(1) The budget shall be
presented in the standard budget report format established by the state board of
education by rule pursuant to subsection (5) of this section. The standard budget
report format established by the state board shall be substantially consistent from
year to year and shall adhere to the following guidelines:
(a) The budget shall be presented in a summary format which is
understandable by any layperson reviewing such budget.
(a.5) (Deleted by amendment, L. 93, p. 1873, � 1, effective June 6, 1993.)
(b) The budget shall be presented in a summary format which will allow for
comparisons of revenues and expenditures among school districts by pupil.
(c) The budget shall be presented in a format that itemizes expenditures of
the district by fund and by pupil. The budget shall:
(I) Describe the expenditure;
(II) Show the amount budgeted for the current fiscal year;
(III) Show the amount estimated to be expended for the current fiscal year;
and
(IV) Show the amount budgeted for the ensuing fiscal year.
(V) Repealed.
(c.4) Upon review of the letter of intent submitted to the state treasurer and
the department of education, the department of education will notify the board of
education of the acceptance, if appropriate, of the use of real property for the
establishment of a district emergency reserve pursuant to paragraph (c.5) of this
subsection (1).
(c.5) The budget shall ensure that the school district holds unrestricted
general fund or cash fund emergency reserves in the amount required under the
provisions of section 20 (5) of article X of the state constitution; except that, if a
board of education provides for a district emergency reserve in the general fund for
the budget year, established at an amount equal to at least three percent of the
amount budgeted to the general fund, the board may:
(I) Designate real property owned by the district as all or a portion of the
reserve required by section 20 (5) of article X of the state constitution so long as
the board has filed with the state treasurer and the department of education a
letter of intent that expresses the intent of the board to increase the liquidity of
such property upon the occurrence of a declared emergency within the meaning of
section 20 (5) of article X of the state constitution by entering into one or more
financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreements with
respect to such property or by other means acceptable to the state treasurer; or
(II) Secure a letter of credit from an investment-grade bank as all or a
portion of the reserve required by section 20 (5) of article X of the state
constitution so long as the board has filed with the state treasurer and the
department of education a letter of intent that expresses the intent of the board to
satisfy its obligation to reimburse the bank for money drawn on the letter of credit
upon the occurrence of a declared emergency within the meaning of section 20 (5)
of article X of the state constitution that are not reimbursed to the bank within the
same fiscal year by entering into financed purchase of an asset or certificate of
participation agreements with respect to real property owned by the district.
(c.6) If at any time the board of education expends any moneys from the
district emergency reserve created pursuant to paragraph (c.5) of this subsection
(1), the board shall restore the reserve to three percent of the amount budgeted to
the general fund as follows:
(I) If the board of education expends moneys from the district emergency
reserve in a single fiscal year, the board shall restore the reserve pursuant to this
paragraph (c.6) within thirty-six months of the first draw of the money from the
reserve; and
(II) If the board of education expends moneys from the district emergency
reserve in two consecutive fiscal years, the board shall restore the reserve pursuant
to this paragraph (c.6) by the end of the fiscal year following the second fiscal year
in which the board expended moneys from the reserve.
(c.7) The budget shall summarize revenues by revenue source and shall
summarize expenditures by function, fund, and object.
(d) (Deleted by amendment, L. 97, p. 948, � 3, effective August 6, 1997.)
(d.5) The budget shall include a uniform summary sheet for each fund
administered by the district that details the following for each fund:
(I) The beginning fund balance and the anticipated ending fund balance for
the budget year;
(II) The anticipated fund revenues for the budget year, delineated by the
program and source codes identified in the chart of accounts created pursuant to
subsection (4) of this section;
(III) The anticipated transfers and allocations that will occur to and from the
fund during the budget year;
(IV) The anticipated expenditures that will be made from the fund during the
budget year, delineated by the program and object codes identified in the chart of
accounts created pursuant to subsection (4) of this section; and
(V) The amount of reserves in the fund.
