Artifact #2

Budget Document Review

Corey S. Porterfield
EA 8840
Oakland University
April 2019
 All local school districts in Michigan are required to annually adopt a written budget and

to file a copy of that budget of that budget with the Michigan Department of Education. School

budgets are typically created by the superintendent, assistant superintendents, and approved

the board of education. School districts have to show revenue for each year equal to or greater

than the total expenses anticipated for that year. For this assignment, I plan to evaluate Lake

Orion Community Schools Enterprise Wide Budgetary Information Document for the Fiscal Year

2018-19.

To begin, this document did a great job of informing all stakeholders of how they were

affected by the 2018-19 annual budget. Under the general fund revenue assumptions, Lake

Orion taxpayers can find information on the property tax and state source revenues. This

information is useful for Lake Orion residents because they can see how their property taxes

are being spent in their local school district. Residents can also learn about the state source

revenue, federal source revenue, grants, and other financing sources for the school district.

Next, from reviewing this document teachers and staff in the Lake Orion school district

can identify some of the district priorities for the upcoming school year. They can discover what

new academic programs and going to be implemented, changes to the staff, salaries, and

retirement plans. The budget gives explicit information on how much of these priorities will

cost the school district.

Utility costs in a budget items that all businesses (and homes) incur each year. Utility

costs are on the rise each year, and Lake Orion school district has implemented an energy

efficiency strategy to address energy costs. The strategy plans to purchase new energy

management equipment, have project renovations, energy reducing building modifications, and
to increase employee awareness on energy conservation. All of these things will hopefully

reduce energy costs for the district in upcoming years.

Additionally, the Lake Orion Community Schools budget assumptions shared how the

expenditures from axillary services were being spent. You are able to find out how much money

each department is going to have for the year and the three year forecast. You are also able to

see the past two-year budget to compare it to the proposed budget. As a reader of the budget,

you can get a deeper understanding of how funds are being spent, and are planning to be spent

in the future.

Overall, I am very impressed how transparent this budgetary information document is

from Lake Orion Community Schools. As a community member, faculty or staff member, or

inquiring mind, you are able to see exactly what the district priorities are, the revenue stream,

and who had a part in creating the budget for the school district. The document was easy to

navigate, and the charts and graphs made it easy to understand all of the expenditures being

presented.