I have reviewed the District finances and while I am not an accountant, but some things are very clear:
According to the District’s Multi-year projections (most recent can be found in the District’s 2018-2019 Adopted Budget) the District recorded a deficit in the amount of $4,662,976. There is a projected deficit spending for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years as well.
The District is projecting no deficit and amazingly just about the same ending balance as the current year for the 2018-2019 school year, despite a deficit for years past and years to come. This is because the District is projecting (in the Budget) no decrease in student enrollment.
I believe the District orchestrated these numbers because this is an election year and voices such as mine have challenged the deficit spending.
Looking at the District’s 2017-2018 1st Interim Report Presentation, the Board of Trustees was advised that there is a “structural Deficit”.
At the time of the 1st Interim Report, the staff projected a deficit of over $3million for the current year and the next.
This is why I am concerned about the transparency and accountability with regards to the District’s finances.
OVSD Financial Update
OVSD issued the 2017-2018 Unaudited Actuals on September 4, 2018. The following information is from that report.
YES, there is still a DEFICIT
This report was issued in June 2018. The 2017-2018 Budget deficit of $4,662,976 shown above has been severely reduced. The District’s fiscal year is from July 1 – June 30 so how does a deficit change by approximately $3Million in a 2-week period? (The 2 week period is from the time the report was issued to the end of the fiscal year.)
June 2018 Estimated Actuals: $-4,662,976
September 4, 2018 Unaudited Actuals: $-1,456,821
Difference of $3,206,155
Where are the changes?
Since the public became aware of the OVSD deficit spending, changes have occurred.
These are questions we should all be asking:
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How did expenses decrease over $2M in the month of June? (Remember that there is only about 2 weeks of school left during that time period.)
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Did the District move the expenditures for Services (about $1M) to another account? Maybe to be paid for by the Bond?
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Why did the Board give a retroactive pay increase to the highest paid employees in the District? (Totaling almost $500,000).
Note: This must be a 6-month retroactive raise since the future
years show $961,164
Where did the District surplus go? Reference the 2015-2016 District Report