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The school finance director finds the reasons for more than $4-million in found funds.
By ROBERT KING
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 30, 2001
BROOKSVILLE -- School district officials say a previously unexplained jump of more than $4-million in cash they have available for small construction projects has now been accounted for.
Two weeks ago, board members and district officials were at a loss to explain why their small projects budget -- which pay for things like new roofs, sidewalks or small additions -- had $6-million to spend this year. Last year, it had only $2-million.
Board members said they were sure there was a good explanation, but they had none to offer.
Carol MacLeod, their first-year finance director, said she hadn't closely examined the fund because all her time had been consumed with bringing clarity to the district's $88-million operating budget.
Now, after some review, MacLeod has some explanations:
Last year, the School Board received $1.6-million in state money that the state Department of Education said must be spent on Nature Coast Tech, the county's next high school. But it was not included in the small projects total. This year, all $2.2-million from that fund can be spent at any school in the county. So, it was included in the total.
Growth in the county's property tax base added $800,000 this year.
There was $1.4-million in cash from impact fee revenues that the district didn't spend last year. In fact, board members were not made aware of its availability and it stayed in an investment account. It was not listed with other revenue on the small projects budget.
MacLeod said state law requires the board to spend the $1.4-million within six years. Had board members been aware of it, they could have chosen to use it last year, she said. She plans to ask the board at an upcoming meeting what they want to do with the money.
MacLeod said she wasn't sure what former Superintendent John Sanders or MacLeod's two predecessors in the finance office had in mind for the money. She assumes it was put aside for the construction of Nature Coast Tech.
Sanders, now the superintendent in Lee County, could not be reached for comment.
In an interview Thursday with the St. Petersburg Times, his former finance director, Vince Benedict, said the money was to be spent on the district's next elementary school, a project expected to materialize in the next five years.
Benedict resigned as finance director more than a year ago to focus more on his battle against cancer. He was succeeded as finance director by Sara Perez, who quit for personal reasons after seven months on the job.
Even after Perez came aboard, Benedict remained on the district's payroll for a time as a finance consultant. Both had different approaches to accounting. And when Perez said the district's revenue wouldn't cover its $88-million operating budget, a year of financial uncertainty ensued.
In an absolute worst case, Perez said, the board could be over-extended by $5.9-million. But she said the amount would undoubtedly be less. Benedict disagreed, saying his budget was sound.
Unsure who to believe or how much money they had, Sanders and the board split the difference and, in December, cut $2.4-million from their budget.
It proved to be a sound move. Without the cuts, the district would have spent about $1.4-million more than it took in.
To some extent, the confusion two weeks ago over the giant increase in this year's small projects revenue was reminiscent of the head-scratching that went on a year ago.
School Board member Robert Wiggins said MacLeod's explanation of the small capital projects budget makes sense to him. But he was disappointed to learn that board members last year were not made aware of the availability of the $1.4-million in impact fee revenue.
"It may have been a good idea to set it aside for the new elementary school. But I would like to be made aware of it. I don't know who made that decision. I'm a little disappointed in that decision."
Gail Coleman, who was elected to the School Board last year in the middle of budget turmoil, said Thursday she hadn't seen a breakdown of MacLeod's explanation of the quirk with the small projects.
After a Times reporter described MacLeod's explanation, Coleman said it sounded reasonable. But she said it raises the question of why board members weren't aware that the $1.4-million in impact fee money was available. Some school projects might have been addressed with that cash, she said.
-- Times staff writer Robert King covers education in Hernando County and can be reached at 754-6127. Send e-mail to rking@sptimes.com.