February 5, 2014 Karen Kucharz Robbe Finance Consultant School Financial Services

1. WASDA NEW ADMINISTRATOR’S WORKSHOP IV SCHOOL FINANCE ESSENTIALS BUILDING YOUR FIRST-YEAR BUDGET February 5, 2014 Karen KucharzRobbe Finance Consultant School Financial Services

2. Handouts for Today General (white) • Generic Budget-Building Timeline Sample Preliminary Budget • Cast Forward Membership Example Revenue Limit-Related (yellow) • 2014-15 District-Specific Revenue Limit Base • District-Specific Revenue Limit Longitudinal • District-Specific Sources of New Revenue Limit Authority Equalization Aid-Related (green) • Sample 2013-14 Equalization Aid % Method 2013-14 District-Specific Equalization Aid % Method

3. DPI Finance Team….How Can We Help You? The budget process relies a great deal on the exchange of information between the district and the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) throughout the year. The School Finance Team at DPI provides an extensive finance website, resource materials, and phone consultation to assist districts. • Information • Data • Support

4. DPI Finance Team….How Can We Help You? Become familiar with our website at: http://sfs.dpi.wi.gov/ • We will be navigating to this website throughout our presentation today to introduce you to what is out there related to budgeting….but…. • Don’t hesitate to call one of us with questions or guidance! • Sign up for our listserv – timely messages updating you on school finance topics of concern – under the “Mailings/ListServe” link on the green scan-bar on the SFS Homepage. • WASDA Seminars (1 more this year. Slips of paper on tables – what would you want to hear from the DPI Finance Team in May?)

5. School Financial Services Homepage SAFR Portal Financial Data Home Non-Financial Data Home http://sfs.dpi.wi.gov/

6. Budgeting Cycle The school district budget development process is cyclical in nature and builds upon itself from year to year. • Learn from the past • Review today • Forecast the future (handout)

7. Budget Roadmap Revenue Limit Calculation 3rd Friday Count, Oct 1 Tax Values, October 15 Aid Certify Levies via PI-401 (in portal) Annual Meeting? Preliminary Budget? Original Budget Budget Planning Papers (basis for full budget) Send tax bills. PI-1508 Budget Adjustments to BOE Budget Report PI-1504

8. Revenue Limits Limitation imposed by State Law on the revenues that public school districts in Wisconsin can raise from local Property Taxes* & State General Aid. ……not an expenditure control…… A district’s Revenue Limit will determine approximately 85-95% of a school district’s General Fund Revenue Budget. *General Fund (10), Non-Referendum Debt Service (38), Capital Projects Funds (41)

9. Controlled Revenue Under the Limits 2011-12 Statewide Data General Fund

10. 2014-15 Revenue Limit Computation (the data you need to gather) Membership (Counting Students) Property Values (Oct 1) ? ? Recurring Exemptions (???) Other Levies ? Chargeback Levy Non-Recurring Exemptions (???) Debt Levies Equalization Aid (Oct 15) High Poverty Aid ? ?

11. Non-Revenue Limit Revenues & Expenditure Items WUFAR ? Personnel Costing Estimating State Categoricals ? ? Utilities & Other Expenses Estimating State & Federal Grants ? ? Individual Building Budgets

12. Counting Students

13. Counting Students (one of the most important things you will do) • 3rd Friday in September Pupil Count • 2nd Friday in January Pupil Count • Summer School Report • Youth Challenge Academy Pupil Count • June Census (Library Aid)

14. Counting Students 3 Questions for Counting Guidance • Key question # 1 – Is the pupil a resident of the district? • Key question # 2 – Is the district paying for the pupil’s education? • Key question # 3 – Is the pupil present for instruction on the count date or meets the “before and after” rule?

15. Who is a Resident? Not defined by statute – residency is determined by the local district. 1.) Is the child living in the district with his/her parents? 2.) What about other situations? – there is case law - i.e. Thayer Ruling A minor may have, for school purposes, a residence other than that of his parents. The school district was incidental to the child’s reason for living in the district. Use common sense…WHY are they there?

16. Who is Paying for the Education? • Pupil is in your seat, taught by your teachers. • Full-time resident pupils in attendance elsewhere, but your district is paying for their education. • Open Enrollment • Tuition Agreements • CESA Programs • Tuition Waivers (Be careful with this one. These situations involve kids moving out/in of a district mid-year. Sometimes, you still can count a kid in the year they have moved out of your district….and, sometimes you can’t count a new kid that recently moved in. Please call us if you have a student in this situation.)

17. Basic Membership Count Rule Count for membership those resident students in attendance for instruction on the count date. ….OR…. if they were absent on the count date, count only if the “Before and After” rule is true: Count the student if he/she was present for instruction at least one day before the count date and at least one day after, and didn’t change residency during the period of absence.

