Skip To Main Content

Fund Balance Information

GeneralFundBalanceGraph

OUR DISTRICT’S FUND BALANCE POLICY – GENERAL FUND ONLY

  • The District shall strive to maintain a balance in the general fund that closely approximates the optimum fund balance prescribed by Texas Education Agency, as reported in the annual financial and compliance report.
  • The District’s Fund Balance policy targets an annual unassigned general fund balance of a minimum of between two months and three months of total operating expenditures.
  • The District’s Fund Balance Policy is found in Board Policy CE (Local)

 

WHAT ARE FUND BALANCES?

  • Districts use the General Fund to pay expenses related to instructing students.
  • Within the General Fund: Assets less Liabilities equals FUND BALANCE
  • Classification of Fund Balance include:  Non-Spendable, Restricted, Committed, Assigned, and Unassigned.
    • Non-Spendable – the portion of the gross fund balance that is not expendable or is legally earmarked for a specific use, such as inventories and outstanding encumbrances.
    • Restricted – amounts constrained to a specific purpose by the provider. Examples include technology and construction programs.
    • Committed – portion of the fund balance that is constrained to a specific purpose by the Board of Trustees.
    • Assigned – portion of the fund balance that is spendable or available for appropriation, but has been tentatively earmarked for some specific purpose by the Board of Trustees.
    • Unassigned – includes amounts available for any legal purpose.
       
  • The committed portion of the fund balance should be spent for the purposes specified; however, the commitment may be amended by the Board of Trustees at any time.
  • The Superintendent or designee shall be authorized to assign a portion of the fund balance as may be required to meet the financial needs of the district.
  • Fund Balance will fluctuate daily.

WHAT IS THE RECOMMEND LEVEL OF FUND BALANCES?

General Fund Balance

  • The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) recommends an unassigned General Fund balance of “no less than two and a half months of regular general fund operating expenditures.”
  • The Texas Education Agency (TEA) optimum General Fund balance calculation requires school districts to add two months of cash disbursements to amounts needed to cover any cash flow deficits.

Debt Service Fund Balance

  • Bond Financial Advisors recommend retaining in the fund balance the amount needed to fund the next bond payment.
  • The August 2024 bond payment was $ 10,794,110.  The remaining fund balance of $ 8,396,201, can only be used to pay off bond debt.  The District is planning on paying off allowable bond debt early in the Spring of 2025. 

Child Nutrition Fund Balance

  • The Department of Agriculture requires the Child Nutrition Fund Balance to be three months or less of average monthly operating expenditure.
  • The last three years White Settlement has had to submit an excess fund balance plan to the Department of Agriculture.  The excess is a by product of extra COVID funding received. The plan to spend the excess should be completed by the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year.

 

RECENT BUDGET ACTIVITIES AFFECTING WHITE SETTLEMENT ISD GENERAL FUND BALANCE

  • One June 17, 2024, the Board of Trustees approved the 2024-25 school budget. The budget included a deficit of 256,742.
  • One June 17, 2024, the Board of Trustees approved a Fund Balance Resolution as follows:

General Fund – Assigned Fund Balance

$2,601,197 for Building and Construction Projects
$ 1,391,385 for Technology and Other Future Purchases (Oil & Gas Royalties)
$750,000 ESSER Transition for Personnel Costs
$256,742 for 2024-25 deficit budget.
Total General Fund Balances Assigned as of June 30, 2024, is $ 4,999,324.

DebtServiceFundBalanceHistoryGraph
ChildNutritionFundBalanceHistoryGraph
GeneralFundBalanceActualvsOptimumGraph
ChildNutritionFundBalanceActualvsOptimumGraph