The Board of Trustees recognizes its critical responsibility for adopting a sound budget for each fiscal year which is aligned with the District's vision, goals, priorities, local control and accountability plan (LCAP), and other comprehensive plans. The District budget shall guide decisions and actions throughout the year and shall serve as a tool for monitoring the fiscal health of the District.
(cf. 0000 - Vision)
(cf. 0200 - Goals for the School District)
(cf. 0400 - Comprehensive Plans)
(cf. 0460 - Local Control and Accountability Plan)
(cf. 3300 - Expenditures and Purchases)
(cf. 3460 - Financial Reports and Accountability)
(cf. 9000 - Role of the Board)
The District budget shall show a complete plan and itemized statement of all proposed expenditures and all estimated revenues for the following fiscal year, together with a comparison of revenues and expenditures for the current fiscal year. The budget shall also include the appropriations limit and the total annual appropriations subject to limitation as determined pursuant to Government Code 7900-7914. (Education Code 42122)
The Board shall adopt the budget only after a local control and accountability plan (LCAP) developed pursuant to Education Code 52060-52077 or an annual update to the LCAP is in place for the budget year. Expenditures necessary to implement the LCAP or the annual update during the subsequent fiscal year shall be included in the budget. (Education Code 42127)
(cf. 0460 - Local Control and Accountability Plan)
Budget Development and Adoption Process
In order to provide guidance in the development of the budget, the Board shall annually establish budget priorities based on identified District needs and goals and on realistic projections of available funds.
The Superintendent or designee shall oversee the preparation of a proposed District budget for approval by the Board and shall involve appropriate staff in the development of budget projections.
The Board shall hold a public hearing on the proposed budget in accordance with Education Code 42103 and 42127. The hearing shall occur at the same meeting as the public hearing on the District's LCAP and the local control funding formula (LCFF) budget overview for parents/guardians. (Education Code 42103, 42127, 52062, 52064.1)
(cf. 9320 - Meetings and Notices)
(cf. 9322 - Agenda/Meeting Materials)
(cf. 9323 - Meeting Conduct)
The Board shall adopt the District budget at a public meeting held after the date of the public hearing but on or before July 1 of each year. The Board shall adopt the budget following its adoption of the LCAP, or annual update to the LCAP, and the LCFF budget overview for parents/guardians. The budget shall include the expenditures necessary to implement the LCAP or the annual update to the LCAP. (Education Code 42127, 52062)
The budget that is presented at the public hearing as well as the budget formally adopted by the Board shall adhere to the state's Standardized Account Code Structure as prescribed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI). (Education Code 42126, 42127)
The Superintendent or designee may supplement this format with additional information as necessary to effectively communicate the budget to the Board, staff, and public.
No later than five days after the Board adopts the District budget or by July 1, whichever occurs first, the Board shall file the adopted District budget with the County Superintendent of Schools. The budget and supporting data shall be maintained and made available for public review. (Education Code 42127)
Budget Criteria and Standards
The District budget shall be developed in accordance with state criteria and standards specified in 5 CCR 15440-15450 as they relate to projections of average daily attendance (ADA), enrollment, ratio of ADA to enrollment, LCFF revenue, salaries and benefits, other revenues and expenditures, facilities maintenance, deficit spending, fund balance, and reserves. In addition, the Superintendent or designee shall provide the supplemental information specified in 5 CCR 15451 which addresses the methodology and budget assumptions used, contingent liabilities, use of one-time revenues for ongoing expenditures, use of ongoing revenues for one-time expenditures, contingent revenues, contributions, long-term commitments, unfunded liabilities, status of collective bargaining agreements, the LCAP, and LCAP expenditures. (Education Code 33128, 33129, 42127.01; 5 CCR 15440-15451)
The District budget shall provide for increased or improved services for unduplicated students at least in proportion to the increase in funds apportioned on the basis of the number and concentration of unduplicated students in accordance with 5 CCR 15496. Unduplicated students are students who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, English learners, and/or foster youth. (Education Code 42238.07; 5 CCR 15496)
(cf. 3553 - Free and Reduced Price Meals)
(cf. 6173.1 - Education for Foster Youth)
(cf. 6174 - Education for English Language Learners)
The Board shall maintain a minimum of 5% general fund reserve for economic uncertainty. (Education Code 33128.3; 5 CCR 15450)
The Board may establish other budget assumptions or parameters which may take into consideration the stability of funding sources, legal requirements and constraints on the use of funds, anticipated increases and/or decreases in the cost of services and supplies, program requirements and flexibility, if any, as well as other factors necessary to ensure that the budget is a realistic plan for District revenues and expenditures.
