Why NOT use Fund Balance to lower the mill rate?

The school board keeps telling you that they must not use fund balance to lower the mill rate because it adversely impacts our bond rating, making it harder or more expensive to borrow money. Wait...aren't we DONE borrowing large amounts of money after this last set of bonds for the final phase of high school construction?

The school board's own policy says that there is money available in fund balance.
School board policy #DIBA, UNRESERVED, DESIGNATED FUND BALANCE says,

" The Board’s goal for the unreserved designated fund balance shall be ten percent ( 10%) of the annual proposed level of expenditures. All unreserved, undesignated funds shall be used for this purpose. "

Hold on...if there was $8,003,169.28 in the general "fund balance as of 7/1/09 (page 21 of the annual meeting booklet

...and the projected expenditures for this year are: $68,825,330.00 ((page 21 of the annual meeting booklet

...and 10% of that figure is $6,882,533

...then that means that they could use about $1,200,000 of fund balance to lower the tax levy (and mill rate) while still be meeting their "goal". And isn't a "goal" something one strives for (rather than MUST achieve)? And fund balance IS a "rainy day" fund, and folks, the economy suggests things do not get much rainier.

What does DPI say about how large fund balance should be?
How Large A Fund Balance?
Determination of an appropriate fund balance is a critical factor in district financial planning and budgeting processes, but it is strictly a local matter. The Department of Public Instruction makes no recommendation regarding the amount a district should have as its General Fund balance, except that the department encourages districts to seek legal counsel should they contemplate budgeting for and/or operating with a negative general fund balance.
As part of the budget process, the board must determine fund balance amounts to be:

• retained for working cash needs, recognizing that the working cash fund also serves as district's contingency or "rainy day" fund.


• used to fund expenditures of the next fiscal period, recognizing that if used for recurring expenditures, future budget decisions will revolve around finding resources to continue funding these expenditures.

The most commonly asked question regarding fund balance is how large should it be? Perhaps the best answer would be: "an amount sufficient that short term borrowing for cash flow could be avoided and would also allow the district to set aside sufficient assets to realize its longer range goals." However, this may not always be practical or politically possible. The school board must make a policy decision as to the extent they will borrow for cash flow rather maintaining a working cash balance.
- Wisconsin DPI on Fund Balance