by the General Fund, Capital Projects Fund, or Transportation Vehicle Fund to transfer resources to the DSF. Refer to Page DS4 for detail of estimated outstanding nonvoted bond detail information.
It also appears, on page 105 of 550 that $1,000 went into Capitol Projects.
I cannot presently account for the other $1,580 in question.
It’s also interesting to note that on page 104 of 150 is listed:
TOTAL VOTED BONDS:
Original issue: $83,170,000
Estimated Amount Outstanding September 01, 2012: $59,975,000TOTAL NONVOTED BONDS: $ 1,119,486
Estimated Amount Outstanding September 01, 2012: 594,945Of the six non-voted bonds listed, one of those “non-voted bonds” just came into existence on 03-29-2012 in the amount of $232,041.
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