[00:00:01]
CLOSED CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY BUFORT COUNTY PM SO WE'LL GO AHEAD AND START THE MEETING.
UH, IS THERE AN APPROVAL, UH, A RECOMMENDATION FOR APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA? YES, SIR.
PASSES TO, UH, PLEASE JOIN FOR A PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
I PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS.
ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, LIBERTY, JUSTICE FOR ALL.
UH, STATEMENT OF MEDIA NOTIFICATION.
MS. FIBE? WE'RE GOOD? YES, MA'AM.
PUBLIC COMMENTS, CHECK TO MAKE SURE NONE HAVE COME IN.
UM, MS. HAY, WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE JUNE 12TH MINUTE MEETING MINUTES? SO MOVED.
CFO, BOARD MOTION BUDGET REPORT.
UH, SO WE HAVE THE FOR YOU TODAY.
UM, THE FIRST ITEM IS THE BOARD MONTHLY BUDGET REPORT.
SO THIS IS FOR A, AS OF THE MONTH, UH, UM, SO YEAR TO DATE AS OF FALL IS SEVENTH, 2025.
WE TRY TO, WE DON'T CUT IT OFF AT THE END OF THE MONTH.
WE JUST GIVE YOU THE MOST, UH, IN UP TO DATE INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE, UH, DURING THESE, UH, AT THE TIME OF THE MEETING.
SO NOT MUCH TO REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF JULY,
SO BARE MINIMAL, UM, SOME OF THOSE EXPENSES TRAVEL AND THINGS SOMETIMES LAG A LITTLE BEHIND.
SO WE'LL SEE THOSE IN THE NEXT MONTH.
UM, SO ONLY, UH, SO WE HAVE $20,000 OF SPENDING.
UM, THE MAJORITY OF IT WAS, UH, BOARD STIPENDS AND, UH, SALARIES AND BENEFITS BASICALLY OF THE STAFF IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES.
UM, REALLY HARDLY ANY EXPENDITURES OTHER THAN THAT.
UH, I DID TAKE ANOTHER LOOK JUST TO MAKE SURE, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME OF OUR LARGEST EXPENDITURES IN THIS BUDGET ARE THE AUDIT, UH, WHICH WE, UH, WON'T PROBABLY HAVE BILLING FOR TILL LATER IN THE FALL.
UH, WE ARE BEGINNING, UH, WELL WE BEGAN IN THE SPRING ON OUR AUDIT, BUT, UH, WE ARE CONTINUING TO DO THAT.
WORK IS RAMPING UP RIGHT NOW AND INCREASING AS WE BEGIN THE AUDIT PROCESS.
UM, LEGAL SERVICES IS ANOTHER AREA, NO EXPENDITURES YET.
AND, UM, THE NEXT, UH, AREA IS ON PAGE TWO OF THE THREE PAGE DOCUMENT, AND THAT IS COMMUNICATION, WHICH IS, UM, A LITTLE BELOW, HALFWAY DOWN.
UM, 70,000 IS THE BUDGET THAT ENCOMPASSES BOTH THE DILIGENT SOFTWARE, WHICH IS OUR BOARD DOCS, UM, DOCUMENTS SYSTEM.
AND, UH, THIS IS ALSO OUR BROADCASTING WITH THE COUNTY CHANNEL.
SO THE, THOSE EXPENSES WILL COME IN AS WELL.
SO, NOTHING MUCH TO REPORT THIS TIME.
UM, BUT, UH, WE'LL HAVE A LOT MORE PROBABLY NEXT MONTH.
UM, UH, MR. IS PASTOR ISAAC IS THE ONLY OTHER BOARD MEMBER OTHER THAN ELIZABETH THAT'S ONLINE.
SO WE HAVE THE TRANS MONTHLY TRANSPARENCY REPORTS FOR BOTH MAY AND JUNE.
UH, I GUESS WE CAN TAKE ONE AT A TIME.
AND SO WE'LL START WITH THE MONTH OF MAY.
UM, THAT REPORT, UH, A LITTLE OVER A HUNDRED PAGES THAT APPEARS.
UM, SO I THINK WE MENTIONED, OR OR DISCUSSED INTERNALLY THAT, UH, WE HAVE ABOUT APPROXIMATELY 10,000 TRANSACTIONS A MONTH.
IS THAT RIGHT? UH, LINE ITEMS, CHECKS, LINE ITEMS, CHECKS AND PCARD ALL TOGETHER, LINE ITEMS, CHECKS AND PCARD AND LINE ITEMS ON THE TRANSPARENCY REPORT.
SO IF YOU THINK ABOUT THAT, OVER A COURSE OF 12 MONTHS, THAT 120,000, NO, I THINK WE'RE AT 6,000, SORRY, WE'RE AT 6,000, AND THEN 6,000, WE DID THAT.
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TIMES 12 IS 78,000.UM, EVERY ONE OF THESE TRANSACTIONS IS AUDITED BY THE PROCUREMENT DEPARTMENT, UH, LINE ITEM, UH, EVERY MONTH.
AND SO, UM, I'D BE HAPPY TO PICK ANY QUESTIONS.
UH, MADAM, CFOI HAVE ONE JUST IN VIEW OF THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING TO ADJOINING COUNTY.
WHEN THE AUDIT OCCURS, THEY, I'M PROB I THINK THEY PROBABLY REVIEW THIS SECTION AS WELL IN DETAIL SAMPLE.
AND THEY'LL DO A SAMPLE FROM CHECK AND THEY DO A SEPARATE SAMPLE FROM PCARD AND THEY DO A SEPARATE SAMPLE FROM LARGE, UH, TRANSACTIONS FOR CONTRACTS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECTS.
SO THERE'S MULTIPLE SAMPLES THAT ARE PULLED, UM, AND PAYROLL.
A LOT OF SALARIES AND BENEFIT AND INFORMATION THAT THEY TIE BACK TO THE SALARY SCHEDULES.
HOW, WHAT DID THE EMPLOYEE, WERE THEY PAID AND HOW DOES THAT RELATE BACK TO THE AMOUNT THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN PAID? PERFECT.
UM, THE MONTH OF JUNE, TRANSPARENCY REPORT, JUST BEHIND THAT ONE.
UM, ALSO, UM, I THINK, UH, JUNE WAS DOWN A LITTLE, UH, BECAUSE YOU KNOW, OF COURSE MANY PEOPLE ARE FULL, IS OUT FOR THE MOST PART.
AND, UM, THEY WRAPPED IT UP THEIR SPENDING FOR THE YEAR, GEARING UP FOR THE NEW YEAR.
SO USUALLY A FEW LESS TRANSACTIONS THERE.
UM, BUT, UH, I'LL BE HAPPY TO TAKE ANY, ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE ON JUNE'S TRANSPARENCY, MS. HAY, ANY, UM, QUESTIONS YOU HAVE, MA'AM? NO, SIR.
ANYONE ELSE MOVING THAT ALONG? UM, THE A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS REPORT, WE HAVE BOTH THE, UM, THE CONSOLIDATED REPORT, I BELIEVE IS FIRST, UH, WE'VE HAD A NUMBER OF ITEMS HERE.
WE HAVE A TWO PAGE REPORT AS THE CONSOLIDATED.
UM, JUST NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS, UH, APPLIED DATA, THAT WOULD BE OUR, UM, UH, WELL, THAT WOULD BE OUR STUDENT DEVICES.
UM, SO WE HAD, UH, MORE IN THE PRIOR YEAR.
ACTUALLY, I THINK THE REASONING FOR THIS IS BECAUSE WE PURCHASED OUR DEVICES IN APRIL THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF TARIFF.
YEAH, THOSE WOULD BE IN THE LAPTOPS WOULD BE IN THE MILLIONS.
UH, BUT THE TIMING IS DIFFERENT THIS YEAR AS THE MONTH.
UM, FROM, FROM THAT WE PURCHASED THE OTHERS EARLIER.
SO, UM, AJAX IS A MAJOR CONTRACTOR, GENERAL CONTRACTOR FOR THE DISTRICT, MORE CONSTRUCTION THIS YEAR.
UM, AND SO THAT IS THROUGHOUT DISTRICT.
I, I DON'T HAVE THE SPECIFIC, UH, CONSTRUCTION SERVICES FOR THE CURRENT FISCAL YEAR.
THAT WOULD BE BUFORT MIDDLE SCHOOL, THE DISTRICT OFFICE, LADIES ISLAND, L JAMES, J DAVIS, SHALIN, ROBERT, SMALL ST.
SO WE HAVE A LOT MORE SCHOOLS THAN THE PREVIOUS YEAR, WHICH WOULD, WERE ONLY THREE SCHOOLS THIS TIME THAT WERE BEING WORKED ON.
WHERE NOW WE HAVE EIGHT, SO GOT FIVE MORE LOCATIONS THIS YEAR THAN LAST.
CAN I JUST NOTE ONE THING I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU'VE DONE IN THE REPORTING, UH, BY LISTING THE INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS, IT'S VERY EASY TO GO BY AND SAY THERE ARE EIGHT SCHOOLS ON THE CONSTRUCTION OR WHATEVER THIS YEAR VERSUS THREE LAST YEAR.
SO MADE IT VERY EASY TO DO THOSE.
CHAIRMAN DEPARTMENT LEADS THAT UP.
UM, OTHER NOTABLE AREAS, GILBERT CARTER SEAS IS AN ARCHITECT SERVICE, WHICH IS, UM, SO WE HAVE THE ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES OF THE DESIGN OF THINGS THAT, UH, THE CONSTRUCTION AND RENOVATIONS GOING ON HERE AT THE DISTRICT OFFICE THIS YEAR.
SO THAT IS, UM, SOMETHING NOTABLE, UH, A DIFFERENCE FROM THE PRIOR YEAR.
AND THAT WAS OBVIOUS AS YOU WALKED THROUGH THE VOLUNTEER INVOLVED THAT'S GOING ON.
UM, LITTLE DIVERSIFIED THAT IS THE HILTON HEAD HIGH SCHOOL ARCHITECT.
SO THAT IS A BIG DIFFERENCE THERE AS WELL, WHICH SEE THAT COMING ALONG VERY WELL IN ECON CONSTRUCTION.
AGAIN, NOTABLE, UH, INCREASES IN THE NUMBERS OF SCHOOLS AND THE, AND THE SCOPE OF THE WORK AT CERTAIN SCHOOLS LIKE HILTON HEAD HIGH SCHOOL, FOR EXAMPLE.
UM, IT BEING ONE THAT'S, UH, IN THE, UM, UH, THE EXPENSIVE PART OF THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE,
[00:10:01]
THAT YES, MECHANICAL AIR CONDITIONING.YEAH, THEY'RE WORKING ON THIS BUILDING.
THIS, THIS IS THE BUILDING THAT WE'RE RECOGNIZING, UH, THAT IS AT LEAST ONE.
MY CLINIC IS, WELL, I DON'T SEE
WE HAVE AN RFP FOR EIGHT FOR DISTRICTWIDE HVAC SERVICES NOW.
SO THEY SERVICE ANY AREA THAT'S AN IMMEDIATE NEED AND GOES THAT.
I WILL DEFINITELY MAKE A NOTE TO YOU INSTEAD OF PUTTING DISTRICTWIDE HVAC SERVICES TO LIST THE LOCATION THAT THEY'RE AT FOR THAT EXPENSE.
MR. CHAIRMAN, UM, THIS NEEDS GO TO THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE.
I, I WANT VALUE ANALYSIS 'CAUSE I'M NOT HAPPY MM-HMM
WITH OUR CONDITIONING STATUSES IN THE DISTRICT, AND IF THEY HAVE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THAT, A VALUE ANALYSIS OF MUCK, PLUMBING, AND MECHANICAL SHOULD BE DONE.
THERE IS ANOTHER VENDOR, JUST FOR CLARITY, THERE'S ANOTHER VENDOR ON THAT RFPD ONE.
THERE ARE TWO THAT IS LOW COUNTRY.
AND I, I WANNA ADD TO THAT, UM, THESE TWO VENDORS WERE ADDED AS SPECIFICALLY TO ADDRESS, UH, WITHIN THE LAST YEAR TO ADDRESS THE, THE NUMBER OF HVAC ISSUES.
SO THESE WERE BROUGHT IN, IN ADDITION RELATIVELY RECENTLY, UM, YES.
SEVERAL MONTHS AGO TO ADDRESS ADDITIONAL AND TO HELP SUPPORT THAT, THOSE ISSUES.
SO THAT IS, THAT WAS THE
UM, OTHER AREAS, UH, SOURCE FOR TEACHERS, UH, WE ARE HAVE SHIFTED, THIS IS FOR MAY.
SO THIS WOULD BE SUBSTITUTE NURSES IN THE CURRENT YEAR, CLERICAL AND TEACHER SERVICES.
AND SO, UM, YOU SEE AN INCREASE THERE HERE ON MAY OR JUNE.
MAY, UM, I'LL PULL IT UP AND SEE IF THERE'S A MAYBE LATE BILLING ABOUT THIS TIME.
IT'S USUALLY THEY'RE SHOVING ALL INVOICES IN ONE PLACE AND IT'S NOT ONE INVOICE, IT'S MULTIPLE INVOICES COMING IN, SO IT COULD WEEK PER, BUT, UH, THERE SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A MAJOR CHANGE IN THE CONTRACT DURING THAT PERIOD OF TIME.
AND WHEN WE STARTED THE NEW YEAR, WE'RE GOING TO SEE, UH, UH, WE'RE GONNA SEE REDUCTIONS IN OUR PAYMENTS TO SOURCE FOR TEACHERS BECAUSE THE FULL-TIME TEACHER ASSISTANTS HAVE BEEN, UH, OFFER THE ABILITY TO COME BACK IN-HOUSE AND MANY OF THEM HAVE TAKEN THAT HOME.
SO WE WILL SEE THAT, UM, THIS CONTRACT DECREASING THE PAYROLL IN OUR TEACHER ASSISTANTS INCREASING IN THE NEW FISCAL YEAR.
UM, THOMPSON TURNER CONSTRUCTION, AGAIN, MORE PROJECTS GOING ON.
UH, THEY ARE IN DISTRICT OFFICE AS WELL.
UM, THAT IS ONE AREA AND, UH, SEVERAL OTHER SCHOOLS AS WELL.
SO THAT INCLUDES THE MAY REPORT.
ANY QUESTIONS ON THAT MAY ANSWER YOUR BILLING QUESTION ON SOURCE OF TEACHERS, UM, THAT MONTH IN, UM, MAY, WE PAID FOR A, A LARGE INCREASE IN TEACHER ASSISTANCE.
SO THEY BROUGHT IN ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE INTO THE SCHOOLS THAT MONTH.
UM, I'M ASSUMING THAT WAS PROBABLY FOR TESTING? YES.
AND SO THAT'S WHERE THE BILLING CAME FROM.
IT WAS ADDITIONAL, THERE'S A LARGE SECTION THAT'S ADDITIONAL TEACHER ASSISTANTS.
IS THAT IT FOR THE TWO REPORTS, MADAM? THE CFO? YES, SIR.
UM, THEY'RE AT THE LAST, THE END OF THE DETAILED REPORT IS A LIST OF AS REQUIRED BY BOARD POLICY CONTRACTS, ADDENDUMS AND ATTENDANCE.
MANY OF BUTCHER CAPITAL PROJECTS.
I THINK THERE'S ONE, UH, ONE CONTRACT AND ONE, UH, SURVEY VENDOR.
BUT OTHER THAN THAT, THEY'RE ALL CONSTRUCTION, UM, THAT ARE LISTED THERE.
UH, THAT CONCLUDES MY CONTRIBUTIONS.
ANY, UH, QUESTIONS, UH, COMMENTS, MS. HAY? ONLY COMMENT IS I AM IN SUPPORT OF EVERYTHING TO DO WITH OUR HVAC SYSTEMS AS HILTON HAD, HAS BEEN HAVING PROBLEMS AT THEIR SCHOOLS.
UM, WHICH I WAS HEARING FROM FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS YESTERDAY.
LUCKILY, DR. RODRIGUEZ IS ALWAYS ON THE CASE
[00:15:01]
AND HANDLED IT FOR TODAY, BUT I KNOW THESE UNITS JUST CAN'T SEEM TO TAKE OUR EXTREME TEMPERATURES HERE.SO STAYING ON TOP OF ALL OF THAT IS JUST REALLY IMPORTANT.
UH, COLONEL GUY, UH, WHO IS, UM, OH, PA PASTOR GORDON.
GORDON GORDON IS ON, AS WELL AS WILLIAM, PASTOR GORDON.
ANY COMMENTS, SIR? NO, NO COMMENTS.
MR. SMITH? ANY COMMENTS, SIR? UH, YES, UH, I HAVE, I, I WAS WONDERING, UH, AND, AND, AND, AND THIS, UM, I, I UNDERSTAND I WAS, UH, TALKING TO SOMEONE AND, AND I WAS UNDERSTANDING THAT ON THE, UH, ON, ON THE AIR CONDITION USE, THAT WE, WE ACTUALLY HAVE SOMEONE THAT WE HAD THAT GOES TO THE BUILDING AND THAT, THAT WE PAID TO GO TO THE BUILDING EVERY, EVERY MORNING OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO CHECK SOME OF THE AIR TEMPERATURES AT THE SCHOOLS.
UH, HOW, HOW, HOW, HOW DOES THAT WORK? IS, ARE THEY A PART OF THE, UM, BASICALLY WHAT, WHERE, WHERE DOES THAT, WHERE DOES THAT, WHERE DOES THE FUNDING FOR THAT COME FROM? IS MY QUESTION? BETTER YET, OUR INVOLVEMENT WITH THE, UH, CONTRACTORS FOR HVAC HAVE BEEN TO BUDGET APPROPRIATELY FOR THE AMOUNTS AND TO TRACK THE SPENDING.
