This page was last updated on December 15, 2008.
Santa Barbara Unified School District is part of the Santa Barbara County Education Office.
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Monday, December 15, 2008
Interim Financial Report on the Districts’ 2008-09 Budget
Twice each year, the Santa Barbara School Districts Board of Education is asked to certify interim financial reports regarding the districts’ financial position and submit them to the Santa Barbara County Education Office for review and analysis. For each interim report, the districts must use multi-year projections to certify one of the following:
- Positive: that the districts can meet the current year and subsequent two-year obligations;
- Qualified: that the districts may not be able to meet the current year and subsequent two-year obligations;
- or Negative: that the districts cannot meet the current year and subsequent two-year obligations.
The multi-year financial projection rests on a series of assumptions, including but not limited to, forecasted levels of state funding, forecasted increases in personnel expense, and assumptions regarding the continued decline in secondary student enrollment. In the event that some of the assumptions do not materialize as expected, the multi-year financial projection could change as well.
On December 9, 2008, the board was presented with a positive First Interim Financial Report. The report demonstrated that—using current assumptions— the districts could meet their current and subsequent two-year fiscal obligations while maintaining adequate reserves. During that presentation, Deputy Superintendent Eric D. Smith reported that the unrestricted ending fund balance had increased from 4.7 percent from this time last year to 8.58 percent. However, he was quick to point out that most of these reserves would be needed to “buffer” the districts from mid-year cuts currently being discussed by the Legislature. Mr. Smith also indicated that additional spending reductions will be necessary with the development of the fiscal year 2009-10 budget. However, until the outcome of the extraordinary session of the Legislature is known, we will not know the magnitude of the expenditure reductions required.