(cf. 2210 - Administrative Discretion Regarding Board Policy)
(cf. 3110 - Transfer of Funds)
Long-Term Financial Obligations
The District's current-year budget and multi-year projections shall contain adequate provisions for addressing the District's long-term financial obligations, including, but not limited to, long-term obligations resulting from collective bargaining agreements, financing of facilities projects, unfunded or future liability for retiree benefits, and accrued workers' compensation claims.
(cf. 4141/4241 - Collective Bargaining Agreement)
(cf. 4154/4254/4354 - Health and Welfare Benefits)
(cf. 7210 - Facilities Financing)
(cf. 9250 - Remuneration, Reimbursement and Other Benefits)
The Board may approve a plan for meeting the District's long-term obligations to fund contributions to the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) which, to the extent possible, minimizes significant increases in annual general fund expenditures towards pension obligations. The plan may include prefunding required pension contributions through the California Employers' Pension Prefunding Trust Program pursuant to Government Code 21710-21716.
Budget Amendments
No later than 45 days after the Governor signs the annual Budget Act, the Superintendent or designee shall make available for public review any revisions in budgeted revenues and expenditures which occur as a result of the funding made available by that Budget Act. (Education Code 42127)
Whenever revenues and expenditures change significantly throughout the year, the Superintendent or designee shall recommend budget amendments to ensure accurate projections of the District's net ending balance. When final figures for the prior-year budget are available, this information shall be used as soon as possible to update the current-year budget's beginning balance and projected revenues and expenditures.
In addition, budget amendments shall be submitted for Board approval when the state budget is adopted, collective bargaining agreements are accepted, District income declines, increased revenues or unanticipated savings are made available to the District, program proposals are significantly different from those approved during budget adoption, interfund transfers are needed to meet actual program expenditures, and/or other significant changes occur that impact budget projections.
Legal Reference:
EDUCATION CODE
1240 Duties of county superintendent of schools
33127-33131 Standards and criteria for local budgets and expenditures
35035 Powers and duties of superintendent
35161 Powers and duties, generally, of governing boards
42103 Public hearing on proposed budget; requirements for content of proposed budget
42122-42129 Budget requirements
42130-42134 Financial certifications
42140-42141 Disclosure of fiscal obligations
42238-42251 Apportionments to districts, especially:
42238.01-42238.07 Local control funding formula
42602 Use of unbudgeted funds
42605 Tier 3 categorical flexibility
42610 Appropriation of excess funds and limitation thereon
45253 Annual budget of personnel commission
45254 First year budget of personnel commission
52060-52077 Local control and accountability plan
GOVERNMENT CODE
7900-7914 Appropriations limit
21710-21716 California Employer's Pension Prefunding Trust Program
CODE OF REGULATIONS, TITLE 5
15060 Standardized account code structure
15440-15451 Criteria and standards for school district budgets
15494-15497 Local control funding formula, supplemental and concentration grant expenditures
Management Resources:
CSBA PUBLICATIONS
Local Control Funding Formula 2013, Governance Brief, August 2013
State Priorities for Funding: The Need for Local Control and Accountability Plans, Fact Sheet, August 2013
School Finance CD-ROM, 2005
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PUBLICATIONS
California School Accounting Manual
New Requirements for Reporting Fund Balance in Governmental Funds, January 7, 2011
FISCAL CRISIS AND MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE TEAM PUBLICATIONS
Fiscal Oversight Guide for AB 1200, AB 2756 and Subsequent Related Legislation, September 2006
GOVERNMENT FINANCE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
Best Practice: Appropriate Level of Unrestricted Fund Balance in the General Fund, 2009
GOVERNMENTAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD STATEMENTS
Statement 54, Fund Balance Reporting and Governmental Fund Type Definitions, March 2009
Statement 45, Accounting and Financial Reporting by Employers for Post-employment Benefits Other Than Pensions, June 2004
Statement 34, Basic Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis - For State and Local Governments, June 1999
WEB SITES
CSBA: http://www.csba.org
Association of California School Administrators: http://www.acsa.org
California Department of Education, Finance and Grants: http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg
California Department of Finance: http://www.dof.ca.gov
Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team: http://www.fcmat.org
Government Finance Officers Association: http://www.gfoa.org
Governmental Accounting Standards Board: http://www.gasb.org
Legislative Analyst's Office: http://www.lao.ca.gov
School Services of California, Inc.: http://www.sscal.com
Policy CARLSBAD UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
adopted: July 26, 2006 Carlsbad, California
revised: March 24, 2010
revised: February 9, 2011
revised: February 8, 2012
revised: June 4, 2014
revised: August 19, 2015
revised: January 25, 2017
revised: November 13, 2019