18. Initial Head Count Non-Resident Reductions Resident Reductions Resident Additions Adjusted Head Count* - - + = Result is the students that are residents for which you are financially responsible. Add all resident students who are receiving educational services from other districts or programs and for which your district is paying the cost of full-time tuition. Identify all students, regardless of residency, being directly served by the district. Subtract all non-resident students being served by the district. Subtract all resident students being served by the district that don’t meet the count guidelines. (less than full time, outside age eligibility) PI-1563 Pupil Count Process * Needs to be converted to fulltime equivalency.

19. Preschool Special Education • Students must be at least 3 years of age as of the count date. • Student must have an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) and be receiving instructional services. • No minimum required number of instruction hours.

20. 4 Year Old Kindergarten • The 4 year old kindergarten program is open to all students. • The program is funded by district resources—not solely by Title One funds. • The student is at least 4 on or before September 1st. • 4 Yr – 437 Hours: program shall have at least 437 hours of instruction, which can include up to 87.5 hours of outreach activities. • 4 Yr – 524.5 Hours: program shall have at least 437 hours of instruction and 87.5 hours of outreach. The school shall NOT substitute instructional time for outreach activities.

21. 5 Year Old Kindergarten (program options) • 5 Year Old – Half Day Program • 5 Year Old – 3 Full Day Program • 5 Year Old – 4 Full Day Program • 5 Year Old – 5 Full Day Program • 5 Year Old – Blended Program The student must be at least 5 years of age on or before September 1st.

22. Grades 1 – 12 • Students must be 6 years of age on or before September 1st of the current year. • Ages 6-18 • In all count categories, the student must meet the age requirement or be admitted under early admittance guidelines as defined by the Board of Education. Compulsory School Attendance Early Admittance

23. What About Homebound? • Pupils receiving appropriate homebound instruction will be included in the final adjusted count. • Depending on the program, they may or may not require an IEP. • Most often, they will be on a “homebound” teacher’s log which will verify that they received instruction directly by the district. • In this case, the pupil would be on the initial headcount. • Use the basic membership “count” rules.

24. Age 20 vs. 21? • If a regular education student is 20 when he/she enrolls and receives instruction, the district must provide services and can count the student. • If a student enrolls prior to turning 21, but turns 21 before attending classes, the district is not required to provide services and the student cannot be counted. • If a student turns 21 prior to enrolling and receiving instruction, the district is not required to provide services and cannot count the student. • If a special education student is 20 prior to the first day of classes according to the school calendar, the student can enroll any time during the year, even after turning 21, and the district must provide services and can count the student.

25. Youth Challenge Academy (YCA) • Wisconsin National Guard Challenge Academy is a residential program committed to improving the quality of life for 16 to 18 year old at-risk teens. • School districts with cadets must contribute a portion of the costs of students enrolled in the Challenge Academy from their district. In 2012-13, that cost was $4,884. The Academy provides the cost number based on actuals. • Academy is responsible for determining district of residence. • All YCA students are reported on in the SAFR, Non-Financial Data, Youth Challenge Academy report.

26. Youth Challenge Academy (YCA) • State statute allows the school district to count the student for revenue limit and equalization aid purposes. The Youth Challenge Academy online report will assure that proper membership credit is given to each district. • Districts answer questions about students in both September and January reports. Just a note: The January status of students appearing in your September YCA Report must be verified. Why? Sometimes they end up back in your seats in January, and if they were in the Challenge Academy in August, you automatically get credit for them in January. • Resources: http://www.dpi.wi.gov/sfs/doc/challfunding.doc

27. Summer School Pupil Count • Summer School starts the school year. • Calculating the district’s total summer school resident pupil membership minutes. • Dividing the total by 48,600 and rounding to the nearest whole number. • Not a head count. • A worksheet is available to assist in this process. http://sfs.dpi.wi.gov/files/sfs/xls/SS1804.xls • Keep the Excel spreadsheet as your auditor may need to review the information used to calculate your summer school FTE. (Auditor will check fees)

28. Online FTE Reports • The adjusted head count is converted to full-time equivalency (FTE) for both revenue limits and equalization aid in an online FTE report. • Incorrect data in the internet-based report will cause the FTE for both revenue limits and equalization aid to be inaccurate. Data must be revised on-line.

29. On-Line FTE Reports Find your district in the Finance Team Reporting Portal. http://dpi.wi.gov/sfs/index.html

30. On-Line FTE Reports

31. FTE for Equalization Aid Purposes • FTE generated from the PI-1563 pupil count report from September & January pupil count reports. • FTE generated from the September & January Youth Challenge Academy Reports. • 100% of the FTE identified in the Summer School FTE report. • Adjustment for Part-time Private or Home-based Students. • Adjustment for certain foster/group home students.

