Thursday, March 21, 2013

Explanation Please

I've made my concerns public for quite some time regarding the financial struggles all schools are experiencing especially my district.  There are a plethora of reasons why schools are struggling. For my district it boils down to one question.
Milfay_tigers
The question is this:  WHY is my school district under collecting ad valorem?  Here's what it looks like - The Estimate of Needs estimates $264,581.47 (without delinquency)in ad valorem collections.  That figure is approved by the County Excise board based on the valuation of your district.  The value of my district is $7,455,099.  When multiplied by .03549 (the mills in the General Fund), you get $264,531.46 which is the total required for 2012 assessments.  This is approved, on a yearly basis (with year appropriate figures) by the County Excise Board.  The EON is publicized in local newspapers which is a legal requirement.  My district received $112,000 in January, 2013.  Last year that figure was $120,000.   This means in March, 2013,  I will need to collect some $150,000 (without delinquency).  Last March, 2012, $80,000 was collected.  With delinquency figured in it looks like this:  received through 3/31/13 totals $208,531.43.  Switching perspectives and including the amount of delinquency (which I didn't include above), the bottom line is we have under collected $31,997.17.   This UNDER COLLECTION is the difference between opening next year and not.  My question is, if we are required by law to provide public information on what levies are required and CERTIFIED by the County Excise Board, why aren't we required to disclose publicly when these taxes AREN'T collected.  More importantly WHO and WHAT they will affect.  Why the concern?  We OVER COLLECTED in prior fiscal years according to the Estimate of Needs.  

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