SACS Minutes, October 2014, Attachment C

PROPOSED SACS2015 SOFTWARE MODIFICATIONS

Global Changes

Remove the “Dual Budget, July 1” and “Dual Budget, September 8” dual budget reporting options and all related forms and processes, effective 2015–16 budget period. The dual budget reporting option was eliminated by Assembly Bill (AB) 2585 (Chapter 309, Statutes of 2014). All 2015–16 budgets are subject to the single budget adoption process.

Revise Fund Forms

• Forms 01/01I, 09/09I and 62/62I—Other State Revenue section.
  • Remove line for Object 8434, Class Size Reduction, K–3, effective
    2014–15. Although Object 8434 was obsolete due to Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), it was left open in SACS2014ALL for 2013–14 actuals to accommodate the final deferred payment.
    
    
• Form 56/56I—Other Sources/Uses section. Add new lines for the following object codes, effective 2014–15. Per Governmental Accounting, Auditing, and Financial Reporting (GAAFR), the proceeds of refunding bonds should be reported as an other financing use rather than as an expenditure. Affects county office of educations (COEs) and districts.
  • Sources section. Object 8979, All Other Financing Sources.
  • Uses section. Object 7699, All Other Financing Uses.

Revise Supplemental Forms

• Form A/AI—Average Daily Attendance (ADA)
  • Charter School ADA worksheet.
    Expand worksheet to classify charter school ADA into two categories: One section to report charter school ADA for charter schools that report financial data in the authorizing agency’s Fund 01; and a second section to report charter school ADA for charter schools that report financial data in the authorizing agency’s funds 09 and 62. This distinction of data is needed for extraction into Criteria and Standards, Criterion 2/4 LCFF Revenue, and into district Form MYP/MYPI, Unrestricted/Restricted worksheet, Section F, Recommended Reserves, Line F2, District ADA.
    
    
• Form CA—Unaudited Actuals Certification
  • Certification worksheet. Remove the “Selection of Budget Adoption Cycle” section. The dual budget reporting option was eliminated by AB 2585 (Chapter 309, Statutes of 2014).
    
    
• Form CEA/CEB—Current Expense Formula/Minimum Classroom Compensation
  • Part III, Deficiency Amount. Add a new Comments section for local educational agencies (LEAs) to provide an explanation for adjustments entered in Column 4b, Reductions (Overrides). Districts only.
  • Part III, Deficiency Amount. Add a new warning internal form check prompting users to provide an explanation for any adjustments entered in Column 4b, Reductions (Overrides). For the first year only (in SACS2015), this internal form check will have a warning severity, i.e, the user can still close the form without providing an explanation, and an explanation is not required to complete an official export. However, in SACS2016, this internal form check’s severity will be changed from warning to fatal; where the user can still close the form without providing the explanation, but the explanation must be provided in Form CEA/CEB to complete an official export. Districts only.
    
    
• Form GANN—Appropriations Limit Calculations
  • Update inflation adjustments on Line D2.
    
    
• Form MYP/MYPI—Multiyear Projections
  • Adjust the dollar amounts used in the Unrestricted/Restricted worksheet, Reserve Standard Percentage Level (Line F3d for COEs only) and Reserve Standard – By Amount [Line F3f for COEs and districts, and Line F7 for joint powers agencies (JPAs)], based on the adjustment to the statutory COLA factor made in the Criteria and Standards Review form.
  • Unrestricted/Restricted worksheet. Section F, Recommended Reserves.
    Districts only.
    Line F2, District ADA. Modify column A’s ADA extraction to exclude charter school ADA for charter schools that report financial data in the district’s funds 09 and 62. The modified ADA extraction will continue to extract district ADA; however the charter school ADA extraction will only include the ADA for charter schools that report financial data in the district’s Fund 01. The charter school ADA reported