32. FTE for Revenue Limit Purposes • FTE generated from the PI-1563 pupil count report from September Count only. • FTE generated from the September Youth Challenge Academy Report. • 40% of FTE identified in the Summer School FTE report.

33. Membership Quiz We are providing speech/language services to a pre-school age district resident in their home with one of our teachers. Can we count? Yes. Student is in residential treatment center placed there by the county. We are not footing the bill for that treatment, but we are still responsible for keeping the IEP up to date. Can we count? No. Student attends up to (and on) the 2nd Friday count date and then withdraws on the next Monday. Can we count? Yes. We have an eighth grade special ed student who was expelled. The LD teachers goes to her home to give her instructions 40-79% time. Do I count her in resident reduction part-time? No. She is considered fulltime if the IEP dictates these services are her program. Same response if this was a non-spec-ed “at-risk” student and an individual program of instruction is delivered.

34. June Census • All districts must report the number of residents that are at least 4 years old but not yet 21 as of June 30. • HEAD COUNT – not an FTE. • Ages 4-13 if in a K-8 district. • Ages 14-20 if in a high school district.

35. June Census Per 120.18 Wisconsin Statutes - 2 methods available to calculate the census head count. • Conduct a Physical Census on June 30th - 120.18(1)(a)1. • Generate a number based on a mathematical calculation - 120.18(1)(a)2.

36. June Census – Why? • The headcount entered into the census report is used to calculate the amount of Common School Fund (library) Aid the district is to receive. • Common School Fund Aid should be spent within the same fiscal year. An aid estimate is given in January and paid in May.

37. Resources on the Website • General Count Instructions • PI 1563 Pupil Count Workbook • PowerPoint • Media Site http://sfs.dpi.wi.gov/sfs_membrpt2

38. Estimating Membership • UW-Madison Applied Population Lab • Independent Vendors • Cast Forward Find a reliable way to project membership as accurately as possible…(!) (handout)

39. Revenue Limit

40. Building the 2014-15 Revenue Limit http://sfs.dpi.wi.gov/ We have started this for you based on the data at DPI your 2013-14 Revenue Limit computation. Location: SFS Homepage > District Budget Development & Planning > Revenue Limits > 2014-15 Revenue Limit Worksheets enter

41. Explaining Change in Revenue Limit Authority “I thought we were supposed to get an extra $75 per member. When I look at the Revenue Limit, I don’t see it.” In reality, the overall effect is a combination of what is happening with the district membership AND the inflationary increase.

42. The Effects of Membership and Inflationary Increase 4 Districts • 1.) Increasing Membership • 2.) Stable Membership • 3.) Declining Membership • 4.) Severely-Declining Membership Your district will fall into one of these categories. See if you can pick it out!

43. Richfield J1 Base Revenue (Line 1) $4,313,968 Max Rev Lim (Line 7) $4,424,916 $110,948 Increase + 8 Change in the 2 Membership Averages

44. Richmond Base Revenue (Line 1) $4,821,717 Max Rev Lim (Line 7) $4,856,142 $34,425 Increase 0 Change in the 2 Membership Averages

45. Cameron Base Revenue (Line 1) $7,937,122 Max Rev Lim (Line 7) $7,956,126 $19,004 Increase -5 Change in the 2 Membership Averages

46. Adams-Friendship Base Revenue (Line 1) $15,911,153 Max Rev Lim (Line 7) $15,911,153 $0 Increase -53 Change in the 2 Membership Averages Difference is rounding.

47. Where Is This Data For My District? http://sfs.dpi.wi.gov/sfs_buddev_rl “Sources of New Year Revenue Limit Authority” Location: SFS Homepage > Longitudinal Data > Revenue Limits (handout)

48. Revenue Limit Exemptions Lines 8 & 10 Exemptions to the revenue limit allow districts to levy additional amounts in addition to the amount generated by membership changes and the inflationary increase. Recurring Exemptions (Are “permanently” in your base. Builds the base.) Ex. Transfer of Service, Recurring Referendum Non-Recurring Exemptions (Authority is available for a limited time – usually 1 year.) Ex. Declining Enrollment, Non-Recurring Referendum

49. Know the Difference ! Recurring Exemptions – Permanently in Your Base This Year Next Year Recurring Base Base Non-Recurring Exemptions – One Year Only Next Year This Year Non-Recurring Base Base

50. Recurring Exemptions Line 8 (permanent) • Determined automatically in Revenue Limit Calculation: Eligible Carryover (of prior year unused authority) • Requires approval by Electors: Recurring Referendum • Other Recurring Exemptions (DPI works with district to determine amount): - Transfer of Service - Transfer of Territory - Loss of Federal Impact Aid