2011-2012 District Budget - San Antonio Independent School District

BUDGET POLICIES AND DEVELOPMENT PROCEDURES
Legal requirements for school district budgets are formulated by the State of Texas, the Texas
Education Agency (TEA), and the local District. This section deals with these requirements for
basic budget development, adoption, and submission.
STATEMENT OF TEXAS LAW
Section 44.001 through 44.006 of the Texas Education Code establishes the legal basis for budget
development in school districts. The following seven items summarize the legal requirements
from the code:
• The superintendent is the budget officer for the district and prepares or causes the budget
to be prepared.
• The District’s preliminary budget must be prepared by the date set by the State Board of
Education, currently August 20.
• The fiscal year of a school district begins on July 1 or September 1 of each year, as
determined by the board of trustees of the district.
• The president of the Board of Trustees must call a public meeting of the board members,
giving ten days public notice in a newspaper, for the adoption of the District budget. Any
taxpayer in the District may be present and participate in the meeting.
• No funds may be expended in any manner other than as provided for in the adopted
budget. The board does have the authority to amend the budget or adopt a supplementary
emergency budget to cover unforeseen expenditures.
• The budget must be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principals (GAAP) and state guidelines.
• The budget must be legally adopted before the adoption of the tax rate.
TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY (TEA) LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
Additional requirements imposed by the TEA for school district budget preparation are as
follows:
• The budget must be adopted by the Board of Trustees, inclusive of amendments, no later
than August 31.
• Minutes from the District’s board meeting will be used to record budget adoption and
amendments to the budget.
• Budgets for the General Fund, the Food Service Fund (whether accounted for in the
General Fund, a Special Revenue Fund or an Enterprise Fund) and the Debt Service fund
must be included in the official District budget (legal for fiscal year basis). This budget
must be prepared and approved at least at the fund and function level to comply with the
state’s legal level of control mandates.
59