SO AS FAR AS THE LOGISTICS OF WHO GOES WHERE AND WHEN, THAT WOULD BE A QUESTION FOR MR. INGS TEAM, UM, THAT I WOULD NOT HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF.
SO, I'M SORRY, THAT'S, IF, IF I COULD TAG ONTO THAT, UH, THE COLONEL HAS ASKED US TO FORWARD THE HVAC THE VALUE ANALYSIS, WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL.
SO MR. SMITH, WE'LL TAG THIS ON AND ASK FOR SPECIFIC RESPONSES ON THAT PARTICULAR ITEM AS WELL.
UM, AND AGENDA ITEM WE'RE ON IS THE DISCUSSION OF THE ANALYTICS, OR WHICH IS THAT WE'RE MM-HMM
SO WE HAVE AN EXCITING TOPIC FOR YOU TODAY.
UM, I HOPE YOU'LL BE AS EXCITED ABOUT IT AS WE WERE WHEN WE, UM, BEGAN THIS, UH, OR, OR HAVE GONE THROUGH THIS PROCESS TO DEVELOP A TRANSPARENCY PACKAGE OR A, A GROUP OF ANALYTICS THAT WILL GIVE YOU, UM, MORE OF A VISUAL ASPECT AND REALLY A STRATEGIC ASPECT OF LOOKING AT THE TRANSPARENCY REPORT.
UM, WE, INSTEAD OF WE WOULD BE, WHAT WE ARE RECOMMENDING TODAY WOULD JUST WOULD COMPLETELY COMPLY WITH EVERY BOARD POLICY AND DIRECTIVE OR ADMINISTRATIVE RULE THAT WE HAVE CURRENTLY IN PLACE.
UM, BUT IT JUST SHOWS IT IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
UM, IT SHOWS VISUALLY, AND I THINK THAT YOU'LL BE MUCH HAPPIER WITH THIS, UM, ANALYSIS.
UM, SO, UH, THE TEAM HAS WORKED ON A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT THINGS.
WE BEGAN, UH, WITH MS. PHILLIPS WORKING ON A HEAT MAP KIND OF, UH, STRATEGY.
AND THEN, UM, MS. JINGER TOOK ON, UH, A, A MORE OF A, AN APPROACH WITH THE CURRENT SOFTWARE SYSTEM THAT SOME OF OUR STAFF ARE USING THIS SOME SORT OF UP AND COMING AND VERY MODERNIZED.
AS WE BEGAN TO DO THE WORK, IT PROBABLY HAS SOME AI FEATURES IN IT THAT WE DON'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT.
AND I'M NOT GONNA STEAL MISSING HER THUNDER.
SHE'S GONNA GET THE PRESENTATION TODAY.
SO I'M GONNA TRY TO WRAP THIS UP.
UM, BUT SHE IS ABLE TO PULL YOUR DATA INTO A SYSTEM WHERE WE CAN PULL OUT SUMMARIES BY MANY DIFFERENT CATEGORIES.
AND WE WE'RE GIVING YOU A VISUAL OF THAT TODAY, A SUMMARY.
SHE'S GONNA SHOW SOMETHING ON A, UH, SOME GRAPHS ON A SCREEN, AND THEN WE'LL TALK MORE.
UH, YOU HAVE A, A SUMMARY OF SORT OF WHAT WE'VE ATTENDED INTENDED TO ACCOMPLISH, BUT THE ULTIMATE, UH, SO WE'RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH MANY THINGS, BUT THAT IS, UM, EFFICIENCY FOR OUR STAFF AS WELL AS A REALLY STRATEGIC APPROACH AT LOOKING AT THE FINANCES.
SO NOT JUST LOOKING AT LINE, LINE BY LINE BY LINE, BUT LOOKING AT WHERE THE LARGEST SPENDING IS HERE, OR THE VARIANCES THAT WE'RE SEEING.
AND WE INTEND TO COME BACK WITH THOSE VARIANCES AND PROVIDING NARRATIVES TO YOU IN ONE, IN A PAPER REPORT, UM, AS WELL AS BEING ABLE TO SHOW YOU ALONGSIDE THE VISUALS.
[00:20:01]
UM, I'M GONNA STOP TALKING NOW BECAUSE OFFER AND HAVESO I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO MS. JUNIOR.
I WAS VERY EXCITED TO GET THIS.
UM, I COLLABORATED WITH NOT ONLY TECHNOLOGY, BUT ISV TO SEE WHAT EVERYBODY WHO'S USING.
YOU KNOW, WE ALWAYS PRESENT LOTS OF DATA ON TESTING AND ON EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATIONS AND WHERE WE ARE.
AND INSTEAD OF CREATING SOMETHING NEW OR BUYING SOMETHING NEW, CINDY AND I COLLABORATED AS WELL AND SAID, HEY, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THIS.
SO I FOUND OUR RESIDENT EXPERT, NICK FLOWERS, TO HELP ME PUT ALL THIS DATA TOGETHER AND A, IN A VERY MEANINGFUL WAY.
UM, AND THE FOUR CHARTS WE CHOSE TO SHOW YOU IS, UM, NOW THIS IS APRIL DATA.
AND THE REASON WE CHOSE APRIL WAS 'CAUSE THAT WAS A REPORT THAT WAS ALREADY APPROVED AND REVIEWED BY THE BOARD.
THAT'S THE LAST TRANSPARENCY REPORT THAT YOU REVIEWED OUTSIDE OF TODAY.
SO THE FIRST GRAPH WE GIVE YOU, THIS IS SPENDING BY FUND, EXCUSE ME, GRAPH FOR VISITING THE, UM, ORDERS.
NO, I, THIS IS LIVE, BUT AFTER I SHOW YOU THE GRAPH, I HAVE COPIES FOR ALL OF YOU TO TAKE 50 WITH YOU.
SO THE FIRST ONE WE'RE LOOKING AT IS GENERAL FUND.
AND YOU CAN SEE THE GENERAL FUND THAT WE SPENT FOR, UH, APRIL, AND THEN OUR SPECIAL REVENUE, HOW MUCH WE SPENT IN APRIL STATE, SPECIAL REVENUE, DEBT SERVICE, CAPITAL, FOOD SERVICE INSURANCE, STUDENT ACTIVITIES, LOCAL GRANTS, AND THEN STATE RESTRICTED FUNDS.
AS YOU CAN SEE, WHAT THIS DOES IS IT CREATES A SNAPSHOT OF NOT ONLY FOR YOU, BUT FOR THE REST OF THE FINANCE TEAM TO SEE HOW MUCH MONEY YOU'RE SPENDING FROM EACH FUND A MONTH.
HOW ARE WE EXPENDING OUR FUNDS AND WHAT IS STAYING EXPENDED THE MOST? WHERE ARE WE AT WITH CAPITAL? SO IT SERVES NOT ONLY A PURPOSE JUST TO SHOW US TRANSPARENCY, WHAT WE'RE SPENDING, BUT HOW MUCH WE'RE SPENDING WHERE, AND A GOOD COMPARISON TOOL.
THE NEXT ONE WE HAVE IS OUR TOP 25 EXPENDITURE AREAS.
THIS WAS ONE THAT WAS, UM, REQUESTED BY THE COMMITTEE.
SO YOU CAN SEE WHERE MOST OF OUR MONEY IS BEING SPENT MONTHLY.
UM, FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL, OUR TOP EXPENDITURE WAS TECHNOLOGY AND SOFTWARE SUPPLIES WITH 5.2 MILLION BUILDINGS, SECURITY AND TECH AND TECH ENHANCEMENT 3.7 BUILDING AND FINISHES 2.3 FOOD SERVICE, DIRECT PURCHASES, 1.2 AND THEN IT GOES DOWN.
TECHNOLOGY WAS THE LAPTOP PURCHASES THAT WE BOUGHT FOR STUDENTS AT A ONE TIME OF A YEAR, AND WE BOUGHT IT THE MONTH OF APRIL DUE TO PENDING POTENTIAL TARIFFS.
SO THAT, THAT'S, THAT, THAT'S WHY THE LARGE NUMBER SOUNDS, AND A, AND A HUGE REMINDER THAT THIS REPORT IS TRANSPARENCY INCLUDES PCARD AND CHECKS FOR GOODS AND SERVICES.
THIS EXCLUDES SALARIES AND BENEFITS.
SALARIES AND BENEFITS ARE NOT IN A TRANSPARENCY REPORT, UM, AS STATE LAW REQUIRES.
SO WE GO DOWN, WE EVERYTHING FROM INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM AND FREQUENT SERVICES, TECH PURCHASE SUPPORT, LICENSE COMMUNICATION, LIBRARY, BOOKS, MATERIALS, AND THEN GROUNDS AND NON-ATHLETIC.
UM, AND WE ONLY CHOSE THE TOP 25, BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, IT KIND OF SHOWS YOU WHERE OUR EXPENDITURES ARE FOR THE MONTH AND GROUPING IT INTO THAT KIND OF HOT SPOTS THAT YOU HAVE.
SO, UH, SO, SO THEN, UH, IF, UH, I ELSE, SO THERE, UM, WHEN WE SUBCONTRACT PEOPLE, THEY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO BE OUT.
IT GIVES UNDER CONTRACTED SERVICES.
SO, OKAY, SO LEMME LEMME BE MORE SPECIFIC IN, IN, IN, IN TERMS OF, I KNOW WE HAVE SOME PEOPLE WHO, WHO, WHO, UH, SOME SCHOOLS MAY CONTRACT, UH, OUT LIKE, UM, LIKE, UH, THEY GET THOSE DIFFERENT SERVICES, LIKE, UH, LIKE, LIKE DICKIE.
UNLESS THEY'RE AN EMPLOYEE OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, THEY WILL BE ON THIS REPORT.
SALARIES AND BENEFITS OF DCSD EMPLOYEES ARE NOT ON THIS.
SO WHAT THEY FALL ON THIS REPORT, IT'LL, ON THIS ONE RIGHT HERE, IF WHERE IT'LL FALL UP, THERE'RE IN THE TOP 25 OF EXPENDITURES, THEY'LL BE ON THIS ONE.
AND IT WOULD FALL UNDER PURCHASE SERVICES, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, UM, DEPENDING ON WHAT IT WAS CODED TO FOR WHAT IT'S USED FOR.
UM, BUT MOST LIKELY IF IT WAS, UM, MS.
FIRST, HE COMES IN AND DOES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, BUT HE ALSO COMES IN AND PRESENTS FOR STUDENTS AS WELL.
SO 5, 3, 1, 2, 5, 3, 1, 1 AND TECHNICAL SERVICE.
PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL SERVICES, WHICH WOULD BE RIGHT.
[00:25:01]
IS THE DOLLAR AMOUNT.SO IF IT'S IN TITLE ONE IDEA, ANY OF THE TITLES, UH, ANY SPECIAL REVENUE OR GRANT FUNDS, THESE WILL BE, YEAH, THIS IS, THIS PORTION IS NOT BROKEN DOWN BY FUND, BUT THIS IS COLLECTIVELY AS A HOLD FROM THE WHOLE TRANSPARENCY FOR CHECK P PART, NO MATTER THE FUND.
THIS IS WHAT WE'RE SENDING TO GIVE YOU A COLLECTIVE LOOK.
NEXT ONE IS THE TOP 10 PROGRAM EXPENDITURES.
NOW, THIS IS NOT BY THE CATEGORY OF WHAT THEY ARE IS THE PROGRAM THAT MONEY IS BEING SPENT IN.
UM, OUR TOP PROGRAM IS FACILITIES ACQUISITION AND CONSTRUCTION, WHERE WE HAVE TWO SCHOOL STATE BUILT IN MULTIPLE PROJECTS FINISHING UP RIGHT NOW.
NEXT ONE IS OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE FOOD SERVICES.
UM, DON'T KNOW WHY THAT HAPPENED.
SO THAT SHOWS YOU OUR TOP 10 PROGRAMS AS THEY'RE RANKED BY SUNDAY PER, THIS IS PER MONTH THE FULL TRANSPARENCY REPORT.
AND THEN LASTLY, OUR A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS REPORT.
UM, THIS SHOWS YOU THE MONTH PRIOR FOR, OR SORRY, THE YEAR PRIOR FOR THAT SAME MONTH.
JUST LIKE WE HAVE OUR CONSOLIDATED REPORT.
YOU CAN IMMEDIATELY SEE THE VENDORS WE HAVE THIS YEAR AND HOW THEY COMPARED TO THE VENDOR FROM LAST YEAR, WHICH, AS MS. CROSBY SAID, WHEN THIS REPORT IS PREPARED FOR YOU, THERE WOULD BE A, UH, SUBSEQUENT SUMMARY WITH IT THAT WOULD EXPLAIN THOSE LARGE VARIANCES FOR THOSE VENDORS ACROSS THE BOARD.
SO, AGAIN, I'LL TAKE QUESTIONS
SO THIS SYSTEM HAS THE CAPABILITY OF DOING A WHOLE LOT MORE, BUT WHAT WE WANNA DO IS STREAMLINE IT TO THE THINGS THAT ARE IN POLICY AND WHAT YOU TRULY BELIEVE.
UH, OR WE, WE BELIEVE THAT YOU REQUESTED, UH, OR YOU NEED TO SEE, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THOSE SPENDING BY FUND OR SPENDING BY A CERTAIN FIRM YOU HAVEN'T REQUESTED.
BUT THEY'RE IMPORTANT FACTORS TO SEE AS A BIG PICTURE WHERE WE ARE WITH THE DISTRICT, UM, AND WHAT HAPPENS EACH MONTH.
AND AS WE FLOW THROUGH THE FINANCIAL PROCESS, UM, THE VARIANCES, WHAT WE CAN DO, UH, IS INCORPORATE THESE INTO MAYBE A FOUR OR FIVE PAGE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EACH MONTH AND PROVIDE THESE GRAPHICS FOR YOU AND PROVIDE NARRATIVES THAT HAVE THE RESEARCH ALREADY PERFORMED AND HAVE AN ANALYSIS, DO AN ANALYSIS OF OUR OWN AND PR BRING THAT BACK TO YOU HAVING ALREADY COMPLETED IT, UH, WITHOUT HAVING, YOU KNOW, WE WON'T HAVE LAST MINUTE.
YOU'LL HAVE QUESTIONS OF COURSE, AND WE'LL, WE'LL RESPOND TO THAT OR BRING BACK ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
UM, BUT THIS DOES A LOT OF THAT ON THE FRONT END INSTEAD OF PROVIDING MORE WORK ON THE BACK END.
SO, UM, I THINK IT HELPS ALL OF US PROVIDE, UM, YOU KNOW, LOOK AT THAT ANALYSIS, UM, WITH A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE WHOLE PICTURE.
SO, UM, AND WE CAN CERTAINLY, IF THERE'S SPECIFIC THINGS THAT YOU'VE NOT SEEN THAT YOU REQUEST, THEN WE HAVE THE CAPABILITY THROUGH THE SYSTEM OF DOING THAT.
BECAUSE BASICALLY THE ENTIRE A HUNDRED PAGE TRANSPARENCY REPORT IS NOW EMBEDDED IN THIS ONE WORKSHEET THAT WE CAN NOW MANIPULATE INTO TEMPLATES.
AND THOSE TEMPLATES ARE SAVED FROM MONTH TO MONTH.
ALL WE HAVE TO USE IS UPLOAD THE INFORMATION AGAIN, AND IT ALREADY POPULATES THE TEMPLATES.
SO IT MAKES IT MORE EFFICIENT ON OUR END, UM, TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THE INFORMATION TO YOU.
SO IT'S A LOT FASTER THAN PULLING IT ALL IN EXCEL AND TRYING TO WRITE QUERIES TO INCLUDE THINGS AND EXCLUDE THINGS.
AND THAT'S WHERE THINGS, SO THE EFFICIENCY ON OUR END IS MASSIVE.
UM, AND I THINK IT'S JUST MORE MEANINGFUL INFORMATION THAN, UH, THAN 250 PAGES OF LINE ITEM BY LINE ITEM DATA.
SO STOP THERE AND TAKE ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
LET ME START WITH, UM, MS. HAY, ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? MA'AM, THIS IS A REALLY GREAT STARTING POINT, SO THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS.
UM, AS USUAL, UM, THIS TEAM DOES A,
[00:30:01]
A GREAT JOB GIVING, GIVING INFORMATION THAT WE'VE ASKED FOR AND MORE.UM, I AGREE WITH MISS, MISS HAY, UH, AS THE MONTHS GO BY AND, AND WE SEE HOW THIS FALLS OUT.
UM, I MAY HAVE QUESTIONS THEN, BUT RIGHT NOW, UH, I THANK YOU FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
I KNOW IT'S NOT EASY AND, UH, AND I'M SITTING HERE JUST TRYING TO SOAK OFF SOON.
THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, WHO ELSE IS UP THERE? UH, PASTOR GORDON.
ALRIGHT, UM, COLONEL, GOT THANKS MY HEARTBEAT.
I COULD TELL WE SPENT LESS IN, UH, SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS FOR THE SA TEACHERS, LC
SO THAT PEAK THERE SAYS, WHY IS THAT? AND THAT'S GOOD.
BUT THAT POINTS OUT AND, AND WE'RE FOLLOWING ALONG A LINEAR LINE HERE, WHICH SAYS ON EQUILIBRIUM, THAT'S, THAT'S GOOD.
BUT THEN I GOT THIS RIGHT, THE FLIP HERE, AND I CAN ASK THAT QUESTION, AND THEN I CAN GO TO, UH, IN, UH, ISD AND SAY, OKAY, HOW DID WE FIGURE OUT HOW TO USE THIS? UM, SUBSTITUTES, WHAT DID YOU DO? TELL ME ABOUT IT AND WHAT KIND OF VALUE.
BUT I WILL ALSO SAY THE OTHER SIDE TOO.
