(Economics, Accounting & Finance / Accounting & Book-keeping) the total amount of money allocated for a specific purpose during a specified period.
---FreeDictionary.com
Budgeting is the setting and allocation of the capital which is then used in the proper way to achieve the set or designated targets of the firm.
---Budget (Wikipedia)
The purpose of a budget is to establish spending limits on various functionalities (e.g., utilities, rent, salaries). The idea of course, is to stay within one's budget. Hmmmm. Sounds simple enough. You establish a budget and then limit your spending to stay within your budget.
Or....you can ride on the SPASD Funds Rollercoaster and just change the budget amount every month!
Whoa...say WHAT?
When the rest of us establish a budget for our homes, we do not adjust our budget based on the bills that come in each month. That defeats the purpose...right?So...why is the school district changing the budgeted amount for these five (and others) budget lines on a monthly basis?
Why would you do that?
Certainly, the big changes made in October reflect the "final" budget following the annual meeting. We find it interesting, though, that as a result of the annual meeting, approximately $600K of additional spending was authorized, largely on diversity and Response to Intervention (RTI) activities. How on earth does that translate to the huge increases we see here? What other reasons are there to explain it?
And why even bother making such minor changes as we see here? Between August and September, the budget line for OTHER NON-CAPITAL OBJECTS (490) was reduced by exactly $112. $112!!!! What Non-Capital object costing $112 did we suddenly decide not to buy?
With the exception of General Supplies (line 411) each of these other 4 lines saw budget changes amounting to less than 1% of the entire budget! Putting it into every day perspective, that's like a household which averages $100/month on its electric bill, or $1200/year budget, suddenly adjusting its annual budget to $1188. Why would you even do that?
We GET that the district makes (and the school board approves) quarterly budget adjustments. It may make sense to make minor coarse adjustments along the way...but EVERY month????
Move it over dad 'cause I'm a double-dipper!
Upside down on the zip-zip-zipper
1,2,1,2,3, I′ve got a ticket so ride with me
Mary go down on the merry-go-round
All is fair on the fair ground
Funds go slow, Funds go fast
These budget twists gonna whip your ass.
----Red Hot Chili Peppers (and the Ohio Players) -Love Rollercoaster
Posts
