SONOMA COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION
SCOE BIZ
Business Services
Bulletin No. 15-08
November 2014
November 21, 2014
To:
District/Charter Business Services
From:
Judy Thomson, Director Fiscal Services
Professional Development Reminders
Creditable Compensation Regulations Webinar ~ December 4, 2014
We encourage all payroll technicians and CBOs involved in determining employee's STRS creditable
compensation to attend this webinar. The webinar will address the changes that take effect January 1,
2015. Please see the November 17, 2014 e-mail from Erin Graves for a link to sign up.
LCAP Workshop ~ December 5, 2014
CBOs should attend this workshop with their LEA LCAP team.
Please sign up at: http://www.scoe.org/cs/public/print/htdocs/class.html?class_id=5859
State of the State
Year-to-date, General Fund revenues are up $1.033 billion, or 3.7% as compared to the forecast. Overall corporation
tax revenues are up $699 million (60.4%) year-to-date. Unlike personal income tax, which is up 5.3% for the year at
this point, year-to-date sales tax revenues are down 6.6%, or $528 million.
The 20th annual edition of the Legislative Analyst’s Office’s (LAO) The 2015-16 Budget: California’s Fiscal Outlook
was released on November 19, 2014. The following are some highlights:
o
For 2014-15, the minimum guarantee is up $2.3 billion from the 2014-15 State Budget Act level. As a result
of stronger state revenues and a provision in the 2014-15 State Budget Act that calls for repayment of
apportionment deferrals if actual revenues exceed the forecast, the LAO predicts that all of the $992 million
in remaining K-14 apportionment deferrals will be terminated by the end of the fiscal year. After paying off
the remaining deferrals, the LAO estimates that $1.5 billion will still be available for other one-time
purposes.
o
For 2015-16, the LAO forecasts a 4.1% increase in the guarantee, which provides $2.6 billion in new ongoing
funding. This increase, however, is financed wholly from an increase in the local property tax rather than
from the state General Fund.
o
The LAO does not anticipate the state will make a deposit into the newly created Proposition 98 reserve
(officially titled the Public School System Stabilization Account) approved by state voters under Proposition
2 on November 4th. Therefore, the cap on school district reserves would not be operative at any time
through this decade.
Non-Voter Approved Debt disclosure form and requirements … a Reminder
Education Code Section 17150 requires school districts to notify the County Superintendent of Schools and County
Auditor at least 30 days prior to the governing boards’ approval of the issuance of certificates of participation
(COPs) or other non-voter-approved debt secured by real property such as: Lease purchases (LP) secured by real
property; Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZABs) secured by real property; Revenue bonds; Energy Loans or Bond
Anticipation Notes (BANs). The law requires the district provide repayment schedules, evidence of the ability to
repay, and costs of issuance as well as information necessary to assess the anticipated effect of the debt issuance.
Within 15 days of the receipt of the information, the County Superintendent of Schools and the County Auditor are
authorized to comment publicly regarding the district’s capacity to repay the debt obligation, based on the
information provided.
General Obligation (GO) Bonds and Proposition 39 (55% Local Vote Bonds)
Traditional GO Bonds require 2/3 vote of the registered voters voting in the election. Under Proposition 39, which
was enacted in November 2000, schools can authorize GO Bonds with 55% voter approval. Proposition 39 bond
issuances include additional accountability requirements such as, including certain types of audits, provisions for
conducting elections, and establishing a Citizens Oversight Committee. Some requirements are listed below:
o
Following a bond election, the County Registrar of Voters will provide the school district calling the
election with the formal results in the form of a Certificate of Election Results. The governing board of the
school district is to enter the results of such election into its minutes and to certify such proceedings to the
County Superintendent of Schools, usually done in the form of a resolution. This action is normally taken at
the next regular meeting of the governing board of the school district after the certification is received. This
action must occur before the issuance and sale of the authorized bonds.
o
Ed Code Section 15278(a) requires that bond measures passed pursuant to Proposition 39 establish a
Citizens Oversight Committee (Committee). The initial members of the Committee must be established
within 60 days after the date that the governing board of the school district enters the results of the bond
election on its minutes. The governing board of the school district may also adopt policies, guidelines and
procedures to be applicable to the Committee once it is established. It is recommended that policies,
guidelines and procedures be adopted before members of the Committee are selected. The Committee
shall consist of at least seven (7) members to serve for a term of two (2) years, without compensation, and
for no more than two (2) consecutive terms. The Committee may not include any employer or official of the
school district or any vendor, contract, or consultant of the school district and must include certain member
types from the community.
o
Ed Code Section 15278 (b) requires certain documents relating to the Committee be made available on an
internet website maintained by the school district.