WHEN, WHEN SOMETHING ELSE POPS UP FROM THIS YEAR OVER LAST YEAR, I CAN SAY, WHOOPS, WHAT'S GOING ON THERE? I, THIS ITEM, THIS IS REALLY, REALLY GOOD.
UM, I, I'LL JUST SAY, UM, THERE PROBABLY ARE A LITTLE MORE, COUPLE MORE AREAS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO, UH, GET A FURTHER, UH, CLEAR UNDERSTANDING.
AND, UM, AS WE GO, AS WE, AS WE, UH, CONTINUE TO, UM, LOOK AT THIS AND IN, IN, IN, IN TERMS OF, UH, I WASN'T GONNA ACT ACTUALLY ASK IN THIS, UH, REPORT, ACTUALLY GO BACK TO THIS REPORT BECAUSE I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW, I KNOW WE HAVE, UH, CO UH, CONTRACT, UH, PEOPLE WORKING IN THE DISTRICT AND THOSE, YOU KNOW, AND KNOW AND, AND, AND, UH, THOSE, SOME PEOPLE HAVE ASKED ME DIFFERENT THINGS ABOUT CONTRACTED PEOPLE, AND I KNOW THEY HAVE DIFFERENT CONTRACT AND, UH, WE HAVE WALKING AROUND WITH DIFFERENT BADGES WHO ARE CONTRACTORS AND THEY WORK THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AND WE PAY THEM.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHERE, WHAT ARE THEY GETTING PAID VERSUS TEACHERS.
IT'S LIKE, UH, WHAT WE CALL CONSULTANTS.
UH, YOU KNOW, UM, I I THINK WE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW MUCH WHO CONSULTANTS ARE AS WELL, UH, AS, AS TEACHERS AND ALSO WHAT THESE CONSULTANTS ARE MAKING BECAUSE, UM, THAT, THAT, THAT BRINGS ME A GREAT, UM, CONCERN.
'CAUSE SOME, WE SAID THAT WE HAVE A LOT OF CONSULTANTS WORKING FOR DISTRICT AS WELL AS, UH, THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT YOU TALKING ABOUT THE DISTRICT BEING WE HAVE CONSULTANTS.
SO I THINK THAT SCENARIO, THE BOARD MAY NEED TO, UH, START LOOKING AT AS WELL, UH, IN MORE THAN YEARS TO COME.
SO I, THAT, THAT WILL BE, UH, MOVING FORWARD IN TERMS OF CONSULTANTS AND UH, UH, UH, UH, THOSE AREAS.
I APPRECIATE THE WORK YOU'VE DONE SO FAR.
IS THAT ALL THE BOARD MEMBERS? MM-HMM
WELL THEN I, I WOULD JUST ADD, YOU SAW ME SMILING.
WHAT WHAT THIS DOES IS THIS HELPS OUR COLLEAGUES BE MORE EFFICIENT AND THE SYSTEM IS DOING THE WORK.
AND WE SHOULD BE LOOKING FOR THOSE TYPES OF OPPORTUNITIES WHEREVER THEY MAY LAND.
FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE ACQUISITION OF TECHNOLOGY, YES, IT'S GOING TO GIVE US PRECISE DATA, BUT CAN IT ACTUALLY HELP OUR PEOPLE HAVE MORE DISCRETIONARY TIME TO SORT OF THINK WHERE THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY? SO I LOVE THIS BECAUSE AS OTHERS HAVE SAID, UM, YOU CAN LOOK AT THIS VISUALLY AND THEN JUST BELINE, IT'S LIKE A HOMING MISSILE RIGHT INTO WHERE YOU NEED TO PAY YOUR ATTENTION.
OUR TEAM IS ACTUALLY, WHEN WE VIEWED IT THE OTHER DAY, UM, THE LEADERSHIP WITHIN THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT, WE STARTED THINKING ABOUT OTHER AREAS OF THE DEPARTMENT WHERE WE'RE REPORTING OUT THAT WE MAY BE ABLE TO USE THIS SOFTWARE SYSTEM TO BUILD OTHER TEMPLATES, UM, PERHAPS FOR FINANCIAL REPORTS, FOR EXAMPLE, TO BE ABLE TO, UM, UPLOAD THEM INTO A TEMPLATE THAT CAN, WE CAN UTILIZE EVERY MONTH WITHOUT HAVING TO MANUALLY INTO EXCEL.
UM, WE JUST, TIME IS, IS OUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO GET THINGS DONE AMONG ALL OF OUR OTHER TASKS.
BUT WE'RE, WE'RE ALL VERY EXCITED ABOUT
[00:35:01]
IT IN A DIFFERENT WAY.SO WHAT WE ARE PROPOSING IS TO, UH, WE, WE ARE REQUIRED BY STATE LAW TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE THE TRANSPARENCY REPORT ON OUR WEBSITE.
WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING IS TO ELIMINATE TO THIS MEETING THE REPORTING OF THAT TRANSPARENCY REPORT AND REPLACE WITH THIS ONE.
THE SECOND THING WE ARE PROPOSING IS TO ELIMINATE THAT, THAT WILL STAY ON THE WEBSITE, BUT WOULD NOT BE BROUGHT A HUNDRED PAGES TO THIS BOARD.
SO IT'S STILL AVAILABLE TO BE SEEN BY ANYONE, AND IT HAS TO BE REPORTED BY THE FIRST OF THE LAST DAY OF THE NEXT MONTH.
SO APRILS WOULD ALWAYS BE POSTED BY MAY 31ST.
HAS THE OTHER, THE OTHER THING IS THE A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS REPORT THAT IS NOT, NOT REQUIRED BY STATE LAW, UH, OR ANY OTHER STATE REQUIREMENT.
OUR PROPOSAL WOULD BE TO ELIMINATE THAT INDIVIDUAL LISTING AND REPLACE IT WITH THIS A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS REPORTING IN THE GRAPHIC GRAPHIC FORMAT WITH AN ANALYSIS OF, UM, THE VENDORS AND LARGE VARIANCES.
SO, UH, THAT IS FOR THE COMMITTEE'S CONSIDERATION.
UM, WE CAN DO IT, YOU KNOW, SO OUR PROPOSAL WOULD JUST BE TO BRING BACK THAT COURT IN THE NEXT MONTH INSTEAD OF ALL THE OTHER DETAILS BY LINE ITEM.
BUT WE ARE AT WILL OF THIS COMMITTEE, SO WE WILL, YOU KNOW, ACCOMMODATE YOUR WISHES.
UM, MS. GORDON, MS. CROSBY JUST HAS ME, YOU AND, UH, I'M SITTING HERE TRYING TO DIGEST WHAT SHE SAID, UH,
UH, AND WHEN YOU TALKING ABOUT NUMBERS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, UM, I THINK WHATEVER, UH, SYSTEM THAT IS GOING TO BE BENEFICIAL TO THE END PRODUCT THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO GET.
SO, UH, I SAY YES, UM, OF WHAT I'VE HEARD ABOUT WHAT YOU JUST PRESENTED TO US.
SO THAT WOULD BE A GOOD, I DEAL WITH THE A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS REPORT.
I STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT THE A HUNDRED THOUSAND REPORT IS,
UM, BUT YOU GIVE A PRECISE, UH, ANALYSIS OF HOW THESE MONIES ARE SPENT AND, UH, AND I THINK THAT IF YOU'RE COMING UP WITH INNOVATIVE WAYS TO PRESENT TO US AND TO TRACK THIS MONEY ON BOARD, SO THANK YOU.
UM, MS. HAY? YES, I AM IN SUPPORT OF WHAT MRS. CROSBY IS PROPOSING.
UM, COLONEL, GO, I REALLY LIKE THIS BECAUSE IF THE COUNTY COUNCIL WOULD'VE HAD THIS, THEY WOULD'VE KNOWN ABOUT AN $800,000 PLAYGROUND.
IT WAS BUILT WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT.
IF JASPER COUNTY WOULD'VE HAD THIS, THEY WOULD'VE KNOWN THAT THEIR SUPERINTENDENT SPENT $200,000 ON, ON TRAINING TRANSPORTATION COSTS OR TRAFFIC COSTS.
THAT'S WHAT WE'RE SUPPOSED TO DO.
AND AS LONG AS WHEN YOU COME TO THIS COMMITTEE, YOU'VE ALWAYS DONE IT.
WHEN I'VE GONE THROUGH THIS IS I'D ASK A QUESTION AND THIS WOULD, THESE CHARTS WOULD GIVE ME THE QUESTIONS TO ASK.
AND YOU WOULD HAVE GO THROUGH AND YOU HAVE, YOU GOTTA HAVE THAT.
YOU, YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE IT IN YOUR BACK POCKET, BUT IT WILL SAVE ME THE HOURS I SPENT GOING THROUGH THE A HUNDRED PAGES OF TRANSPARENCY.
THIS IS THE WAY FOR EXECUTIVE BOARD TO ACT.
WE WANNA SEE A TREE THAT POPS UP THERE AND SAY, OH, WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT TREE? WE, WE DON'T WANNA GET DOWN TO THE WES UNDER THE TREE.
WE PLAN TO HAVE THE ANALYSIS OF TO ATE THE QUESTION BEFORE YOU ASK IT AND HAVE THE ANSWER EVEN DOCUMENT THAT GONNA BRING FORWARD.
YOU'LL, YOU'LL SEE THAT CLIP, YOU'LL SEE THAT CLIP AND SAY, YOU'RE GONNA ASK ABOUT THAT.
MR. SMITH, OH, I'M GONNA BE A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
I'M GONNA, I'M GOING TO SAY, UH, I, I, I WON'T AGREE THAT THIS IS ENOUGH.
IT IS THE REASON WHY IN THE PAST YEAR, WHY, WHY WE'VE ASKED WHY WE'VE HAD THIS, UH, REPORT, REPORT BROUGHT TO US.
[00:40:01]
SOMETIMES WE CAN ANSWER OUR OWN QUESTIONS AND ALSO WE RE REREAD IT.AND, UM, YOU GO DOWN AND THEN WE HAVE, WE HAVE DIFFERENT QUESTIONS THAT THEY, UH, MAY, MAY, UH, BASIC BEEN SENT US AN AREA THAT WHAT WE DID MAYBE HAVE DID NOT, UH, SEEM.
SO I, I THINK THAT TO ME, I THINK BRINGING BOTH THEM, UH, BECAUSE I REMEMBER WHEN, WHEN, WHEN, WHEN WE, WHEN WE WERE TALK YEP.
THE FIRST INITIAL CONVERSATION WAS ABOUT, UM, THIS WAS, WAS SOMETHING THAT WE, THAT Y'ALL WERE LOOKING TO DO TO BRING TO THE, BRING TO THIS, UH, TO THIS BODY.
UH, I, I MENTIONED THAT I, I, I WOULD SEE, I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH BOTH OF THEM, BUT TO SWITCH TO ONE I, I THINK WOULD BE GOING BACKWARDS FOR US, BECAUSE I THINK THE MORE TRANSPARENCY THE BE, THE BETTER, THE BETTER IT IS.
YOU TALK ABOUT, TALK ABOUT TIMES OF LENGTH OF MEETINGS.
I THINK IF YOU HAVE EVERYTHING THERE AND YOU, YOU CAN GO, YOU CAN GO THROUGH THAT.
SOME OF IT, YOU CAN LOOK, YOU COULD POSSIBLY LOOK ON THIS ONE HERE AND, AND COME HERE AND, AND STILL FIND DIFFERENT ANSWERS.
SO, UM, I, I, I THINK MORE, MORE IS BETTER FOR THAT.
BUT TO SAY, TO GET RID OF ONE, UH, BECAUSE YEAH, WE HAVE A FORM THAT'S GIVING US, UH, UH, A MORE SNAP SNAPSHOT OF WHAT, WHAT THE DISTRICT HAS BEEN, UH, SPENDING, UH, UM, OFF THE MONTH.
I THINK THAT, THAT, THAT'S GREAT.
I I REALLY JUST THINK THIS IS A LITTLE CAVEAT TO REPORT THAT WE'VE BEEN GETTING.
SO WE CAN ACTUALLY, YOU CAN ACTUALLY PUT A, A A YOU, YOU CAN ACTUALLY PUT, UM, A, A HAND ON EXACTLY WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING AT IN THESE REPORTS AND WHAT THAT LOOK LIKE WHEN IT'S ALL, IT'S ALL TOTAL TOTALED OUT.
I THINK THIS IS MORE OF A TOTAL OP REPORT.
IF YOU ASK ABOUT THESE REPORTS GO HAND IN HAND.
THIS IS, TO ME, TO ME, I ENVISION THIS AS ONE, AS ONE BIG, UH, ONE BIG REPORT.
SO I, I, I, I SEE NO, NO, NO, UH, STOPPING BRINGING AND BRINGING THE REPORT, THE REPORT'S ALREADY DEVELOPED AND IT'S JUST A PUSH OF A BUTTON AND CONTINUE TO CONTINUE TO BRING IT.
SO THAT'S JUST THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT'S, THAT'S MY, UM, THAT'S, THAT'S MY, I THINK BOTH OF 'EM ARE, ARE STILL NEEDED AND I APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT Y'ALL DOING, BUT WE CAN SEE WHAT ELSE, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT ELSE IS NEXT? THANK YOU.
SO WHAT'S YOUR RECOMMENDING, EXCUSE ME, THAT WE CONVERT TO THIS GOING FOR THE NEXT MEETING? YES.
AND I THINK YOU HEARD THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE SAY YES.
DO WE NEED A VOTE ON IT? DO WE MAKE SURE WE SUBSTANTIATE THAT OR NO, SIR, I JUST NEED CONSENSUS BECAUSE WE'RE NOT CHANGING POLICY.
WE'RE STILL IN COMPLIANCE WITH ALL STATE, FEDERAL, LOCAL GUIDELINES, UH, BOARD GUIDELINES.
UH, WHAT WE CAN DO TO ACCOMMODATE, UH, I THINK, UH, MR. SMITH'S REQUEST IS TO PROVIDE A LINK TO THE TRANSPARENCY REPORT THAT WILL ALREADY BE ON THE WEBSITE.
SO, AND THERE WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ANY DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEMS THAT ARE ON THAT, BUT IT'LL BE READILY AVAILABLE IN THE LINK AND WHEN THE INFORMATION'S PUT IN BOARD DOCS.
SO WE WON'T, UH, SPECIFICALLY GO DOWN, WHICH, UH, ANY TALK ABOUT ANY SPECIFIC DETAILS, BUT THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT REPORT THAT CAN BE ASKED AT THAT MEETING.
SO IT STILL ACCOMMODATES, WE'RE STILL PRODUCING THAT REPORT AND IT'S OPEN FOR ANY DISCUSSION AT ANY TIME.
AND IF I ASK COMMITTEE MEETINGS, SO, SO I, I LIKE THAT.
AND I, I LIKE THE DEFERENCE TO MR. SMITH'S CONCERN, SO, UH, I'M VERY COMFORTABLE WITH IT.
AND I THINK YOU HEARD THE OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBERS AS WELL, WHAT I WOULD ASK FOR DIGITAL NEANDERTHALS LIKE MYSELF.
UH, CAN YOU HAVE A TRAINING THAT SHOWS US WHERE TO GO? GIVE US A LITTLE SCRIPT THAT SAYS HOUSE ACCESS THAT PARTICULAR PORTION OF THE WEBSITE AND DISTRIBUTE IT TO US.
AND THEN YOU CAN HAVE THE REPORTS FOR ONE MORE MONTH MM-HMM
AND THEN TRAIN US, HAVE ALL OF THE REPORTS.
AND THEN TRAIN AND TRAIN US DOING THAT 30 DAY PERIOD.
THEN YOU AND YOUR TEAM SEES ALL THE EFFICIENCIES AT THIS FRAME.
AND YOU CAN SIGN, SEE THE FINAL PRODUCT OF THE, THE ONE THE NEW FOR.
ALRIGHT, NEXT ITEM FUND DOWN FUND BALANCE TRANSFER.
SO, UM, LAST MAY I, I'M, I'M SORRY, SORRY, SORRY.
MAY I? YES, WE HAVE MR. SHOW ON HERE AND YOU ARE SUCH A LINCH LINCHPIN IN TECHNOLOGY OF EFFICIENCY.
SO AS YOU GO THROUGH AND YOU SORT OF BE THINKING ABOUT THESE THINGS AND HELP US RUN AS THE FINANCE COMMITTEE AND OTHER COMMITTEES WHERE THERE'S OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE WORK OFF OF OUR COLLEAGUE.
ON TRANSPARENCY BOARD
[00:45:01]
UM, THAT WE, UH, PROPOSED ULTIMATELY TO MOVE A PORTION, PUT A PORTION OF LEAVE, A PORTION OF IN THE FUND BALANCE TO GROW SLIGHTLY THE FUND BALANCE TO KEEP IT AT 20%, WHICH IS OUR GOAL.AND ANOTHER PORTION OF THAT EXCESS WENT TO A CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND FOR BOARDS DISCRETION.
AND THAT AMOUNT WAS $10 MILLION LAST YEAR.
UM, THERE WERE, UM, SO THAT THERE ARE SOME THINGS, UM, SOME NEEDS OF THE DISTRICT, AND THOSE ARE, UH, TO BE DETERMINED.
UM, BUT THIS YEAR DO HAVE ANOTHER PROJECTED INCREASE IN THE FUND BALANCE AS WELL.
SO FIRST OF ALL, WE HAVE A BOARD POLICY THAT REQUIRES US TO MAINTAIN A FUND BALANCE NO LESS THAN 60 DAYS OF NEXT YEAR'S EXPENDITURES.
UH, WE HAVE A BOARD POLICY THAT TELLS US THAT WE NEED TO KEEP ENOUGH TO NOT HAVE TO BORROW A TAX ANTICIPATION NOTE.
AND WE'VE DONE THAT FOR THREE CONSECUTIVE YEARS, I BELIEVE, UM, WHICH IS A COST OF PROBABLY $50,000 A YEAR, UH, IN INTEREST.