(e) (I) For the 1993-94 fiscal year, the budget format shall contain a provision
under which any district which has a reduction in its 1993-94 per pupil funding, as
defined in former section 22-53-107.3 (3)(a), of four and seven-tenths percent or
more may declare an extreme emergency and may apply for additional funding
from the contingency reserve pursuant to former section 22-53-124 (4). Such
additional funding shall not result in a percentage reduction for an individual
district which is less than the greater of four and five-tenths percent or four
percent plus the percentage change in the district's per pupil funding from the
1992-93 budget year to the 1993-94 budget year which results from the application
of former section 22-53-107 (5.5)(b)(II) or (5.5)(b)(III).
(II) If a district which declares an extreme emergency pursuant to
subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (e) has property tax revenue carried forward
under the provisions of section 22-44-103.5, such district shall not be eligible to
receive additional funding from the contingency reserve. However, the district may
expend such property tax revenue in the 1993-94 budget year in response to such
extreme emergency and, if the district advises the state board of education of such
expenditure, the amount expended, not to exceed the amount of additional funding
allowed the district pursuant to subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (e), shall be
subtracted from the amount of excess property tax revenue of the district which
must be offset against state aid and categorical support funds pursuant to section
22-44-103.5 (2)(b)(III)(B) and (2)(c)(III).
(III) For purposes of determining the percentage change in the district's per
pupil funding from the 1992-93 budget year to the 1993-94 budget year, the
district's per pupil funding for the 1992-93 budget year shall be the amount derived
by dividing the district's 1992-93 equalization program funding, as calculated
pursuant to former section 22-53-107 (3), including the district's 1992-93 preschool
program funding, if any, as calculated pursuant to former section 22-53-115.5, and
the district's 1992-93 program funding for three- and four-year-old children with
disabilities, if any, as calculated pursuant to former section 22-53-116.5, by the
district's 1992-93 funded pupil count as defined in former section 22-53-107
(5.5)(c)(II). The district's per pupil funding for the 1993-94 budget year shall be the
amount derived by dividing the district's 1993-94 equalization program funding, as
calculated pursuant to former section 22-53-107 (5.5)(b)(II) or (5.5)(b)(III), whichever
is applicable, by the district's 1993-94 funded pupil count as defined in former
section 22-53-107 (5.5)(c)(III).
(1.5) (a) A budget adopted pursuant to this article shall not provide for
expenditures, interfund transfers, or reserves, in excess of available revenues and
beginning fund balances. If the budget includes the use of a beginning fund
balance, the school district board of education shall adopt a resolution specifically
authorizing the use of a portion of the beginning fund balance in the school
district's budget. The resolution, at a minimum, shall specify the amount of the
beginning fund balance to be spent under the school district budget, state the
purpose for which the expenditure is needed, and state the school district's plan to
ensure that the use of the beginning fund balance will not lead to an ongoing
deficit.
(b) Each school district shall annually prepare an itemized reconciliation
between the fiscal year end fund balances based on the budgetary basis of
accounting used by the school district and the fiscal year end fund balances based
on the modified accrual basis of accounting. The reconciliation shall include, but
need not be limited to, the liability for accrued salaries and related benefits. The
reconciliation shall be included with the final version of the amended budget and
the annual audited financial statements.
(c) If at any time during the fiscal year following the adoption of a budget by
a board of education the school district determines that the use of an additional
portion of the school district's beginning fund balance is necessary, the board of
education shall adopt a resolution that meets at least the minimum requirements
specified in paragraph (a) of this subsection (1.5) before using the additional portion
of the beginning fund balance.
(2) The proposed expenditures and anticipated revenues in the budget shall
be supported as needed by explanatory schedules or statements of sufficient detail
to judge the validity thereof, including a statement which summarizes the
aggregate of revenues, appropriations, assets, and liabilities of each fund in
balanced relations. The budget shall disclose planned compliance with section 20
of article X of the state constitution.
