Pupil Count, Library Aid, Budget Report, School Days, Shared Cost Modification, Upcoming Mailings and Important Dates

Date: January 3, 2006

To: School District Administrators

From: David Carlson, Director
School Financial Services Team

Re: January Pupil Count Report - PI 1563 Information
2005-2006 Common School Fund (Library) Aid
2005-2006 Shared Cost Modification
2005-2006 Budget Report Amendments
School Days and Hours of Instruction
Upcoming Mailings and Important Dates

January Pupil Count Report - PI 1563 Information

Please route the following information to the individual(s) who completes the January Pupil Count Report, PI 1563, for your district. The pupil count date is Friday, January 13 and the report is due Monday, January 30.

The PI 1563 Internet Pupil Count Report is accessed through the Reporting Portal link on the School Financial Services Team website located at http://dpi.wi.gov/sfs/index.html. Pupil count report instructions and a spreadsheet are again available under the “Membership Report” link on the left hand scan bar or directly at dpi.wi.us/sfs/doc/guidelinesforcounting.doc and dpi.wi.us/sfs/xls/pi1563_worksheet.xls.

The PI 1563 Pupil Count Report program will close at the end of the day on Monday, January 30. Districts will receive a mailing dated February 1 indicating whether or not the district will have a required membership audit. This information will be posted to the team’s website on January 31. Districts that need to amend their pupil count after January 30 will do so either through the auditor process (if the district has a required membership audit) or by sending an e-mail to *dpisfsreports@dpi.wi.gov. Contact Janette Gosdeck, School Financial Services Team at (608) 267-9218 or by e-mail at Janette.Gosdeck@dpi.wi.gov should you have questions.

If your district is unable to hold school on January 13, a request for an alternative pupil count date must be submitted to the State Superintendent (s. 121.05(3) Wis. Stats). Address your request to Debbie Gaffney Dilley, School Financial Services Team, by e-mail at debra.gaffney-dilley@dpi.wi.gov . Please specify the alternative date that you are requesting. In most circumstances, the date should be either the Thursday before or the Monday after the Friday count date.

2005-2006 Common School Fund (Library) Aid

Each year school districts receive common school funds (library aid) that are to be used to purchase library books and other instructional materials. The funding source for this aid is income generated from the state’s common school fund, which is primarily derived from interest payments on loans made from the fund to municipalities and school districts by the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL). Under the Constitution, revenues from certain fines and forfeitures and the sale of public lands are also deposited in the common school fund.

The common school fund payment to districts for the 2005-2006 school year will be $ 22.32 per census student. This new figure is based upon the BCPL estimate of $28,200,000 being available for distribution as of April 15, 2006. Although this is an estimate and cannot be absolutely guaranteed, it is a conservative estimate and the department feels confident that this is the amount that will be distributed. Payments to districts will be made on Monday, April 24, 2006.

The calculation of each school district’s Common School Fund (library aid) is available on the team's website. Click on the "Aid Information" link on the left hand column scan bar of the team's home webpage or go to the website address: dpi.wi.us/sfs/comsch.html. Additional information about the Common School Fund can be found on the website referenced above. Reminder: districts must spend in the identified 222 000 400 function object accounts, an amount equal to the library aid they received within the fiscal year, as required by statute. Some districts will receive an additional letter enclosure in this mailing if the district in the 2004-2005 school year did not spend an amount equivalent to library aid received in that year.

2005-2006 Equalization Aid Shared Cost Modification

2005 Wisconsin Act 25 included a provision that under certain circumstances modifies 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 shared cost for equalization aid paid in the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school years. Section 121.07 (6)(am) states:

“(am) In par. (a), for the purpose of calculating state aid paid to a school district in the 2006-07 and 2007-08 school years, “shared cost” excludes any amount expended in the previous school year from the school district’s fund balance to pay the school district’s unfunded pension liability under the Wisconsin Retirement System or to pay debt service for debt issued to refinance the balance of the unfunded pension liability if the result of excluding such expenditures is an increase in state aid paid to the school district under 121.08.”