SO, AND IT'S A LOT OF LEG WORK ON OUR END.
SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO AVOID A TAX ANTICIPATION NOTE BECAUSE WE BROUGHT OUR FUND BALANCE UP TO A 20% LEVEL.
UM, MAINTAIN COMMUNICATIONS WITH BOND RATING AGENCIES AND CONTINUE TO STRIVE FOR IMPROVEMENT IN THE DISTRICT BOND RATING.
UM, SO AS OUR FUND BALANCE MAINTAINED OR GROWS THE IT THAT KEEPS MOODY'S AND STANDARD AND POORS HAPPY, WHEN WE GO OUT FOR A BOND, THEY DO NOT LIKE TO SEE ANY USE OF FUND BALANCE OR DECLINING IN ANY WAY.
SO OUR GOAL IS TO MAINTAIN THAT 20%.
WE BELIEVE THAT'S A COMFORTABLE LEVEL FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, AND THAT IS THE GOAL OF TODAY'S CONVERSATION.
UM, SO THE PRIOR YEAR'S FUND BALANCE WAS 20%, WHICH IS ABOUT 70 DAYS OF OPERATIONS.
UM, SO WITH JUST ABOVE 60, THAT IS IN FULL FUND, UH, BOARD POLICY.
THE TOTAL ADDITION TO FUND BALANCE WE ARE EXPECTING IS AROUND 8.7 MILLION THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF THE, UM, UNDERSPENDING IN SALARIES AND BENEFITS.
SO BASICALLY VACANT POSITIONS, UNFILLED POSITIONS, OR, UH, WHETHER THEY WERE A FULL YEAR OR PARTIAL YEAR BETWEEN WHEN THE JOB WAS VACATED VERSUS WHEN IT WAS BILL.
THAT'S WHY WE HAVE TAKEN SLIPPAGE IN OUR NEW BUDGET.
UH, IN THE CURRENT YEAR BUDGET, WE HAVE BUDGETED FOR A NEGATIVE $3 MILLION, BASICALLY.
SO WE'RE EXPECTING AT LEAST 3 MILLION IN SLIPPAGE SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE AN EXCESS IN THIS SIZE IN THE FUTURE.
UM, SO WE DO PROJECT, SO THE, BUT THIS WOULD BRING, UH, THE FUND BALANCE OVER OUR 20% TO 21.5%.
UM, SO WHAT WE'RE RECOMMENDING IS TO ONLY ADD, SO TO HOLD BACK SOME OF THAT 8.7 MILLION, $4 MILLION OF IT, ADD TO THE FUND BALANCE, WHICH WILL KEEP US AT 20%, AND THEN TRANSFER THE REMAINING 4.7 MILLION TO THE CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND TO ADD TO THE $10 MILLION THAT'S ALREADY THERE, BRINGING THAT BALANCE UP TO, UH, ABOUT 14.8 MILLION.
NOW, THERE, THERE ARE SEVERAL NEEDS, UH, TO BE DETERMINED, WHICH, WHICH ARE PRIORITIES, BUT THE, THIS IS A CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND THAT WOULD SOLELY BE THE BOARD'S DISCRETION TO, UM, TO USE OR HOLD OR WHATEVER THE NEEDS, UH, BASED ON WHATEVER NEEDS COME FORWARD.
SO I'M JUST HERE TO MOVE, UH, REQUEST THE MOVEMENTS OF ANY EXCESS ABOVE $4 MILLION TO BE MOVED TO THE CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND AS OF JUNE 30TH, 2025.
SO WE'RE PLANNING ON HAVING ALMOST 9 MILLION.
I WANNA KEEP 4 MILLION IN THE FUND BALANCE, MOVE 5 MILLION TO THAT CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND ON RESERVE FOR, FOR DISCRETION.
OH, THAT SUMMARIZES MY PRESENTATION.
UM, MS. HAY, ANY COMMENTS? NO, SIR.
I'M TONGUE TIED DIGESTING THE INFORMATION.
YOU SAID THAT, UM, WE HIT 20%, UH, IT WAS 60 $60 OR? YES.
SO AT DOLLARS AND SIX MM-HMM
HOW MUCH MONEY IS THAT? UM, SO WHAT WE ARE PROJECTING WOULD BE SEVEN, A FUND BALANCE OF $76 MILLION WOULD BE 20% OF THE NEXT YEAR'S OPERATIONS.
NOW A FUND BALANCE, LET ME TALK
[00:50:01]
TO YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT IS A FUND BALANCE FOR.SO FIRST OF ALL, JUNE 30TH, UH, AFTER JUNE 30TH UNTIL DECEMBER 1ST, WE ARE NOT RECEIVING TAX REVENUE.
THERE IS VERY LITTLE TAX REVENUE COMING IN TO THE DISTRICT.
ALL THE MONEY COMES IN IN DECEMBER AND JANUARY.
WE SPEND THE SAME AMOUNT EVERY MONTH, PRETTY MUCH IN SALARIES AND BENEFITS, BUT THE TAX REVENUE PEAKS IN DECEMBER AND JANUARY, AND THEN WE DON'T GET ANY MORE MONEY.
SO A FEW, UM, SO WE UNTIL DECEMBER.
SO WE NEED FUNDING IN OUR BANK ACCOUNT AT JUNE 30TH TO COVER OUR EXPENSES IN JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER TO PAY SALARIES FOR TEACHERS WHEN WE'RE NOT GETTING ANY NEW MONEY COMING IN.
SO WE NEED THAT FUND BALANCE TO COVER THOSE EXPENSES.
AND BY THE TIME WE GET TO NOVEMBER, WE ARE ALL LOOKING AT IT VERY CLOSELY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T GO IN THE RED.
SO WE NEED THAT ONE PRIMARILY FOR CASH FLOWS, FOR JUST THE NORMAL OPERATIONS.
HURRICANES ARE IN THIS FALL, SAME TIME WE'RE GOING INTO LOW BALANCE.
UM, THERE WAS ONE OTHER THING, BUT, UM, IT IS HURRICANE SEASON.
SO THAT IS SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT AND, AND POTENTIAL EMERGENCIES THAT WE MIGHT NEED.
SO THOSE ARE THE TWO PRIMARY REASONS WHY WE NEED A FUND BALANCE, UH, AND HOW CRITICAL IT IS TO HOLD SOMETHING AND HAVE A MINIMUM AMOUNT TO, TO SET.
UH, COLONEL, WE STARTED THIS BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST FOUR YEARS, MR. SMITH AND I WERE ON THE BOARD.
WE WERE BORROWING MONEY AND A SHORT TERM LOAN, HIGH INTEREST, PAID THE BILLS.
'CAUSE WE RAN OUT OF MONEY AND TO PAY THE BILLS IN SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER.
AND WE PAUSED THIS POLICY CHANGE TO BRING US UP TO ENOUGH MONEY THAT WE COULD GO THROUGH THE YEAR WITHOUT HAVING TO DO THAT BECAUSE THAT MONEY, THAT INTEREST IS NOT OUT OF OUR CAPITALISTS.
LIKE ALL OUR REST OF THE TIME.
WE BORROW MONEY WITH BONDS THAT, THAT'S FOR BUILDING AND COMPUTERS AND THAT, THAT KIND OF STUFF.
THIS COMES OUT OF THE SAME POT OF MONEY THAT PAYS PEOPLE SALARIES.
SO IT WAS IN EFFECT, WE WERE, WE WERE PAYING, WE WERE PAYING A TEACHER.
AND WE HAD THE, WE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM THAT TOYS R US HAD TOY TOYS R US.
THEY ONLY, THEY ONLY MADE THEIR MONEY IN NOVEMBER, DECEMBER WHEN YOU BOUGHT PRESENTS FOR YOUR GRANDKIDS.
BUT YOU GOT VERY LITTLE THE REST OF THE YEAR BECAUSE GRANDPARENTS ONLY WENT ONCE A YEAR FOR A BIRTHDAY.
THEY DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH FUND BALANCE TO HOLD THEM OVER.
AND WHEN THEIR ECONOMY CRASHED, WHEREAS THEY HAD THEIR HURRICANE, THEY WENT OUT OF BUSINESS.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHY WE'RE, WE'RE NOT GONNA BE LIKE TOYS R US.
WE'RE GONNA, WE'RE GONNA HAVE THE MONEY, GET US THROUGH THE YEAR AND HAVE THE MONEY.
WE HAD, REMEMBER WHEN, UH, HURRICANE DAVID CAME THROUGH, WE DIDN'T GET HIT THAT HARD.
LIKE
YOU HAVE TO PAY THEM RIGHT THEN.
YOU CAN'T SAY, UH, I NEED TO, UH, GIVE YOU A CREDIT CARD.
RIGHT? THEY, THEY DON'T WANT CREDIT CARD.
AND SO YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE FUNDS AVAILABLE TO WRITE A CHECK AND UNTIL YOU CAN THEN GO OUT, AND THEN YOU HAVE, MIGHT HAVE TO HAVE A BOND.
BUT EVEN IF A, UH, 8% BOND TAKES YOU 30, 60, 90 DAYS TO GET THE MONEY, YOU, WE CAN'T WAIT 30, 60, 90 BECAUSE WE GOTTA PUT KIDS BACK IN CLASSROOM.
THAT'S WHY THIS IS SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE A SUFFICIENT FUND BALANCE TO BE ABLE TO KEEP US OPERATING THROUGH THE YEAR WITHOUT HAVING TO BORROW MONEY AND TO HAVE THE MONEY AVAILABLE TO GET KIDS BACK IN SCHOOL AFTER A HURRICANE.
SO THAT, THAT'S WHY THIS IS THIS WAY.
AND, BUT WE CAN'T, WE CAN'T HAVE TOO MUCH FUND BALANCE.
[00:55:01]
SO WHY DON'T YOU JUST KEEP BUILDING THE FUND BALANCE UP? BECAUSE OUR, OUR PEOPLE THAT, UH, WE BORROWED MONEY FROM, THEY WANNA SEE CONSISTENCY BECAUSE CONSISTENCY SHOWS THEM THE BONDING, UH, CREDIT AUTHORITIES.YOU HAVE A STABLE, UH, FLOW OF REVENUE AND EXPENSES.
IF IT'S UP AND DOWN LIKE THIS, THEY SAY, WELL, YOU KNOW, YOU AREN'T MANAGING YOUR RESOURCES.
WELL, THAT'S, THAT'S ANOTHER REASON.
IT'S, IT'S OUR CREDIT RATING DEPENDS ON US HAVING A STABLE.
THE OTHER THING, IF WE GO UP TOO HIGH, THE STATE BOARD IS GONNA COME DOWN ON US AND SAY, WAIT A MINUTE, YOU AREN'T MISUSING TAXPAYER MONEY.
YOU'RE PUTTING THAT IN A RESERVE FUND THAT'S GAINING INTEREST.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU'RE NOT, YOU'RE NOT A PROFIT MAKING ORGANIZATION.
YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO COME OUT NOT AT A, NOT AT A DEFICIT, BUT NOT AS A, UH, YOU KNOW, INCREASE.
YOU GOTTA KEEP IT STRAIGHT, KEEP IT STEAD.
SO THAT'S WHY ALL THIS IS THERE.
BODY LOCKS INTO THREE BEARS, CAN'T BE TOO HOT, CAN'T BE TOO COLD.
AND SO THAT'S, THIS IS GOLDILOCKS, RIGHT?
UM, MR. GORDON, PASTOR GORDON, STILL MUTED.
SO I THINK I HEARD YOU SAY THAT THIS WOULD TAKE A, TAKE THE PERCENTAGE THAT WE HAVE AS A SAFETY NET TO 20%.
IT WILL MAINTAIN IT AT 20, MAINTAIN IT.
UH, AND WHAT IS THAT PERCENTAGE NOW? 20%, IT'S AT EXACTLY 20%, 20 POINT PRIOR TO THIS, IT'S 20.1% AND IT WOULD GO TO 20.2%.
SO A SLIGHT INCREASE IN THE PERCENTAGE, BUT WHAT THE MOVING TARGET IS THE BUDGET.
SO IT'S A PERCENTAGE OF NEXT YEAR'S BUDGETED EXPENDITURES EACH YEAR.
I UNDERSTAND EACH YEAR AS WE PAY INCREASES, THAT EXPENDITURE AMOUNT INCREASES.
SO OUR FUND BALANCE NEEDS TO INCREASE SLIGHTLY TO MAINTAIN THE PERCENTAGE.
RIGHT PERCENTAGE, THE FLAT PERCENTAGE.
UM, SO I'M A SUPER FISCAL CONSERVATIVE.
IN THE BUSINESS WORLD, IF YOU ACCUMULATE TOO MUCH CASH, YOU GONNA MAKE YOURSELF VIABLE FOR A TAKEOVER.
UH, DAVID MURDOCH CAME INTO CANON MILLS IN THE EIGHTIES BECAUSE THEY HAD OVERPAID THEIR PENSION FUNDS.
HE CAME IN GREEN MAIL BACK THEN AND USED PRIVATE EQUITY INVESTORS TO TAKE OVER CANON MILLS.
AND HE TOOK ALL THE OVERPAYMENT AND THE PENSIONS DOWN SO THAT THEY WERE UNDERFUNDED.
SO EVERYBODY PENSION NOW TEND TO BE UNDERFUNDED.
RIGHT? AND THEN THE OTHER RAIDERS THAT WERE PART OF HIS GROUP WANTED TO GET THEIR HANDS ON THE CASH.
SO AS YOU KNOW, PRIVATE EQUITY, THEY GET LIKE 20% OF DEALS THAT THEY DO.
SO THEY USED THAT CASH TO PAY THEIR PART.
SO MY CONCERN IS THAT AS WE GET CLOSER TO 20%, THAT IS UNCOMFORTABLE FOR ME.
SO IS THERE ANOTHER POSITION, CAN WE SAY 21% SO THAT YOU HAVE THAT 1% OF CUSHION? JUST IN CASE REASON? I SAY THAT WHEN I'M LOOKING AND TALKING TO PEOPLE INTERNATIONALLY, THERE'S A LOT OF UNCERTAINTY IN THE WORLD.
THEY ARE AFRAID OF WAR, NUCLEAR WAR, UH, ESTIMATES ARE THAT IF THERE'S A ALL OUT NUCLEAR WAR, 300 MILLION AMERICANS WILL DIE.
SO THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE LIKE, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, LET ME REIGN THIS THING IN.
SO I'M JUST PUTTING THAT OUT THERE AS A CAUTIONARY COMMENT.
BASICALLY WE HAVE THE OPTION WE COULD, WHAT WE'RE DOING IS PLACING IT IN ANOTHER FUND AND HOLDING UNTIL SOME OF THE UNKNOWNS THAT ARE OUT THERE, UH, RELATING TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, WHETHER IT MAY BE FEDERAL FUNDING OR UH, OR ACE OR OTHER OPPORTUNITIES THERE.
AND THERE ARE SOME OTHER MAJOR CAPITAL NEEDS OF THE DISTRICT AS WELL THAT COULD BE USED.
SO WE CAN HOLD IT IN THE FUND BALANCE OR WE COULD PLACE IT IN THIS SOURCE.
UM, JUST KEEPING THE FUND BALANCE FLAT AND HAVING IT STILL AVAILABLE FOR BOARD DISCRETION.
SO IT COULD BE USED IN EITHER LOCATION.
WE COULD MOVE THE MONEY IF WE HAD A SHORTFALL IN THE GENERAL FUND, WE COULD MOVE MONEY OUT OF FUND THE, THE CAPITAL PROJECT FUND AND MOVE IT BACK IN SO THE BOARD COULD MAKE A VOTE, UH, TAKE A VOTE TO MOVE THAT BACK IN FOR OPERATIONAL PURPOSES, KNOWING THAT IT'S ONE TIME FUNDING
[01:00:02]
UNDER, WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT IT'S ONE TIME FUNDING IS NOT GONNA BE RECURRING FUNDING.HOW DO WE AVOID OPERATIONS OR THE BOARD MAKING COMMITMENTS TO CAPITAL PROJECTS? BECAUSE NOW THEY'RE GONNA HAVE ADDITIONAL $4 MILLION AND, AND SO I DON'T WANT THEM TO MAKE A COMMITMENT AND THEN THAT ERODES OUR ABILITY TO WITHDRAW THOSE FUNDS.
HUH? I'M ALREADY THINKING ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW.
UM, HONESTLY, IT COULD BE DONE IN EITHER POT.
I MEAN, IF, IF THE BOARD SAID WE WANT TO USE A MILLION DOLLARS OF FUND BALANCE FOR THIS PARTICULAR PURPOSE, THAT COULD STILL BE DONE FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
SO, UM, MAYBE IT, IT LOOKS MORE ATTRACTIVE BECAUSE IT'S SITTING IN A LARGER SUM IN ANOTHER AREA.
UM, BUT MY CONCERN IS THERE'S SOME IMMEDIATE, WITHIN THE NEXT YEAR, THERE'S SOME IMMEDIATE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR AS A SAFE EVENT TO OFFSET.
IF, IF THERE WERE, YOU KNOW, WE, THE FEDERAL FUNDING UPDATE THAT YOU RECEIVED FROM MS. MATSON WAS THAT TITLE.
WE'RE GETTING THE TITLE FUNDS THIS YEAR, BUT WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT NEXT YEAR, UH, THE FOLLOWING SCHOOL YEAR, BECAUSE THAT WILL DEPEND ON THE FEDERAL BUDGET THAT IS DUE THE, UH, SEPTEMBER 30TH.
SO THAT IS A KNOWN, UM, SO I THINK, AND THEN THERE'S SOME OTHER, YOU KNOW, PET PRESSING ISSUES, UM, THAT COULD BE, HAVE A NEED FOR THESE FUNDS.