Revise Criteria and Standards

• Form 01CS/01CSI—Criteria and Standards Review —Budget and Interim periods
  • Adjust deficit spending and fund balance levels for COEs, and reserve levels for all LEAs, based on prior year's statutory COLA factor.
  • LCFF Revenue Criterion 2, COEs only—Budget and Interim periods
    Continue revising due to LCFF, the SACS2014ALL redesign of Form A, and the November 2013 State Board Education (SBE) approved updates to the Criteria and Standards:
    • Budget period—Reactivate and redesign sections 2A, 2B, and 2D, which were temporarily disabled in SACS2014 during COE transition to full LCFF implementation. (Section 2C, Calculating the COE’s Projected Change in LCFF Revenue, was not disabled in SACS2014 because the percentages were used in Criterion 3, Salaries and Benefits, and Criterion 4, Other Revenues and Expenditures.)
    • Interim periods—Reactivate and redesign the criterion, which was entirely disabled in SACS2014ALL during COE transition to full LCFF implementation.
  • LCFF Revenue Criterion 2/4, COEs/Districts—Budget period only
    Section 2A/4A, Calculating the COE’s/District’s LCFF Revenue Standard
  • COE:
    • When Section 2A1 is reactivated and redesigned, the Change in Population, ADA (funded) extraction will exclude charter school ADA for charter schools that report financial data in the COE’s funds 09 and 62. The ADA extraction will include district and charter school ADA; however the charter school ADA extraction will only include the ADA for charter schools that report financial data in the COE’s Fund 01.
  • District:
    • Section 4A1, Calculating the District’s LCFF Revenue Standard. Step 1, Change in Population.
      Modify Line 1a, ADA (funded), ADA extraction to exclude charter school ADA for charter schools that report financial data in the district’s funds 09 and 62. The modified ADA extraction will continue to extract district ADA; however the charter school ADA extraction will only include the ADA for charter schools that report financial data in the district’s Fund 01.
  • Other Revenues and Expenditures Criterion 6, Districts/JPAs—Budget and Interim periods
    • Section 6A, Calculating the District’s/JPA’s Other Revenues and Expenditures Standard Percentage Range, and
      Section 6B,Calculating the District’s Change by Major Object Category and Comparison to the Explanation Percentage Range
    • Revisit this criterion due to the measurement of change in funding level affected by various scenarios that include LEAs at target, LEAs below target that include gap funding and economic recovery target funding, and LEAs above target.
    • Budget period standard: Projected operating revenues (including federal, other state, and other local) or expenditures (including books and supplies, and services and other operating) for any of the budget year or two subsequent fiscal years, have not changed from the prior fiscal year amount by more than the percentage change in population and the funded cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) plus or minus ten percent.
      For each major object category, changes that exceed the percentage change in population and the funded COLA plus or minus five percent must be explained.
  • Facilities Maintenance Criterion 5/7, COE/District/JPA—Budget and Interim periods
    Revert the minimum contribution requirement of the Ongoing and Major Maintenance/Restricted Maintenance Account from 1 percent back to 3 percent. In SACS2009, the minimum contribution requirement was reduced from 3 percent to 1 percent, per Education Code (EC) Section 17070.766 and Senate Bill (SB) 70 (Chapter 7, Statutes of 2011), effective 2008–09 through 2014–15.

Technical Review Checks—New

• IC-PY-COMPARE
  • New informational supplemental technical review check (TRC)
  • Applies to Unaudited Actuals period only
  • Applies to Unaudited Actual data type only
  • Applies to all LEAs
  • The straight indirect cost percentage has changed by greater or less than 25 percent when compared to the prior year’s straight indirect cost percentage.
  • No rounding allowance

Technical Review Checks—Delete

• BDGT-ADOPTION-PRVDED—Delete fatal TRC for all periods and data types. This TRC requires that a budget adoption cycle is selected in Form CA, Unaudited Actuals Certification.

Technical Review Checks—Revise

• UNAUDIT-CERT-PROVIDE—Modify this TRC to no longer require the selection of a budget adoption cycle.

Revise Reports

• Reports SEMA/SEMB/SEMAI—Special Education Maintenance of Effort
  Report SEMA—LEA Exps CY and SELPA Exps CY worksheets
  Report SEMB—LEA Budget and SELPA Budget worksheets
  Report SEMA—LEA Projected and SELPA Projected worksheets
  • Local Expenditures section. Remove line for objects 8091/8099, Revenue Limit Transfers to Special Education. The combinations of Resource 6500, Special Education, with Object 8091, LCFF Transfers - Current Year, and Object 8099, LCFF/Revenue Limit Transfers - Prior Years, were closed effective 2013–14. (In 2014, CDE determined the “revenue limit” transfer to Special Education was a holdover from before the AB 602 funding model was implemented. There is no part of the LCFF calculation that is tied to amounts that should be transferred to Special Education.)