Board Policy DC: Annual Operating Budget

In accordance with Georgia law and State Board of Education policy, a budget for the DeKalb County School District shall be prepared annually and submitted to the DeKalb County Board of Education for approval. In keeping with sound fiscal operation, the school budget should be based on tax revenues to be received during the fiscal year of the proposed budget.

The Board shall adopt budgets for all fund types for the fiscal year. The fiscal year shall be the period corresponding to the fiscal year for the State Department of Education, which is the calendar period July 1 through June 30 of the succeeding calendar year.

The Superintendent shall annually prepare and submit to the Board a draft budget for the coming fiscal year. The draft budget shall be submitted to the Board in sufficient time to allow thorough review and discussion of estimated revenues and proposed expenditures and to complete the steps necessary to assure adoption of a final budget prior to July 1 of the fiscal year in question.

Each year, the Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) shall inform the Superintendent of the estimated increase or decrease in the tax digest, including information such as the current digest, estimated new digest, current tax dollars, estimated tax dollars, and percent of increase or decrease in digest and tax dollars.

In April of each year, the Superintendent shall present to the Board the estimated budgeted expenditures for special revenue, debt service, capital outlay, enterprise, and trust and agency funds and the preliminary operating budget.

The Superintendent shall make a prioritized list of new or expanded programs to be considered by the Board should the Board believe there is adequate financing to implement any or all of the suggested programs. During its budget work sessions, the Board may offer suggested changes, which the Superintendent may or may not consider in the proposed budget.

The Superintendent shall be authorized to operate the District under the financial provisions of the budget. The Superintendent shall present a financial statement to the Board for each calendar month showing a comparison between the actual receipts and expenditures and the budgeted receipts and expenditures.

The Superintendent may approve adjustments of less than ten percent of the amount budgeted for expenditures in any budget function for any fund. The Superintendent shall report to the Board concerning such adjustments not later than the next regular meeting of the Board. If at any time during the budget year expenditure of funds in any budget function for any fund is anticipated to exceed by ten percent or more the amount budget for that function in the Board-approved budget, the Superintendent must request a budget amendment by the Board to authorize the additional anticipated expenditures.

The CFO is responsible for the development and preparation of the annual school budget and its presentation in orderly form to the Superintendent, in keeping with the dates and schedule as required by the DeKalb County Board of Education and the Georgia Department of Education. The CFO also is responsible to the Superintendent for the preparation and submission of all necessary monthly, annual, and periodic financial reports.

Public hearings on the budget will be held during the month prior to the formal adoption of the budget to receive feedback from citizens on the proposed budget. There shall be at least fifteen days between the initial presentation of the proposed budget to the Board of Education and the formal adoption of the budget. Two public hearings are to be held between the initial presentation and formal adoption of the budget.