SO I DON'T KNOW HOW THERE WOULD BE NO WAY TO OFFSET ANY, UM, SPECIFIC REQUESTS.
UM, I THINK IT COULD BE DONE IN EITHER AREA.
UM, BUT CERTAINLY THAT'S, THAT'S MY ONLY CONCERN THAT, UH, IN THESE UNCERTAIN TIMES WE DON'T RUN IN, WE STOCKPILING CASH, BUT WE DON'T RUN INTO, YOU KNOW, LOSING SOME, UH, FLEXIBILITY.
AND I CAN SEE AN ARGUMENT FOR MAINTAINING A LITTLE MORE IN THE FUND BALANCE AT THIS TIME.
AND IF WE ALLOW OUR FUND BALANCE PERCENTAGE TO INCREASE AT SOME POINT IT COULD DECREASE AND THAT WOULD BE BAD FOR OUR RATES LONG.
SO WE WANNA LOOK FOR THAT STABILITY.
'CAUSE IF WE LET IT FLEX TO 21 OR 22% AND THEN THE FOLLOWING YEAR OR THE NEXT, WE CAN'T KEEP IT AT THAT HIGHER PERCENTAGE.
WHAT'S IT BEEN OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS? UH, IT WAS 17%.
UM, IT WAS, IT'S ONLY BEEN 20% FOR ONE YEAR.
IT WAS ABOUT 17% THE PRIOR YEAR.
MR. SMITH? NO, ACTUALLY I WAS BEING, UH, I WAS BEING UH, WHEN YOU WERE, WHEN, WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU SAID THAT I WAS KIND OF BEING FUNNY BECAUSE ACTUALLY I WAS THINKING, I CAN SEE, 'CAUSE WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THAT IN THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE PRIOR, UH, PRIOR TO, UH, TO THIS CONVERSATION.
SO, SO WHEN SHE SAID I WAS THINKING OPERATIONS, I CAN SEE THIS, UH, WE HAVE OUR PROJECTS TO ACTUALLY ASK FOR THAT MONEY IF, IF, IF, IF IT'S THERE.
SO NO, YOU SAID I WAS, I WAS ACTUALLY DING WHAT YOU, WHAT YOU UH, SAID A MINUTE AGO BECAUSE I CAN, I CAN SEE THAT HAPPENING.
UM, AND THEN ON, ON ON THE, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF IT, UM, WELL THAT, THAT WAS THE FIRST PART, BUT ON, ON THE, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF IT, SHE, UH, IT SOUNDED LIKE LISTENING TO WHAT SHE WAS SAYING WAS THAT OBVIOUSLY THAT THERE'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT NEEDS TO BE BROUGHT TO THE BOARD AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
THAT THERE'S SOMETHING THAT SHE FORESEE THAT'S GONNA, THAT'S GONNA COME UP.
AND IT SOUNDS LIKE, YOU KNOW, UH, TRANSPARENCY IS EVERYTHING.
SO THERE'S THINGS THAT'S THAT'S GOING TO, THAT SHE, SHE'S GONNA COME UP, UH, THAT THE BOARDS ARE SOME EXPEND, BUT THAT THE BOARD MAY NEED TO BE A, A ABREAST WITH IT.
I THINK THOSE THINGS NEED TO COME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
'CAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE SHE KNOWS THINGS THAT WE MAY NOT KNOW THAT SHE MAY SEE COMING OR POSSIBLY, UH, HAPPENING.
AND THAT, THAT'S JUST KIND OF WHAT I, WHAT I HEARD WHEN SHE SAID THOSE, THAT THERE WERE THINGS AND IF THAT, SO THEN THAT, THAT WOULD NEED TO BE BROUGHT TO THE BOARD TOO, SO THAT YOU CAN THOSE, THOSE THO THAT AND, AND THE DECISION MAKING AND THE FACT OF WHERE TO
I JUST WANNA PUT THAT OUT THERE TOO.
UH, THERE ARE NO, UM, ISSUES THAT I HAVE ANY MORE INFORMATION IN THE BOARD HAS JUST SO WE HAVE AN UNCERTAINTY WITH FEDERAL FUNDING AND WE HAVE AN UNCERTAINTY WITH THE FUTURE OF ACE.
SO THOSE ARE TWO AREAS THAT I'M THINKING THAT COULD HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE DISTRICT.
BUT I HAVE NO MORE INFORMATION THAN ANY BOARD MEMBER HERE HAS.
UH, TOM DAVIS PUT ON FACEBOOK TODAY, THE CHART SHOWING SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE LARGEST INCREASE IN GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT IN
[01:05:01]
THE FIRST QUARTER OF, UH, THIS FISCAL YEAR IN ANY OTHER STATE IN THE NATION, THERE'S GROWTH HAPPENING.THERE'S COMPANIES COMING IN AND REGION WE ARE INCREASED REVENUE IS NOT ONLY NEW BUSINESSES COMING, REMEMBER IN OUR OPERATING BUDGET, IT'S COMING FROM SECOND HOMEOWNERS AND BUSINESSES.
AND THE REASON WE'RE GETTING MORE MONEY IS BECAUSE THERE'S MORE BUSINESSES.
AND ALL YOU GOTTA DO IS SEE THAT NEW BUSINESSES ARE STARTING UP AND NEW BUSINESSES COMING IN.
SECONDLY, THE SECOND HOMEOWNERS, THEY ALWAYS HAVE CONSTANT BUYING AND SELLING THEIR PROPERTY.
AND WHAT'S HAPPENING IS THEY BOUGHT THESE PROPERTIES FOR $200,000 AND THEY'RE, AND THEY'RE TAXED AT $200,000 AND THEY'RE SELLING IT FOR 400,000 BUCKS AND NOW THEY'RE TAXED AT 4,000, $400,000.
THE SAME HOUSE IS NOW GENERATING 20% MORE TAXES.
AND THAT IS CONTINUING TO HAPPEN, BUT IT'S NOT GONNA BE FOREVER.
AND SO WE, YOUR POINT IS WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE VERY CONSERVATIVE IN OUR VIEWS AND THAT WE DON'T FIND OURSELVES OVERCOMMITTING AND BUYING THINGS THAT ARE FIXED AND CONTINUALLY EXPENSES.
THAT IF WE BUY THINGS, IF WE APPROVE THINGS, FOR EXAMPLE, JUST FOR EXAMPLE, OUR SCHOOL BUSES, OUR ACTIVITY BUSES THAT WE OWN, WE NEED SOME, WE NEED TO REPLACE SOME OF THEM.
BUT WHEN YOU REPLACE ONE OF THEM, NOT ONLY DO YOU GET A NEW BUS, YOU GENERALLY GET A MORE FUEL EFFICIENT BUS.
AND YOU, AND YOU GENERALLY GONNA HAVE LESS MAINTENANCE AND FUEL COSTS EVERY YEAR.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S AN INVESTMENT FOR THE FUTURE THAT ACTUALLY REDUCES COSTS.
SO YOU HAVE TO, YOU HAVE TO BALANCE ALL OF THAT AND HOW WE HANDLE OUR CAPITAL AND OUR OPERATIONAL FUNDING.
AND, AND, AND THIS IS BEING DONE IN SUCH A WAY THAT IS AUDITED.
THIS IS VERY, THIS IS ANOTHER VERY IMPORTANT PART THAT'S A BIG PART OF OUR AUDIT.
AND THEY COME UP ON HOW WE ARE MANAGING OUR FUNDS BOTH OPERATIONALLY AND, UH, AND IN CAPITAL.
SO WE'VE BEEN GETTING STELLAR REPORTS THAT WE'RE DOING THAT, AND WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CONTINUE TO DO THAT, BECAUSE THAT'S ANOTHER PROBLEM WITH OUR NEIGHBORING DISTRICT IS THEY DID NOT DO THAT.
YEAH, WE'RE IN GOOD SHAPE, BUT WE HAVE TO BE CAUTIOUS.
SO LISTENING TO ALL THIS FEEDBACK, MADAM, CFO, UH, IS, IS THERE A CRITICAL DEADLINE WE GOTTA MEET OR THIS OPPORTUNITY GOES AWAY? CAN WE WAIT 30 DAYS? AND THEN I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE OPERATIONS SORT OF SHARE WITH US IF THEY'VE IDENTIFIED ANY POTENTIAL PROJECT.
AND THEN I WOULD FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE MOVING FORWARD, BUT I WOULDN'T WANT ANYTHING TO IRREVERSIBLE.
WE HAVE TO COMMIT, DAMN, THIS MONEY IS SPENT TO LOCK IT DOWN.
AND THEN WE DON'T HAVE THAT FLEXIBILITY.
I'M GOING BACK TO GLOBALLY WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT WHERE IS THIS WORLD GOING.
SO THAT'S ALL YOU'RE HEARING IN MY VOICE.
SO MY DEADLINE TO PROVIDE THE TRIAL BALANCE, WHICH IS EVERY ACCOUNT IN THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS IS USUALLY THE THIRD.
NO, WE WAS, WHAT IS IT DUE TO? TO, TO THE AUDITORS IF IT, OR FIFTH, LAST YEAR THEY REQUESTED IT EARLY, AND SO IT WAS THE THIRD FRIDAY IN SEPTEMBER, BUT LAST YEAR THEY REQUESTED IT EARLY AND WE WERE ABLE TO FINISH BEFORE THANKSGIVING.
UM, SO I AM THINKING PROBABLY BEFORE IT'S GONNA, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO PROVIDE OUR TRIAL BALANCE TO THE AUDITORS FOR OUR NEXT FINANCE PAY.
CAN YOU GET SORT OF AN INFORMAL ESTIMATE ON THE CAPITAL REQUIREMENT THAT MIGHT BE CONSIDERED A FORMAL ESTIMATE OF
[01:10:01]
CAPITAL NEEDS? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE YEAH, BECAUSE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PUTTING IT INTO THE CAPITAL FUND.SO THERE SOME ESTIMATE OF WHAT THOSE PARTICULAR PROJECTS WOULD BE.
IS IF YOU COULD GET THAT, THAT WOULD MAKE ME FEEL A LOT BETTER.
SO IF THAT ALLOWS YOU STILL TO CONSUMMATE THIS.
THIS REQUIRES A JOURNAL ENTRY TO TRANSFER AND A BUDGET TRANSFER TO TRANSFER, TO COVER THE BUDGET, COVER THE EXPENDITURES.
UM, I, MY PREFERENCE IS THAT THAT JOURNAL ENTRY BE DONE PRIOR TO THE AUDITORS GETTING THE TRIAL BALANCE.
UM, THAT WOULD BE THE EARLY SEPTEMBER.
SO I DON'T KNOW THAT THE TIMELINE, UH, ARE YOU SUGGESTING TO WAIT TO DO THIS TRANSFER UNTIL WE SEE THE NEEDS OR, UH, SOMEWHAT.
BUT REALLY THERE'S A LOT OF LATITUDE IN WHAT I'M VISUALIZING.
I MEAN, IF THEY, YOU MENTIONED SEVERAL TIMES THERE ARE PROJECTS THAT THINK MIGHT OCCUR.
SO IF THERE ARE JUST THAT NOTIONAL IDENTIFICATION OF WHAT ARE THEY, YOU KNOW, IT COULD BE THE BACK OF ENVELOPE, BUT IS IT GOING TO BE SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE TO BUY THE MATERIALS NOW SIX MONTH LEAD TIME OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? BECAUSE IT'D BE HARDER LITTLE BIT TO UNLINED THAT.
I THINK THE WHOLE, THIS IS, WE'RE, WE'RE SET ASIDE THIS SO IT DOESN'T SHOW UP IN FUND BALANCE SO THAT THE STATE COME BACK AND SAY, WHY ARE YOU RAISING THE FUND BALANCE SO MUCH AND THEY WANT US BE SUSPENDED.
IT'S NOT BEING ASSIGNED DIRECTLY TO A PROJECT THIS POINT, BUT IN THE FUTURE HAVE IT AVAILABLE.
SO I I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
I BELIEVE THAT WE MAY HAVE INFORMED THE AUDITORS LAST YEAR THAT WE WERE GOING TO HAVE A JOURNAL ENTRY AFTER THE TRIAL BALANCE.
SO THAT'S WHAT WE WILL DO WITH THEM AND SAY, AND THIS IS THE APPROXIMATE AMOUNT THAT WE BELIEVE WE'RE GOING TO BE MOVING WITHIN THE NEXT MONTH OR SO.
UM, SO WE CAN ANTICIPATE AN AMOUNT, PERHAPS WHAT HAS BEEN PROPOSED TODAY, WE CAN INFORM THEM AND SAY, HERE'S THE TRIAL BALANCE, BUT WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A JOURNAL ENTRY, LIKELY HAVE A JOURNAL ENTRY WITHIN THE NEXT MONTH BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER, OR SOME, UH, NO SOME DATE.
AND I THINK THEY'LL BE FINE WITH THAT.
SO I THINK THAT IF I RECALL, MONTGOMERY IS NOT SO GOOD THESE DAYS ABOUT MULTIPLE THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED,
UM, SO I BELIEVE THAT WE CAN DO THAT.
WE CAN PUSH THIS OFF UNTIL WE CAPTURE SOME SPECIFIC NEEDS THAT MAY BE, UM, YEAH.
IS IT DOABLE? I DON'T, I'M NOT TRYING THROW A WRENCH INTO GEAR.
JUST TRYING TO, YOU JUST HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT.
WELL, I'LL, I UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT.
UH, YOU'VE MADE, I MEAN, A LOT MORE COMFORTABLE BY SAYING IT'S REVERSIBLE IF NEEDED TO BE.
SO THAT'S, I DON'T WANT TO GET CAUGHT SHORT ON CASH.
UH, SO IF, IF, IF WE NEED TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE CAVEAT THAT YOU'LL COME BACK AND SHOW US WHERE THESE POTENTIAL DOLLARS LIKELY TO GO, IT WON'T STOP ANYTHING.
JUST A COMFORT LEVEL THAT WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE LONG-TERM COMMITMENTS.
EVERYBODY OKAY WITH THAT? UM, MS. HAY, MS. GORDON, YOU FOLKS? OKAY.
I'M DIGESTING, BUT YOU ARE ASKING FOR MM-HMM
UH, MS. CROSBY'S RESPONSE TO IT.
SO, UH, I'LL JUST WAIT AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS AT THE, UH, NEXT MEETING.
UH, THEN I'LL PROCEED WITH IT.
DOES IT REQUIRE US TO VOTE, GIVE YOU SORT OF THAT FOUNDATION GOING FORWARD OR NOT? YES.
NO, JUST WHEN WE, I WILL NEED, IF, IF WE ULTIMATELY MAKE A TRANSFER, I'LL NEED TO VOTE AT SOME POINT, BUT ONCE WE, YOU ARE ALL ARE COMFORTABLE WITH IT, THEN WE'LL PROCEED.
I DON'T FORESEE ME CERTAINLY NOT VOTING IN SUPPORT OF IT JUST TO ALLEVIATE ANY CONCERNS THAT, YOU KNOW, I'M OBSTINATE ABOUT.
YOU KNOW WHAT I'M ASKING? WHATS YES.
AND I WAS JUST WAITING FOR, UM, MS. GORDON, SINCE SHE WAS IN THE ROOM, WANTED TO GIVE HER, YOU KNOW, RUNWAY TO SPEAK FIRST.
BUT I'M IN COMPLETE AGREEMENT WITH THIS PLAN.
I ALSO LIKED WHERE MR. DALLAS' HEAD WAS AT IN TERMS OF DO YOU NEED AN EXTRA PERCENTAGE, YOU KNOW, POINT THERE JUST TO MAKE SURE WE'RE NOT CAUGHT OFF GUARD BY ANYTHING.
THAT'S SOMETHING, AGAIN, JUST LIKE MR. DALLAS SAID, IT'S SMART BUSINESS PRACTICE, WHICH I, YOU KNOW,
[01:15:01]
MRS. CROSBY IS PHENOMENAL AT WHAT SHE DOES.UM, BUT WE ALWAYS WANT TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE A CUSHION WITH ANYTHING.
I MEAN, EVEN JUST MANAGING YOUR HOME, YOU KNOW, THAT YOUR INSURANCE COULD GO UP NEXT YEAR.
THE ELECTRIC COULD SUDDENLY BECOME MORE EXPENSIVE NEXT YEAR.
JUST THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING IS ON THE INCREASING UPTICK.
UM, IT SEEMS LIKE JUST THE CONSTANT WAY OF THE WORLD.
SO I'M IN AGREEMENT WITH MAKING SURE WE'RE BEING FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE, BUT ALSO THAT WE HAVE THAT CUSHION.
IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT, EVERYBODY.
HAVE WE GONE UP EVERY YEAR? UH, NOT EVERY YEAR.
THERE WERE SEVERAL YEARS WHERE WE REDUCED SIGNIFICANTLY BECAUSE OF TAX SHORTFALL.
BUT RECENT YEARS HAVE SHOWN INCREASES, SLIGHT INCREASES FOR THE MOST PART EXCEPT FOR LAST YEAR WITH AS OF TAX REVENUE OR PREVIOUS TAX REVENUE AND, AND WITH DISTRICT, RIGHT.
AND, AND THAT'S, AND I JUST SAID, WELL, AND I I JUST BROUGHT THAT OUT BECAUSE I WAS TO, UH, TO WHAT? UH, TO WHAT? UM, SOME, UH, TO WHAT, I DON'T REMEMBER WHO, WHO SAID IT OVER THERE, UH, ABOUT, WE DON'T WANT, WE DON'T WANNA GO UP, UH, E EVERY, EVERY, EVERY YEAR.
BUT I DO REMEMBER, I REMEMBER, UH, DAVID KRIGER, UH, HE WAS A BOY.
I REMEMBER HIM, UH, TALKING ABOUT THIS.
I THINK I MIGHT HAVE BEEN HITTING THE GUY AND IT WAS CONCERNED THAT SAME CONCERN THAT MR. PUT ON MY HEAD.