Any district that makes any type of principal and interest payment from their fund balance to reduce the unfunded liability portion under the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) is eligible for this shared cost adjustment. This refers to both payments made directly to WRS or for debt payments that are a result of the district borrowing money to then pay off the unfunded liability. Districts that would potentially receive more aid if this cost was not included shared cost would be those districts that are considered “negatively aided” on the second and third tiers of the equalization aid formula.

To utilize this new provision, districts will need to do the following:

1. The minutes of a school board meeting in 2005-2006 or 2006-2007 should reflect action taken by the board that the district is using fund balance to pay the school district’s unfunded pension liability under the Wisconsin Retirement System or to pay debt service for debt issued to refinance the balance of the unfunded pension liability.
2. On the 2005-2006 PI 1505 AC (Aid Certification) report indicate the total expenditure to WRS made for any portion of the unfunded liability or for payments made as a result of incurring debt to pay off the unfunded liability for the 2005-2006 school year. An additional line will be added to the PI 1505 AC for this purpose. Also on the report check the box that indicates that the district used fund balance to make these payments. It is the department’s interpretation that there is no other test required to indicate that fund balance was used to make the payments.
3. The PI 1505 AC certification page language will be modified to reflect the district’s attestation that the district incurred unfunded liability payment expenditures and used fund balance to do so.

The school district auditor will request that the district provide documentation that the board had taken action and the district had in fact made payments of the types referenced earlier. The auditor will attest to the board action and the amount on the PI 1506 AC.

The School Financial Services Team in the calculation of each school district’s equalization aid will add to or subtract from shared cost the expenditure referenced above only to the point that it increases the district’s aid eligibility. For instance, positively aided districts at all three tiers will want the expenditure included in shared cost while districts that normally would generate negative aid due to increased shared costs will want these costs excluded. Some districts may benefit by having only a portion of the expenditure added or subtracted as shared cost. These districts would typically be those that are at or near the cost ceiling and secondary guaranteed valuation.

This shared cost modification will be discussed at the spring finance workshops held in April.

2005-2006 Budget Report Amendments

Districts that officially amend their budget by school board action should also amend the PI 1504 Budget Report. This will ensure that the data used by the department in equalization aid estimates including the statutorily required July 1 aid estimate, uses the most accurate data available. Districts can amend their budget report data by entering the budget report program on the Internet and making the changes and clicking on the “Submit to DPI” button.

Note that districts can enter the reporting portal and view budget report data without a password. A password is required only when entering or amending budget report data.

Days and Hours of Instruction

Please refer to the attached document that provides information regarding required school days and hours of instruction.

Upcoming Mailings and Important Dates

Date	Event
January 13	Second Friday Pupil Count Date
January 17	Special Education Aid Payment
January 30	Transportation Aid Payment/PI 1563 Pupil Count Report Due
January 31	Transportation Aid Payment Mailing - District Notification of Required Membership Audit
February 1	Mailing – District Notification of Required Membership Audit
February 13	SAGE Aid Payment
February 21	Special Education Aid Payment
February 24	High Cost Special Education Claims Due
March 20	Special Education Aid Payment
March 27	Equalization Aid/Special Adjustment Aid Payment

Please contact one of the following School Financial Services Team consultants should you have questions:

Brad Adams	(608) 267-3752	bradley.adams@dpi.wi.gov
Lori Ames	(608) 266-3464	lori.ames@dpi.wi.gov
Karen Kucharz	(608) 267-9707	karen.kucharz@dpi.wi.gov

Enc: Common School Fund Letter (Some Districts)
School Days and Hours of Instruction

For questions about this information, contact dpifin@dpi.wi.gov (608) 267-9114

Last updated on 2/25/2008 12:03:52 PM