by ConVal School Board Member Jim Fredrickson
February 10, 2021
The previous article in this series on District Finances discussed the three options for disposition of the remaining Fund Balance at the end of any given fiscal year:
- Appropriations to Trust Funds (“Transfer”)
- Retention of unassigned funds (“Retain”)
- Returned to the taxpayers when they are utilized by the Department of Revenue Administration in calculating the local education tax rate (reduction of District Tax Assessment) for the following fiscal year (“Return”).
Article 3 of this series discussed NH Emergency Order 38 which allowed the District to “retain” a portion of the FY19-20 unused funds to meet the unanticipated costs associated with COVID. That was a helpful albeit temporary solution.
This article will discuss proposed Warrant Article 12 – “Fund Balance Retention” which would establish a contingency fund that could be used – indefinitely – to meet the costs of unanticipated expenses that arise during the year.
For a detailed treatment of the topic, including a flowchart, please see this .pdf file.