AND NOW MY HEART, UM, I'M SORRY, I'M A FORGETTABLE PERSON.
NO ISSUE DALLAS, UH, RAISED TOO.
AND THAT, THAT'S WHY I JUST WANTED TO
AND, AND, AND THAT, AND THAT IS A CONCERN.
AND, AND YOU KNOW, TO SAY THAT WE MIGHT NOT WANT TO BE CAUGHT OFF GUARD WITH IN TERMS OF HOW THE OTHER, THE OTHER, THE OTHER CONNIE OVER THERE.
WHEN, WHEN WE HAVE MORE, MORE, MORE MONEY THAT THAT'S LUCRATIVE THEN THAT, THAT DOES, THAT COULD, THAT COULD POSSIBLY, THAT COULD POSSIBLY TO ME, THAT COULD RAISE THE, THAT COULD RAISE THE ACT ACTUAL SAME THING AS, AS WELL.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S KIND OF WHY I DON'T, YOU KNOW, WHEN, WHEN, UH, YEAH, I WOULD, I JUST PUT THAT OUT.
I JUST LEAVE WHAT, WHAT, WHAT I SAID OUT ALREADY WHAT I NEED TO BE SAID OUT ALREADY SAID IT.
BUT I JUST WANTED, WANTED TO PUT, PUT THAT OUT, PUT THAT OUT THERE THAT WE WERE, WE DID, DID TALK ABOUT CHANGING IT, UH, IN TERMS OF GOING UP AND WE THOUGHT THAT IT WAS ALREADY TOO HIGH.
WE HAD, WE HAD AGREED AT ONE POINT WAS SAYING THAT IT WAS TOO HIGH, BUT YEAH.
UM, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THIS HELPS THE CONVERSATION, BUT, UM, OUR, THE COMMENTS WHEN WE RECEIVE A CREDIT RATING IS THAT IN COMPARISON TO OUR PEER DISTRICTS, OUR FUND BALANCE IS RELATIVELY LOW.
AND THAT IF WE WERE TO TRY TO ACHIEVE A HIGHER RATING, WHICH WOULD BE A PERFECT RATING OF AA, THAT IT WOULD REQUIRE US TO DO A FEW THINGS.
AND ONE OF WHICH IS TO INCREASE YOUR FUND BALANCE.
SO WE HAVE INTENTIONALLY INCREASED THE FUND BALANCE OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS TO GET AND INCLUDING INCREASING FUND BALANCE THROUGH THE FUND BALANCE POLICY, UH, CHANGING THAT RECENTLY, MAKING THAT MODIFICATION TO ALLOW FOR, UH, NOT TO HAVE A CAP OR A PERCEIVED CAP ON THE RANGE OF FUND BALANCE PERCENTAGES.
NOW WE ARE NOT LIMITED BY A 17% IN ANY WAY.
WE JUST HAVE A LOW LIMIT OF 60 DAYS OF OPERATION.
SO WE INTENTIONALLY INCREASED IT, BUT WE'RE STILL LOWER THAN OUR AVERAGE YEAR DISTRICT WHO ARE GOING OUT FOR BONDS.
SO THAT'S WHY I FELT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO SLIGHTLY, WE'LL DEFINITELY KEEP IT AT THE SAME LEVEL, SLIGHTLY GROW, BUT I TOO AM VERY CONSERVATIVE IN TERMS OF FINANCES.
SO I WAS TRYING NOT TO GO TOO HIGH.
SO YOU GOT A NEW NICKNAME FROM SAY, FOLD, YOU KNOW, SO I AM HAPPY TO LAND WHEREVER THE BOARD IS COMFORTABLE TO DO THAT.
WE HAVE THE FLEXIBILITY TO DO ANOTHER PERCENTAGE POINT IF THAT'S NEEDED.
WELL, I THINK YOU HEARD THAT FROM ONE MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE.
UH, UH, JUST ANOTHER, IT CAN GET TO THE FULL 21 THAT'S CUSHION AND THAT WAY.
UH, THE OTHER THING IS IF YOU CAN BRING SOME IDENTIFICATION OF POTENTIALLY WHAT THE CAPITAL PROJECTS ARE AND JUST FOR THE BOARD'S KNOWLEDGE, THAT WOULD MEAN ANOTHER APPROXIMATE ALMOST $3 MILLION DIFFERENCE.
SO WE HOLD 7 MILLION INSTEAD OF FOUR BACK IN THE FUND BALANCE AND THEN MOVE, UM, 1.7 MILLION
[01:20:01]
TO A CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND IF THAT'S THE BOARD'S DESIRE.SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT WOULD GET US TO 21 EVEN.
AND WE DO HAVE THE, THE NUMBER, NUMBER ONE, NUMBER ONE BOMBINGS IN, IN, IN, IN, IN THIS, IN THE WHAT COUNTRY? STATE.
SO I DON'T IMAGINE THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT NONE OF THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WOULD, WOULD REALLY MATTER.
UH, BASICALLY POINT THE RATE THAT WE HAVE.
SO US GOING OUT AND GETTING MONEY IS THEY AFRAID IT'S NOT A PROBLEM.
IT'S JUST TO MAINTAIN THE OF WHAT WE HAVE.
AND I THINK THAT, I THINK THAT WE, THAT WE IS BEEN CONSISTENTLY AND JUST BE CAREFUL AND INTENTIONAL UPON HOW, UPON HOW YOU MOVE IS, IS WHERE I'M CONTINUE TO, UH, TO LOOK BECAUSE I DEFINITELY LOOK GOOD ORANGE.
SO THAT, THAT'S JUST MY, MY, MY, MY MY OFFICER.
SO, SO TO CLOSE THIS, YOU GOT 21% AND BRINGING THE PROJECTS BACK.
SO I'LL BRING THAT, STILL BRING 1.7 OF NEED.
WHAT ELSE? NEXT TOPIC IS PROJECT MAKES OVERVIEW.
UM, WE'VE GOT A GREAT TEAM OF PEOPLE BEHIND US READY TO GO TODAY.
UM, REQUEST CAME FROM THIS COMMITTEE.
UH, WE, THE DISCUSSION WAS AROUND EFFICIENCIES, UM, THAT WE WERE AUTOMATING SOME THINGS.
WE WERE ELECT MAKING, UH, YOUR WORK GETTING READY TO MAKE TRAVEL ELECTRONIC FOR EMPLOYEES, AND IT WILL BE DIRECT DEPOSITED IN THE FOLKS ACCOUNT.
SO THAT'S ONE FORM OF EFFICIENCY.
UM, WE HAVE A NEW TIMECLOCK CONVERSION GOING ON, THAT'S ANOTHER LAYER OF EFFICIENCIES.
UM, AND SO WE'RE TRYING TO FIND A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
BUT THE CAPITAL, UH, THE FACILITIES AND CONSTRUCTION OFFICE CAME UP WITH A VERY, UM, UH, GREAT PROPOSALS, ALTHOUGH A LITTLE SCARY AT FIRST, BUT
UM, SO ALL THE DOC, A LOT OF THE DOCUMENTS THAT THEY HAVE, WHICH GENERATES EFFICIENCIES FOR US IN THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT FOR THEM IN THE PROJECTS AND, UH, AND MONITORING THINGS.
AND SO I'M GONNA, UH, I THINK I, UM, PROVIDED A, WE PROVIDED A POWERPOINT TODAY AND MS. LORI IS GOING TO PRESENT.
MS. WILSON, YOU WANNA SIT HERE? YES, MA'AM.
AND THANK YOU FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM.
I'M, IT, IT, AND, UH, WE'RE EXCITED.
WE'RE, YEAH, WELL, WE'RE EXCITED TO BE HERE.
YOU GUYS WERE TALKING ABOUT SOME EFFICIENCIES EARLIER AND ALL THE EXCITEMENT.
WE HAVE THAT SAME EXCITEMENT AROUND PROJECT MATES.
UM, BUT BASICALLY I DID, UM, I'VE BEEN WITH THE DISTRICT FOR FOUR, A LITTLE OVER FOUR YEARS.
AND WHEN I FIRST CAME, IT WAS A TOPIC OF DISCUSSION AND JUST KIND OF GREW AND GREW AND THERE WAS A LOT OF, UM, WE WENT THROUGH ANALYSIS EVERYTHING BEFORE WE FINALLY DOVE INTO IT.
AND, UM, WE STARTED TRAINING LAST JUNE, SO WE ARE ALMOST AT, WE'RE OVER A YEAR OF ACTUALLY USING IT.
IT WAS A VERY SLOW ROLLOUT TO MAKE SURE WE WERE GETTING IT RIGHT.
UM, WE HAD A PILOT, UM, CONTRACTOR AND A PILOT ARCHITECT, UM, THAT WE ROLLED IT OUT WITH.
BUT BASICALLY WHAT IT IS, PROJECT MATES, FOR ANYONE WHO'S NOT FAMILIAR WITH IT, IT IS A PROJECT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND IT HOUSES ALL DOCUMENTS RELATING TO ANY PROJECT.
AND IT'S ALL PROJECT PACIFIC LIVES THERE FOREVER.
UM, AND IT IS BROKEN DOWN INTO SEVERAL DIFFERENT, UM, CATEGORIES.
AND THAT'S KIND OF WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE.
UM, STARTING WITH CAPITAL PLANNING AND BUDGETING.
THAT'S SOMETHING WE'VE JUST KIND OF DIPPED OUR TOE IN.
AND I'M GONNA LET, UM, CAROL OR LOU KIND OF SPEAK TO THAT A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE THAT'S THEIR WORLD.
SO THE, WE FIRST OF ALL PROJECT MATES HAS GREATLY MADE OUR OFFICE SO MUCH MORE EFFICIENT.
WE COULD FIND THINGS, WE DON'T HAVE TO CHANGE PAPER AROUND THAT.
I KNOW LORI'S GONNA GO INTO MORE DETAIL ON THAT, BUT THIS REALLY GAVE US A GREAT SOLUTION AND ONE STOP SHOPPING TO FIND ANYTHING RELATED TO A CAPITAL PROJECT.
AND SO THE CAPITAL PLANNING AND BUDGETING PART OF THIS, I THINK THE NEXT THIRD, YEAH.
IT, IT ALLOWS FOR US TO, ALL THE PROJECTS WE KNOW THAT ARE NEEDED THAT ARE NOT YET FUNDED, WE CAN TRACK IN THIS SOFTWARE AS WELL.
SO WE, WE HAVEN'T COMPLETELY BEGUN USING IT, BUT WE'VE LOADED SOME INFORMATION IN THERE SO THAT WE CAN SORT OF FIGURE OUT THAT PART OF THE PROCESS AS WE, AS WE MOVE
[01:25:01]
TOWARDS COMPLETE FULL INFORMATION, UH, IMPLEMENTATION ON THIS.SO IT'S THERE, WE KNOW IT CAN WORK AND WE'RE GONNA EVENTUALLY MOVE THINGS OVER WITH LOUIS AND THAT WE MANAGE PROJECTS.
GET THEM GO AND, AND WORK ALL THE 26 8% PROJECTS, RIGHT? PULLING FORWARD THE PRE PROJECT GETS, WELL, YOU'LL PROBABLY HAVE TO SIT AT THE TABLE WITH, BECAUSE OF THE MICROPHONE, BUT THE IDEA IS, AND THOSE OF WHOM EVER SIT IN OPERATIONS COMMITTEE, YOU KNOW THAT THERE'S ALWAYS A HUGE LIST OF PROJECTS AND WE ARE ONLY ABLE TO FUND A SMALLER PART OF THAT HUGE LIST OF PROJECTS.
WHAT WE WANNA DO IS MOVING THAT HUGE LIST OF PROJECTS EVENTUALLY INTO THE SYSTEM WITH, YOU KNOW, AN ANTICIPATED BUDGET ASSOCIATED WITH EACH ONE OF THOSE.
UM, BUT WE'RE NOT QUITE THERE YET, BUT IT'S EXCITING OPPORTUNITY AND WE HOPE TO BE ABLE TO COME BACK AND TALK MORE ABOUT THAT PART OF THE, THIS SOFTWARE.
THIS SOFTWARE ALSO SHOWS YOU LIKE YOUR INITIAL ESTIMATE OF THE PROJECT WAS THIS AMOUNT.
AND WHEN YOU ACTUALLY GET A FINAL ESTIMATE, YOU KNOW, UP OR DOWN, IT'LL SHOW YOU WHAT YOU HAD STARTED OUT WITH AND WHAT YOU INITIALLY END UP FUNDING, WHICH CAN HELP US GOING FORWARD WITH.
I THINK THAT'S, UM, SO LIKE I SAID, WE ACTUALLY, AND WE'RE KIND OF STILL IN A HYBRID BECAUSE WE STARTED, UM, BY IDENTIFYING THE FY 2026 FUNDED PROJECTS AND THEN 2023 REFERENDUM PROJECTS STARTED AND LIVE IN PROJECT MADE, ANYTHING PRIOR TO THAT 2019 REFERENDUM.
AND FY 25 AND BEFORE IS STILL ON PAPER.
SO WE'RE STILL IN THE HYBRID MODE, UM, OF HAVING SOME PAPER PAY APPLICATIONS AND SOME OF THE ELECTRONIC PAY APPLICATIONS THAT WERE ROUTING.
UM, BUT WE LEARNED A LOT, I THINK FROM 2019 REFERENDUM ON THAT WE NEEDED A BETTER WAY TO TRACK THINGS.
AND EVEN THOUGH THE 2019 REFERENDUM PROJECTS ARE NOT IN HERE, UM, WE ARE USING IT AS A DOCUMENT REPOSITORY.
SO ALL OF THE CLOSEOUT DOCUMENTS, UM, PAY APPLICATIONS WILL ALL BE LOADED UP AS THOSE PROJECTS CLOSE OUT.
SO WE WILL HAVE THAT HISTORICAL DATA THERE.
UM, BUT THE PROJECT MADE, UM, IT ALLOWS US TO DESIGNATE A PROJECT SPECIFIC TEAM, WHICH IS THE ARCHITECT, UM, ENGINEERS CONTRACTOR AND THE PROJECT MANAGER.
THAT WAY THE PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH THAT PROJECT ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO GET ANY COMMUNICATION OR HAVE ANYTHING, UM, TO DO WITH THE ROUTING OF ANY INFORMATION DOCUMENTS, PAY APPLICATIONS.
UM, AND IT TAKES US THROUGH PLANNING, DESIGN, SCHEDULING IS A HUGE HELP FOR THE PROJECT MANAGERS BECAUSE THEY'RE, UM, THE SCHEDULE LIVES WITHIN PROJECT MATES.
ANYBODY CAN ACCESS IT AT ANY TIME AND OR MAKE CHANGES TO IT.
AND EVERYTHING IS A LIVE DOCUMENT.
SO YOU KNOW, THE LAST PERSON WHO TOUCHED IT, WHO HASN'T MAYBE DONE WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO DO YET, THAT SORT OF THING.
UM, OF COURSE IT FOLLOWS US THROUGH CONSTRUCTION.
UM, WE'LL LATER ON WE'LL SEE THE REPORTING, UM, THE INVOICE AND PAY APPLICATIONS, WHICH IS HUGE ON THE FINANCE END.
AND THEN, LIKE I MENTIONED, THE CLOSEOUT DOCUMENT, AND THIS IS JUST KIND OF, UM, IF YOU'LL GO TO THE NEXT ONE, SHOWING THE PREVIOUS WAY WE HANDLED OUR PAY APPLICATIONS, UM, AND COMMUNICATION FOR THAT POINT, EVERYTHING WAS BY EMAIL.
AND EVERYBODY KNOWS WHEN YOU GET INTO ONE OF THIS EMAIL THREADS, THE TOPIC MAY CHANGE, BUT THE SUBJECT DOESN'T.
AND THEN YOU'RE LIKE, JUST GOING BACK TRYING TO FIND EVERYTHING.
THIS ALLOWS ALL THE COMMUNICATION TO LIVE WITHIN THE PROJECT.
UM, SO THERE'S NO QUESTION ONCE YOU GO BACK, UM, THE PAPER INVOICING AND, UH, PA PAYMENT APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS, WHEN I FIRST GOT HERE, WE HAD TO HAVE TWO SETS OF ORIGINAL SIGN NOTARIZED AND CERTIFIED COVER SHEETS AND TWO SETS OF BACKUP.
ABOUT A YEAR INTO IT, WE GOT TO ONE SET OF BACKUP.
THAT BEING SAID, SOME OF THESE PAY APPLICATIONS CAN BE THREE TO 400 PAGES, UM, IN LENGTH.
AND IT'S A LOT
WE HAVE FILE CABINETS, BLESS YOU, BOXES.
UM, AND ALSO OUR PAY APPLICATIONS AND AMENDMENTS ARE TRACKED ON SEVERAL DIFFERENT SPREADSHEETS.
LOU HAS A SPREADSHEET, AND IT'S, WE JUST, AT THE END OF THE MONTH, WE'RE ALL JUST TRYING TO MAKE EVERYTHING MATCH UP.
SO, AND WE DO A PRETTY GOOD JOB WITH IT, BUT IT IS, I MEAN, IT IS IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT PLACES.
UM, THE PAPER APPLICATIONS HAVE TO BE PHYSICALLY ROUTED THROUGH
[01:30:01]
THE BUILDING.SO IF SOMEBODY'S OUT OR, YOU KNOW, IT GETS LOST ON YOUR DESK OR IT JUST GETS LOST, I MEAN, WE'VE HAD PAY APPLICATIONS THAT ARE JUST GONE.
WE DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY WERE.
WE KNOW WHERE IT SHOWS LAST PERSON HAD IT, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, THE PMS MAY TAKE 'EM OUT TO SIGN 'EM OR WHATEVER.