It is recommended that districts that have recently passed GO Bonds discuss regulatory requirements with their
bond or legal counsel. The California Debt Advisory Investment Committee (CDIAC) website
(http://www.treasurer.ca.gov/cdiac/ ) and California’s Coalition for Adequate School Housing (C.A.S.H.) website
(http://www.cashnet.org/ ) provide more detail information.
Transparency Requirements for Local Bonds
Two recently passed bills, Assembly Bill (AB) 2274 and AB 2551, add transparency requirements to local bonds that
become effective on January 1, 2015.
AB 2274 adds reporting requirements to debt from bonds already approved by voters. It requires agencies to
notify CDIAC of any proposed debt issuance, which would include refinancing and other secondary issuances. Prior
to AB 2274, LEAs were only required to notify CDIAC of any new debt issuance. CDIAC can now require any
information about the debt issuance “it considers appropriate” as part of the notification rather than limiting it to
the sale date, the name of the issuer, the type of debt, and the estimated principal. In addition, the bill reduces the
timeframe in which agencies shall notify CDIAC of a final debt sale from 45 days to 21 days after the sale or issuance.
The aforementioned CDIAC reporting requirements are applicable to any issuance of debt after January 1, 2015.
AB 2551 enhances transparency requirements for local bond elections, including Proposition 39 (2000) and twothirds vote general obligation bonds. The bill requires LEAs attempting to pass local bonds to submit to their local
elections office the total estimated debt service, including principal and interest, if all bonds are issued, as part of the
Tax Rate Statement required pursuant to Elections Code Sections 9400-9401. The aforementioned reporting
requirements are applicable to any issuance of debt after January 1, 2015
Audit extensions
SCOE Biz Bulletin 15-07 was e-mailed to all business managers on November 18, 2014. The Bulletin discussed the
submission and review process for June 30, 2014 audit reports. Audit reports for the year ended June 30, 2014 must
be filed with SCO, CDE and SCOE by December 15, 2014. If your district cannot meet this filing deadline, a written
request for an audit report filing extension is due to SCOE before November 26, 2014. Charters requesting an
extension must contact their sponsoring district.
Final Regulations for LCAP and LCFF Spending
The State Board of Education (SBE) approved the final regulations for the Local Control and Accountability Plan
(LCAP) and Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) spending requirements on November 14, 2014. The final
regulations will be sent to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for approval. Once the regulations are approved
by the OAL, the final regulations will become effective and take the place of the current emergency regulations.
More information will be provided at the December 5, 2014 LCAP Workshop.
CalPERS Circular October 22, 2014 – GASB 68 ~ see attached
Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) 68 Pension Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards is
effective beginning 2014-15. With the implementation of GASB 68, employers will be required to recognize a
liability as employees earn their pensions (STRS and PERS). For the first time, employers will recognize their net
pension liability, deferred inflows / deferred outflows of resources, and pension expense in their government-wide
financial statements (not the governmental fund statements). Not-for-profit charter schools that use the fullaccrual basis of accounting may need to report these amounts in their fund statement.
It is recommended each LEA begin having a conversation with their auditors regarding GASB 68. In addition,
CalPERS requests each employer respond by December 1, 2014 with the following information via e-mail to
CalPERS_GASB_68@calpers.ca.gov :
o Prior year end close dates
o Respond with the likelihood of requesting CalPERS to provide GASB 68 reporting information.
CalSTRS issued an Employer Information Circular in April that describes how CalSTRS will assist LEAs with GASB 68
implementation. See attached.
CalPERS expects to be ready to provide the information needed by LEAs in the spring of 2015. The information will
be provided on a fee for service basis with the fee expected to be set in early 2015.
LCFF Calculator - Updates
The following are updates regarding the FCMAT LCFF Calculator:
o LCFF Calculator V.15.3b is now out on the FCMAT website. This version includes minor changes from
version V.15.3a .
o Tab: District Class Size ~ The entry for 2013-14 Average Class Size at each school site should be "0" (zero).
Reminder: Records Retention Policy
The records retention requirements are explained in the Title V, California Code of Regulations 16023 - 16028.
A copy should be one that cannot be changed and represents a picture in time. Electronic information can be
scanned or kept in pdf form. Reports in dat file format do not necessarily meet the standards as software might
become obsolete in future years and thus the ability to retrieve the information could be lost.
Please note that SCOE considers the information submitted by districts and charters (such as interim/adopted
budget reports/etc.) as LEA records and that LEAs are responsible for retaining those records.
Dates to Remember:
11/27/2014
11/28/2014
12/15/2014
12/15/2014
12/17/2014
12/24/2014
12/25/2014
12/31/2014
01/01/2015
01/05/2015
Holiday
Holiday
First Interim Reports due to SCOE
W2 Workshop
1099 Workshop
Holiday
Holiday
Holiday
Holiday
P-1 Attendance due to SCOE
NOTE:
Documents that are presented at DBUG may be found at dp.scoe.org website under the
"DBUG/SCOE Bulletins" tab.