(3) (Deleted by amendment, L. 93, p. 1873, � 1, effective June 6, 1993.)
(4) (a) The state board of education, with input from the financial policies and
procedures advisory committee, shall establish, implement, and maintain a
statewide financial, student management, and human resource electronic data
communications and reporting system that is based on a standard chart of
accounts, a standard information system, and a standard personnel classification
system. The department of education, the state charter school institute, and all
district charter schools, institute charter schools, school districts, and boards of
cooperative services in the state shall use the system to report and obtain
necessary financial information.
(b) In implementing and maintaining the financial and human resource
reporting system pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, the state board of
education shall adhere to, but is not limited to, the following guidelines:
(I) The reporting system must be based on a standard chart of accounts that
makes school-to-school and school district-to-school district comparisons accurate
and meaningful;
(II) The reporting system must provide standard definitions for employment
positions such that full, accurate disclosure of administrative costs is made within
the budgets and the financial statements of every school district; and
(III) The reporting system must make it possible to collect comparable data
by program and school site.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to require accounting of salary
and benefit costs by school site.
(d) The financial policies and procedures advisory committee shall consider
and make a recommendation to the state board of education concerning whether
the standard chart of accounts should include the reporting of revenues received at
all levels, including public revenues received from private gifts, grants, and
donations, and, if so, how the reporting of revenues would be included in the
standard chart of accounts.
(e) (I) The department shall issue a request for proposals and contract for
the creation of a website view that, at a minimum, translates the expenditures for
each of the major categories specified in the chart of accounts for school sites,
school districts, the state charter school institute, and boards of cooperative
services, as posted on the website maintained by each local education provider
pursuant to section 22-44-304, into a format that is readable by a layperson. The
department and the entity with which the department contracts, if any, shall work
with the financial policies and procedures advisory committee and a representative
from the office of state planning and budgeting in designing the presentation of
data on the website view to ensure the greatest degree of clarity and comparability
by laypersons of expenditures among school sites, school districts, the state
charter school institute, and boards of cooperative services.
(II) The department shall ensure that the website created pursuant to this
paragraph (e) is available to the public no later than July 1, 2017, and is updated
annually.
(5) No later than July 1, 2008, the state board of education, with input and
recommendations from the financial policies and procedures advisory committee
created in the department of education, shall establish by rule the standard budget
report format to be used by each board of education.
(6) (a) There is created in the state treasury the financial reporting fund,
referred to in this subsection (6) as the fund. For the 2014-15 budget year, the
state treasurer shall transfer three million dollars from the state education fund,
created in section 17 (4) of article IX of the state constitution, to the fund to offset
the costs incurred by the department in implementing paragraph (e) of subsection
(4) of this section. The moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to the
department of education beginning in the 2014-15 budget year and continuing
through the 2017-18 budget year, after which time any moneys remaining in the
fund are subject to annual appropriation.
(b) The state treasurer may invest any moneys in the fund not expended for
the purpose of paragraph (e) of subsection (4) of this section as provided by law.
The state treasurer shall credit all interest and income derived from the investment
and deposit of moneys in the fund to the fund. Any unexpended and unencumbered
moneys remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year remain in the fund and shall
not be credited or transferred to the general fund or another fund.
(c) The general assembly hereby declares that, for purposes of section 17 of
article IX of the state constitution, creating and maintaining the website described
in paragraph (e) of subsection (4) of this section is an important element in
implementing accountability reporting and may therefore receive funding from the
state education fund created in section 17 (4) of article IX of the state constitution.
(d) (I) Notwithstanding any provision of this subsection (6) to the contrary, on
June 30, 2025, the state treasurer shall transfer the unexpended and
unencumbered balance of the fund to the general fund.
(II) This subsection (6) is repealed, effective July 1, 2026.