UM, AND THOSE PAY APPLICATIONS AS WELL AS THE AMENDMENTS, YOU'RE TALKING BETWEEN FIVE AND EIGHT PEOPLE THAT HAVE TO SIGN THOSE.
UM, SOME OF THE PAY APPLICATIONS, AND I WOULD SAY IT'S PROBABLY 80 20, 20 BEING NEEDS TO BE RESUBMITTED BECAUSE THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH IT.
UM, IF THE PAY APPLICATION HAD TO BE RESUBMITTED, IT REQUIRED AND THE COVER SHEET CHANGED, IF ANYTHING ON THAT SIGN AND NOTARIZED COVER SHEET WITH THE AMOUNTS ON IT, WHICH IF YOU'LL GO FORWARD, I CAN SHOW THEM RIGHT HERE YOUR APPLICATION VERSUS, AND, UM, CERTIFICATE REPAYMENT, IF ANY NUMBER ON THERE CHANGED IT HAD TO GO BACK TO THE CONTRACTOR OR ARCHITECT, BE REDONE, RE NOTARIZED, RESIGNED, SENT TO THE ARCHITECT, AND THEN THE ARCHITECT WOULD SEND IT BACK TO US.
HOSTAGE EXPENSE, PRINTING EXPENSES, ALL THOSE THINGS, UM, THAT ARE ELIMINATED IN THE NEW SYSTEM.
AND THAT COULD ALSO DELAY PAYMENT.
I MEAN, 30 DAYS, I MEAN SOME 90, I HAVE SOME RIGHT NOW THAT ARE, I'M WAITING ON A REVISION FROM MAY 25TH.
SO, YOU KNOW, IT JUST, IT CAN TAKE THE LEFT SIDE THAT IS OUR ROUTING SHEET
SO EACH PERSON WHO GETS THE, UM, WHO HA GETS THE PAY APPLICATION, THOSE ARE THE STEPS THAT THEY WOULD GO THROUGH.
AND THEY STILL ARE GOING THROUGH THOSE STEPS, BUT WE WOULD INITIAL AND THEN IT WOULD GO TO THE NEXT PERSON.
NOW IF YOU GO DOWN, UM, OVER TO YOUR RIGHT, THAT IS OUR PAPER ROUTING SPREADSHEET OF WHERE THE PAY APPS ARE AT ANY GIVEN TIME.
UM, AND IT'LL, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE GOT YOUR COMMENTS AND EVERYTHING THERE AS WELL.
UM, THE OTHER THING IS, LIKE I SAID, THESE PAY APPLICATIONS ARE VERY, VERY LARGE.
THEY ARE FILED AND KEPT BASED ON SOUTH CAROLINA LAW FOR 75 YEARS.
SO WHEN THEY TOLD ME IT'S 75 THEIR DAY, I WAS LIKE, OH, LET'S FIND THAT, THAT, UM, SO, YOU KNOW, AND THAT'S JUST, I MEAN, THAT'S A HUGE STORAGE ISSUE AS WELL.
THAT IS A REQUIREMENT BY STATE LAW.
THAT'S A PROCUREMENT REQUIREMENT.
SO IS THERE AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT POSSIBLY SOME TYPE OF LEGISLATIVE SOLUTION TO CHANGE THAT TO DIGITAL FOR THE WHOLE WORLD DIGITAL STORY? WELL, NOW MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THEY'RE SCANNED IN WHICH WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF GOING BACK AND SCANNING ALL OF THESE OLD PAY APPLICATIONS IN JUST TO MAKE SURE WE DON'T LOSE THEM IN A FLOOD OR ANYTHING THAT COULD HAPPEN.
UM, AND THAT WOULD BE A KAYLEE QUESTION PROBABLY AS TO WHETHER OR NOT, TYPICALLY WE GO BASED ON THE SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES FOR OUR RECORDS RETENTION REQUIREMENTS.
SO I, I DON'T KNOW THAT IT'S REC NECESSARILY A PROCUREMENT REQUIREMENT, BUT IT, I, ALL OF OUR RETENTION REQUIREMENTS THAT WE FOLLOW ARE THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES.
SO, AND THEIR LISTINGS ARE ANTIQUATED, BUT THE WAY WE GET AROUND THAT IS TO PAY CONTRACTORS TO COMPANIES TO SCAN AND DIGITIZE THAT INFORMATION TO, AND THEN THAT ULTIMATELY REDUCE STORAGE COSTS BECAUSE WE WILL RUN OUT OF ROOM EVENTUALLY IN OUR WAREHOUSES YES.
PART OF THAT IS THAT THAT LAW IS, THAT HAVE TO BE ABLE TO REPORT WHO'S ACCESSED THOSE DOCUMENTS AS WELL.
SO IF YOU GO CREATE A BOX, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOG IN THE BOX THAT SHOWS WHATEVER, AND SO A DIGITAL FORMAT MEETS ALL THOSE REQUIREMENTS AND YOU DON'T HAVE ALL THE PAPER STORED.
SO YOU CAN, WELL, YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN THERE, BUT YES.
IT, IT'S ONE OF OUR CHALLENGES AND WE PAID MOST ATTENTION TO THAT WHEN WE WERE TRYING TO WORK WITH PROJECT BASED AND DEVELOPMENT.
AND WE, WE DIGITIZE STUDENT RECORDS ON A REGULAR BASIS AS WELL.
AND ALL THE MOVEMENT THAT WE'VE MADE IN THIS BUILDING HAS REQUIRED US OF THAT.
SO IT'S ENCOURAGED US TO SCAN MORE AND ADVERTISE MORE TOO.
AND ALSO, UM, I THINK THERE IS LIKE THE VDRIVE, WHICH IS WHAT WE USE IN OPERATIONS, THERE'S ONLY SO MUCH SPACE THERE.
SO WE WERE UTILIZING PROGRAMS LIKE DOCU, UM, DROPBOX, DROPBOX, UM, TO STORE, YOU KNOW, CLOSEOUT DOCUMENTS, BUT TO ACTUALLY, THEY WERE THERE, BUT TO ACTUALLY GO IN AND FIND THEM.
DROPBOX IS NOT THAT USER FRIENDLY WHEN YOU'RE ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SPECIFIC.
[01:35:01]
UM, SO THIS, THAT'S A GREAT HELP WITH THE CLOSEUP DOCUMENTS AS WELL.UM, SO IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE NEW PROCESSES WITH PROJECT MATES AND THAT SLIDE PLEASE.
UM, SO LIKE I SAID, ALL THE COMMUNICATIONS AND PROJECT DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING DRAWINGS, BUDGETS, COMMUNICATION AMENDMENTS, PAY APPLICATIONS, MEETINGS, AND PHOTOS ARE PROJECT SPECIFIC IN THERE.
YOU CAN GO IN AND LOOK AT 'EM.
UM, AND THEY LIVE IN THE PROJECT FOREVER.
UH, SO IF YOU KNOW SOMEBODY, A A PROJECT MANAGER'S GONE, OR, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT HERE TO DO THE PAY APPLICATIONS, SOMEBODY ELSE CAN GO BACK AND FIND THAT HISTORICAL DATA AND FOLLOW UP WITH IT.
UM, THE NOTIFICATIONS TO TEAM MEMBERS IS A BIG ONE BECAUSE EVERY TIME SOMETHING HAPPENS WITHIN YOUR PROJECT, UM, YOU'LL GET AN EMAIL LIKE, HEY, YOU NEED TO APPROVE THIS INVOICE.
UM, YOU HAVE AN RFI FROM THE CONTRACTOR, OR THEY RESPONDED TO YOUR, UM, RFI.
AND IF YOU DON'T RESPOND, YOU GET CLICKED.
BUT THEN LIKE FIVE TO SEVEN DAYS, DEPENDING ON HOW THE, THE CLOCK IS SET WITH THAT.
UM, AND THAT INCLUDES, UM, YOUR PAYMENT APPLICATIONS, ALL THOSE THINGS THAT ARE JUST SPEEDING EVERYTHING UP FOR US.
UM, THE APPROVALS AND SUBMITTALS, WHICH THIS IS ON THE NEXT SLIDE, BUT, UM, IF YOU'LL, YEAH.
SO THIS SHOWS WHAT OUR PAY APPS LOOK LIKE NOW.
SO, UM, IT SHOWS WHAT WE HAVE PENDING.
THIS IS ACTUALLY THE, THE REPORT THAT I'M PROVIDING TO LORI AND HER TEAM AT THE END OF THE MONTH, UM, FOR OUTSTANDING PAY APPLICATIONS THAT LET US KNOW WHAT'S IN-HOUSE BUT HAS NOT BEEN PAID YET FOR THEIR FORECASTING.
WE WERE DOING THE SAME WITH PAPER, BUT IT WAS THE ONE YOU SAW WHERE IT JUST LISTED EIGHT, SIX APPROVED AND ROUTING, YOU KNOW, STILL TOTALED IT OUT.
BUT THIS HELPS US TO KNOW WHAT'S IN HOUSE.
THIS ONE GOES A STEP FURTHER BECAUSE IT EVEN SHOWS THAT THE CONTRACTOR HAS CREATED IT.
WE MAY NOT EVEN HAVE IT YET, BUT WE KNOW THAT COMMITMENT'S OUT THERE, UM, BECAUSE THE CONTRACTOR HAS CREATED IT AND IT IS GOING TO THE ARCHITECT.
UM, AND THEN THE OTHER ONE OVER HERE TO THE LEFT, YOU JUST SEE WHERE A SPECIFIC PAY APPLICATION COULD BE, UM, WHO HAS IT, HOW LONG THEY'VE HAD IT, UM, AND THEN WHERE IT IS IN THE APPROVAL PROCESS.
AND THE CONTRACTORS CAN GO IN AND LOOK AT THAT AS WELL.
SO THEY DON'T HAVE TO CALL OR EMAIL ME AND BE LIKE, HEY, WHEN IS THIS GETTING PAID? FACT? I HAD A CONTRACTOR THE OTHER DAY SAY, HEY, TANYA HAS THIS, SHE JUST GOT IT.
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE HER TO APPROVE IT
UM, I APPROVED 'EM ALL BEFORE I CAME HERE,
UM, BUT YEAH, IF YOU'LL GO DOWN ONE MORE.
UM, THIS IS JUST SHOWING THE COMMUNICATION.
THESE ARE THE EMAILS WE GET WHEN WE HAVE OVER HERE TO THE LEFT, THE EMAILS WE GET SAYING WE ARE, YOU KNOW, YOUR APPROVAL'S REQUESTED FOR AN INVOICE OR A CONTRACT, WHATEVER THAT MAY BE.
UM, AND THEN THERE'S LIKE, WHEN YOU CLICK ON IT, THIS IS WHAT YOU GET TO GO DOWN THROUGH THE APPROVAL AND SEE.
YOU SAW THAT THERE WAS ONE THAT SAID CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS UHHUH.
FOR ME, THAT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE I CAN KNOW EXACTLY WHERE WE ARE THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE DESIGN PROCESS BECAUSE A LOT OF TIMES, YOU KNOW, THE PROJECT MANAGER MIGHT HAVE THAT.
BUT IT DIDN'T GET SENT TO EVERYONE.
I CAN GO ON HERE AND PULL IT UP AND SAY, OKAY, WELL HERE'S, AND THIS IS THE MOST RECENT DRAWING AND THIS IS, YOU KNOW, THIS IS THE MOST RECENT DRAWING, AND I KNOW FOR SURE THAT THERE ISN'T ANOTHER ONE OUT THERE.
AND IF THERE'S NOTES ON THAT, THERE'S NOTES ON THOSE THINGS, IT, IT'S WONDERFUL.
SO I, I THINK I WENT THROUGH MOST OF THIS, BUT, UM, THIS IS THE WHOLE REVISE AND RESUBMIT THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT.
IT'S JUST ANYTIME SOMETHING GOES WRONG, WE'RE HAVING TO SEND IT BACK OUT.
THEY'RE HAVING TO SEND IT BACK IN.
AND IT WAS JUST A LONG PROCESS WITH THIS.
I HAD ONE THIS MORNING, IT WAS A $500,000 INVOICE.
I HAD IT BACK IN 15 AND IT'S ALREADY ROUTING.
I MEAN, IT, IT HAS JUST, IT HAS HELPED SO MUCH WITH THAT SORT OF COMMUNICATION AND PROCESSING THINGS.
UM, AND THEN WE WENT ON TO LOOK AT WHAT IT'S ACTUALLY, THESE ARE SOME OF THE DIFFERENT REPORTS THAT YOU CAN GET, WHICH WE DID TALK ABOUT THAT EACH PERSON HAS THEIR OWN SET OF REPORTS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT CAROL NEEDS, I MAY NOT NEED WHAT I NEED.
TANYA MAY NOT NEED, YOU KNOW, IT'S EVERYTHING IS BASED TO THE, TO THE USER, THE REPORTS THAT SHE MAY NEED SEE.
[01:40:01]
THROUGH AND LISTED THE PROS TO PROJECT MATES THAT ARE LIKE EFFICIENCY AND MONEY SAVERS.OBVIOUSLY WE ARE SAVING SO MUCH PAPER, PRINTERS AND TONER.
UM, IT SAVES TIME PRE CREATING THE PAPER DOCUMENTS, ROUTING AND APPROVAL.
NOW THAT BEING SAID, THE, UM, CONSTRUCTION MANAGER OR ARCHITECT IS STILL SUBMITTING A BACKUP PAY APPLICATION.
UM, DIGITALLY, UM, APPROVALS CAN BE MADE ANYWHERE WITH INTERNET CONNECTION.
WE EVEN HAVE AN APP, WHICH IS GREAT.
UM, ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR PHYSICAL SIGNATURES IF IT DOES REQUIRE A PHYSICAL SIGNATURE.
UM, WE DO USE DOCUSIGN AND THAT'S ONLY USED LIKE ON AMENDMENTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, NO MISPLACED DOCUMENTS IS HUGE.
AND THEN OVERALL, IT'S JUST A MORE EFFICIENT PROCESS.
UM, SO WE HAVE OUR OWN, THIS IS OUR OWN, UH, WEBSITE WITHIN THE SYSTEM.
UM, IT JUST KIND OF SHOWS THAT ANY TIME THERE'S SOMETHING CALLED A BALL IN COURT, THAT MEANS YOU HAVE THAT MANY ITEMS WAITING ON YOU TO RESPOND TO.
UM, AND THAT UPDATES IN REAL TIME AS WELL.
DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, MS. GORDON? I'M, I'M, I'M AMAZED.
UM, I REMEMBER BACK IN THE DAY WHEN, REMEMBER ROBERT, THEY HAD THE LEDGERS MM-HMM
THEY BRING IN THESE BIG LEDGERS AND WE GO DOWN TO FINANCE AND WE JUST FIGURE OUR HEADS, UM, AS, AS TO HOW THINGS WERE DONE.
AND WITH THIS COMPUTER SYSTEM PROJECT DATES.
UM, I THINK THE ONLY QUESTION I HAD, YOU SAID SOMETHING ABOUT, UM, IF SOMETHING CAME TO ME AND I GUESS I HADN'T DONE WHAT I NEEDED TO DO.
IT WOULD CLICK ME, IT WOULD SEND YOU A REMINDER AND SAY, HEY, YOU HAVE AN OVERDUE TASK.
SO IT WOULD JUST SEND AN EMAIL.
SO WILL IT SEND THAT TO TANYA
WE KNOW THAT WE NEED TO GO IN EVERY DAY.
THE VOLUMES IN BOTH THE ELECTRONIC VERSION AND WHAT'S STILL PAPER.
AND WE KNOW THAT THERE'S SO MUCH, I THINK I HAD THREE EARLIER TODAY THAT WAS A RELATIVELY BELOW NUMBER.
BUT EVEN IF WE'RE OUT, WHEN I WAS ON VACATION, I LOGGED IN EVERY DAY AND DID THIS FIRST THING IN THE MORNING, KNOCK THEM OUT.
AND I MANAGED TO GET THAT DONE WHILE DRINKING MY COFFEE AND MOVE ON TO THE, AND I SHUT MY COMPUTER AND HAD A GREAT DAY.
I WAS NOT, I DIDN'T HAVE TO BURDEN A STAFF MEMBER WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY, THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF APPROVING THAT.
SO I WAS ABLE TO DO THAT WITH THOSE PAYOUTS, BUT HE WAS ABLE, HAD I HAVE TO GET SOMEBODY TO STILL SIGN THE PAPER ONES YES.
WHEN I'M OUT FOR A PERIOD OF TIME.
UM, SO THAT, YOU KNOW, STILL IS A LITTLE BIT OF AN ISSUE, BUT AS TIME GOES ON, WE'LL LESSEN THAT THOSE PROJECTS WILL COMPLETE AND WE'LL BE SHIFTING A HUNDRED PERCENT TO THIS, WHICH I WAS VERY SKEPTICAL AT THE BEGINNING, BUT IT WAS GREAT IMPLEMENTATION.
AND DAN WAS LUNCH AND, AND I, I WOULDN'T EVER WANNA GO BACK TO THE PAPER.
I MEAN, IF WE ARE ON, UH, IF THEY'RE A HURRICANE
SO IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A GAME CHANGER.
AND ON THAT SAME NOTE, I JUST DID WANNA MENTION, LIKE FOR THE PROJECT MANAGERS, IF THEY'RE ON VACATION, THEY CAN HAVE ANOTHER PROJECT MANAGER PICK UP ALL OF THEIR NOTIFICATIONS SO THEY CAN STAY ON TOP OF EVERYTHING AS WELL.
UM, IT'S NOT LIKE IT'S JUST SITTING THERE WHILE I'M ON VACATION, BUT IT'S VERY HELPFUL.
AND THIS, THIS ANSWERS PAYOUT VELOCITY WE HAVE AND WE ALWAYS HAVE, IT'LL SPEED, IT'LL SPEED IT UP IN CONTRACTS ARE GONNA MAKE OUR CLOSEOUTS
[01:45:01]
WORK BETTER.AND, AND I CAN SEE IT SAVING CLAIM AND SAVING PAPER AND ALL THAT STUFF.
YOU HAVE A CONCERN? NO CONCERN IS INFORMATION IS GREAT INTERNALLY, BUT KNOW ALL OF THIS WILL BE FOR YOU.
AND HERE'S WHY I, HERE'S MY CONCERN.
NUMBER ONE, A COMPETITOR CONTRACTING CAN LOOK AT THIS, YOU KNOW, THE ONE THAT DIDN'T GET THE BID CAN LOOK AT EVERYTHING THAT HAS BEEN DONE AND THE COST AND VENDORS AND EVERY, EVERYTHING, EVEN THAT VENDOR, THE CONTRACTOR TO GRAB THAT INFORMATION AND HELP HIM OUT FOR FUTURE CONTRACTS, FUTURE COMPETITION WITH THAT PARTICULAR GUY.
I THINK YOUR PRIME CONTRACTOR'S GONNA BE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR OWN PRODUCT.
UH, WELL, THEY CAN, CONTRACTORS CAN NOW ONLY LOOK AT THE PROJECTS THEY'RE ASSIGNED TO, RIGHT? THEY CAN'T LOOK AT ANY WELL, THAT'S THAT.
BUT ONCE YOU PUT THIS OUT THERE, THEY CAN FOIA THIS, OTHER PEOPLE CAN FOIA THIS, THIS IS NOT ALL PRIVATE INDU IN PRIVATE INDUSTRY.
YOU CAN SAY, NO, YOU'RE NOT GONNA GET IT.
BUT WE'RE NOT A PRIVATE INDUSTRY.
AND THEY CAN, AND YOUR COMP, YOUR COMPETITORS CAN FOY THIS AND SEE EXACTLY WHAT, HOW YOU CHARGE FOR THINGS AND HOW YOU ACT WITH THINGS.
AND SO THEY CAN SET IT UP FOR THE NEXT COMPETITION.
FOR THE SAME, FOR THE BID, FOR THE PROPERTY, FOR THE RFP.
THAT'S, THAT IS WHEN YOU, YOUR CRIMES ARE GONNA HAVE TO BE TOLD ABOUT THIS.
MAKE SURE THEY UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS GOV, THIS IS A GOVERNMENT PROJECT, AND GOVERNMENT PROJECT, THAT TRANSPARENCY.
SO, BUT ON THAT NOTE, COULDN'T THEY FOYA ANY INFORMATION THEY COULD ASK FOR ANY OF OUR INFORMATION? RIGHT.
THEY CAN, BUT YOU KNOW WHY THEY, YOU KNOW WHY THEY DON'T 'CAUSE OF THE MASSIVE PAPER THAT WAS THERE AND IT, AND YOU'D HAVE TO PAY PRINTING COSTS AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
AND SO YOU WOULD GET A HUGE BILL AND YOU WOULD GET A STACK OF PAPER LIKE THAT.
AND THEY CAN PUT A FOIA IN AND PO THEY CAN GET IT.
WOULD THEY HAVE TO GET IT IN A DIGITAL FORMAT? WOULD BE THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU WOULD STILL NO, YOU CAN'T CAN'T, YOU CAN'T GIVE THEM A LOCK THAT YOU CAN'T NO, YOU CAN'T SAY THAT.
BUT YOU CAN GIVE THEM A TEST WITH IT.
HALEY'S LOOKING WELL AND THE HAVE, HAVE A USER AND PASSWORD AND LOGIN, SPECIFICALLY THE BE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT TO BE ABLE TO SEE THE, UNLESS WE DOWNLOAD, THEY'RE SAYING WE, IF WE GOT THE FOIA, WE WOULD HAVE TO DOWNLOAD IT AND PROVIDE IT TO THEM.
BUT IT'S JUST LIKE WITH THE RFPS, ALL OF THAT INFORMATION LIVES ON OUR WEBSITE.
DOES, IT'S HARD TO GET, IT TAKES A LONG TIME AND IT'S VERY EXPENSIVE TO GET NOW.
AND I'LL ALSO TELL YOU THE OTHER ISSUE THAT'LL BE CONCERNED ABOUT THAT THIS IS A PRIME CONTRACT.
SUBCONTRACTORS WILL ALSO LOOK FOR THIS AND THEY'LL WANNA SEE, OKAY, WHAT DID I GET PAID? WHAT DID, WHAT DID THIS OTHER SUB GET? TRUST ME, THAT WILL HAPPEN.
AND I'M, I'M NOT SAYING WE'VE GOTTA STOP DOING THIS, BUT KNOW THAT THE PRIME CONTRACTOR DOESN'T LIKE TO HAVE ALL THAT INFORMATION OUT BECAUSE THEY'RE IN A COMPETITIVE BUSINESS WITH OTHER PRIME CONTRACT.
AND I WOULD NEED TO ASK AUGUSTINE ALSO, I DON'T KNOW IF THE SUBCONTRACTOR CONTRACTS ARE UPLOADED INTO OUR SYSTEM.
'CAUSE WE DON'T DEAL SPECIFICALLY WITH THEM INVOICE TO THE SUBCONTRACT, THE INVOICES TO THE SUB.
SO THEY WOULD HAVE TO FO EVERY PAY APP TO GET THAT INFORMATION.
AND THEY'RE BIG CONTRACT, RIGHT.
WE GOT MULTIPLE SUBCONTRACTORS DOING THE SAME THING IN DIFFERENT SITES, DIFFERENT BUILDINGS.
SO TRUST ME, THAT'S BEEN ALL, ALL I'M SAYING IS THE PRIME CONTRACTOR NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND THAT WHAT THEY DO IS NOW EASILY ACCESSIBLE.
IT'S NOT BEEN EASILY ACCESSIBLE.
UM, SO, UH, WE HAVE MR. VARGAS.
AND I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO THE DISCUSSIONS
[01:50:01]
AND I DID WANNA CHIME INTO WHAT COLONEL GEIER SAYING, UH, REGARDING THE CONCERNS WITH THE FOIA AND ALL THIS INFORMATION BEING PUT OUT THERE THAT COULD POTENTIALLY, UM, PUT THE INFORMATION FROM CONTRACTORS THAT MAY BE CONSIDERED CONFIDENTIAL OR THAT THEY WON'T WANNA KEEP KIND OF A TRADE SECRET.HOWEVER, ONE THING THAT I'VE NOTICED IN SOME OF THE PROPOSALS, THERE IS SOME TIMES ON THE FOOTING OF THESE PROPOSALS, UH, NOTE THAT PUTS FORWARD EXCEPTION, EXCEPTION NUMBER FOUR OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT THAT PROTECTS THE CONTRACTORS FROM EXPOSING THIS DATA.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF WHEN THE REQUESTS COME THROUGH, AND MAYBE THIS IS A QUESTION MORE FOR THE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT, BUT HOW THAT INFORMATION IS REDACTED AND, UH, TREATED SO THAT THESE, UH, SENSITIVE MATTERS FOR CONTRACTORS ARE NOT PUT OUT THERE AND POTENTIALLY EXPOSING WHAT THEY HAVE SET, UH, INTERNALLY AS THEIR PROCESSES.
SO JUST WANTED TO ADD, UM, THAT, THAT'S IN THE DISCUSSION, RIGHT? IT'S RELATIVELY EASY TO REDACT ON A PAPER.
IT'S MORE DIFFICULT TO REACT JUST TO RE REDACT IT ON A FILE.
YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH EVERY ONE OF 'EM.
AND, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T JUST FIND IT OUT THAT THAT'S, THAT'S AN ISSUE.
SO THE COLONEL HAS A LEGITIMATE, BECAUSE PART OF WHAT MAKES IT VERY CUMBERSOME FOR CONTRACTORS IS TO PURSUE IT NOW IS THE COST OF FULFILLMENT THAT THEY HAVE TO PAY.
SO ALL THE MORE PAGES AND WHAT HAVE YOU.
SO, UM, MS. GORDON, UM, I WAS LISTENING TO WHAT THE, UH, THE COLONEL SAID AND ALSO LISTENING TO WHAT YOU PRESENTED TO US.
AND, UH, BEING IN THIS BUSINESS WHEN WE PUT OUT A RFP, I GUESS IS WHAT WAS, UM, ANYONE WHO, UH, SUBMITS AN RFP, UH, I BELIEVE IS AWARE THAT THEIR INFORMATION YES.
OF WHATEVER INFORMATION THEY'VE GIVEN.
WE ARE NOT TRYING TO HAVE WHAT, UH, JOE COMPANY HAS SUBMITTED TO US AND WHAT THEIR REQUIREMENTS ARE AND WHAT THEY HAVE, WHAT WE ARE DOING.
WE HAVE A BUSINESS AND WE ARE TRYING TO STREAMLINE THIS PAPER PROCESS.
'CAUSE I'VE SEEN THE LEDGERS, YOU KNOW, UH, YOU KNOW, THOUSANDS OF PAGES AND NOW WE'LL BE DOING DIGITAL OR WHATEVER.
THIS IS, THIS IS WHERE WE ARE GUYS.
AND IF A COMPANY DOES NOT WANT TO PARTICIPATE AND SEND US THEIR INFORMATION, THEY'RE NOT TOO, BUT THEY DO UNDERSTAND THAT THAT MAY BE FOR IT, BECAUSE THAT'S THE OTHER PERSON'S RIGHT.
AND WE CAN'T, WE CAN'T PRESENT.
BUT WHAT WE CAN DO IS HOPEFULLY THE COMPANIES WHO ARE, UH, SOLICITING TO US MM-HMM
FOR, UH, FOR A PROJECT, AND WE'RE LOOKING AT THEIR INFORMATION AND COLLECTING THE DATA, WHATEVER, THAT WE ARE DOING TO, TO SAY YES TO THAT PARTICULAR COMPANY, THAT THEY ARE AWARE THAT THE LOSING COMPANY CAN POISON THEM.
YOU KNOW, I, I JUST THINK THAT WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE OF IS THAT THE VENDORS THAT WE GET UNDERSTAND THAT, THAT IT IS DEFINITELY A POSSIBILITY.
YOU KNOW, AND, UH, AND IT'S NOT THAT WE'RE WELCOMING IT, BUT WE'RE SAYING THAT WE'RE BEING TRANSPARENT.
I KNOW WE PRINT IT AND WE TELL PEOPLE THAT THIS COMPANY GOT IT.
AND THIS IS HOW MUCH THEY'RE PAYING.
THE, SO WE'RE PAYING FOR, AND WE DON'T GO INTO SPECIFIC BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, IT'S TOO MUCH WORK WITH PEOPLE TO LOOK AT, BUT THEY CAN LOOK AT IT AND A PERFECT, GO AHEAD.
SO LOOK, HAS EVERYBODY HAD A CHANCE TO EXPRESS WEIGHT? ONE MINUTE I'LL BE, I'LL GET BACK TO YOU.
EVERYBODY ELSE HAD A CHANCE TO EXPRESS YOUR COMMENTS OR FEELINGS.
AND THEN MRS. SMITH, WE'LL GO TO YOU.
AND THEN MS. CROSBY, YOU OKAY? I'M SORRY, SORRY, SORRY.
YOU'RE TRAVELING OVER HALF THE WORLD.
SO
BUT I ALSO THINK THAT COMPANIES WHO COME FORTH, AND I KNOW YOU HAVE YOUR PAPERWORK IN MIND, UM, THAT THEY'RE AWARE
[01:55:01]
OF THAT POSSIBILITY BECAUSE THEY COULD BE ONE OF THOSE COMPANIES THAT'S DOING THE SAME THING, GUYS.SO, UH, I'M NOT SO MUCH CONCERNED ABOUT THAT.
I AM, I AM CONCERNED THAT, UH, I KNOW WE'RE GOING DIGITAL AND I KNOW THAT IT'S SO MUCH EASIER, UH, TO DO.
AND I KNOW THAT THESE COMPANIES ARE AWARE.
THE INFORMATION IS UP, YOUR INFORMATION IS UP.
INTERNAL'S INFORMATION IS UP THERE.
OUR INFORMATION IS ALREADY OUT THERE FOR THE PUBLIC TO SEE, BECAUSE PUBLIC ENTITIES.
SO, UM, I I THINK MOVING FORWARD, AS YOU LOOK AT WHAT, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT YOU NEED TO DO, IF THIS BECOMES A CONCERN, YOU'RE ALREADY IN THE, YOU'RE ALREADY IN FRONT OF, YOU KNOW THAT THAT MIGHT COME.
RIGHT? SO WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO? WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO? WE HAVE TO ANSWER THE FOER GUYS.
THAT'S JUST PART, AND YOU JUST KEEP MOVING ON.
I, I I, I LIKE THE, WAS IT PROJECT MAKE? MM-HMM
AND, UH, THIS CHANGE, UH, TRYING TO GET US INTO THE FUTURE GUYS.
WE HAVE BEEN IN, IN THE PAPER BUSINESS FOR HOW MANY YEARS I ON, SO WE GOTTA GET SOMEBODY TO THUMB DRIVE, GIVE IT TO THEM, YOU KNOW? BUT LET'S KEEP, LET'S KEEP IN MIND THAT WE'RE MOVING FORWARD.
WE ARE PUSHING FORWARD AND WE HAVE INNOVATIVE THINKERS AND IN THE PROCESS, SO WE DON'T HAVE PAY, YOU KNOW, HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS FOR A COPY OF SOMETHING.
WELL, WE GOTTA SPEND MANPOWER TRYING TO MAKE A COPY FOR.
SO I THINK THAT THIS IS TWOFOLD.
I THINK IT'S, I THINK IT'S GOOD FOR US AND I THINK IT'S GOOD FOR THE S I'M GOING TO ASK FINISH.
UM, I, I, I, UM, I WAS GOING, IF YOU DIDN'T BRING IT UP THAT THE FIRST THING I WAS THINKING WAS, YOU KNOW WHAT, IT'S GONNA BE GOOD FOR YOU.
AND, AND THIS ALSO, I BELIEVE THAT THIS IS ALSO WILL SAVE SAFETY STAFF TIME AND, AND, AND IN TERMS OF, OF ING IT, WHEN THE INFORMATION HAS TO BE PULLED, THIS WILL DEFINITELY, WE WILL DEFINITELY DO THAT.
THAT THAT'S, THAT'S ONE THING, UH, UH, AND, AND, AND I, I SAY I DID EVERYTHING MRS. PORT SAID, AND I THINK THAT HELL IT SHOULD BE PULLED.
AND, AND WHEN THESE PEOPLE ARE, ARE, ARE, ARE BIDDING AND, AND THEY'RE DOING DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT DEALS, IT IT, IT SHOULD, IT SHOULD BE EXPOSE BECAUSE WE'RE SPENDING THE PEOPLE'S MONEY AND THESE OTHER PEOPLE, THE PEOPLE'S DOLLARS.
SO EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE DOING IS, IS A PART OF TRANSPARENCY.
SO I, I THINK THAT IT, IT IT, IT SHOULD BE THAT THEY, IT SHOULD BE ACCESSIBLE.
AND ALSO, LIKE I SAID, UH, AND WHEN I MEETING EARLIER, I APPROACH BY COMPANIES THAT WHERE OUR APPROACH COMPANIES, WHEN WE GO TO THESE SCHOOL, THESE SCHOOL BOARD CONFERENCES, AND YOU GO, YOU AND YOU AND YOU, AND YOU HAVE THESE INFORMATION, AND YOU GO, GO THESE BOOTHS AND THEY SAY, OH, YOU'RE BE COUNTY UP.
OKAY? SO NOW I CAN TELL EM, LOOK HERE, YOU, YOU, YOU CAN GO ON, YOU CAN GO ON HERE AND YOU CAN FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF WHAT THEY'RE DOING DIFFERENTLY VERSUS WHAT YOUR OFFICE.
SO, SO, SO HEY, AND HERE GOES A TOOL FOR, WE HAVE A BOARD MEMBER TO SPEAK.
SAY, HEY, WE HAVE A TOOL ONLINE.
YOU, YOU, YOU CAN GO, YOU CAN FOR IT.
AND, AND YOU CAN SEE FOR YOURSELF ONLINE.
NOW I'M, THEY CAN GO IT AND FOR IT, FOR I, HOWEVER, HOWEVER, WHEN THAT TIME IS APPROPRIATE, I FIGURE OUT WHAT SALE BASICALLY.
HEY, THAT'S NOT TRUE BECAUSE ON, ON THE OTHER HAND, IT DOESN'T FEEL GOOD WHEN YOU'RE OUT THERE AND YOU'RE GOING TO A, WHEN YOU'RE AT A CONFERENCE AND, AND YOU'RE TALKING TO BUSINESS PEOPLE AND THEY'RE SAYING, BECAUSE YOU'RE FROM BEAUFORT COUNTY, YOU DON'T WANNA TALK TO YOU.
SO THEREFORE, HEY, AND, AND THEY TELL YOU WHY, BECAUSE Y DON'T DO BUSINESS WITH EVERYONE BECAUSE YOU DON'T, YOU DON'T, YOU DON'T TAKE, UH, YOU DON'T TAKE EVERY EVERYONE'S OFFER.
SO YOU SAID, WELL, THAT, THAT MAY NOT BE TRUE.
AND HOWEVER, YOU, TO, AS A BOARD MEMBER TO YOUR DISCRETION, HOW YOU FEEL TO HAVE THAT CON HAVE THAT CONVERSATION.
I THINK THAT THIS IS A GOOD, GOOD, A GOOD TALKING PIECE TO THAT AND SAY, LOOK, HERE WE GIVE EVERYONE A FAIR SHOT.
I MEAN, AND, AND, AND THEN ON, ON THE SIDE OF IT, UH, NOT, NOT THE FORT, NOT BE THE, NOT BE THE NOT HAVING THIS INFORMATION TO BE RECORDED.
WE HAVE SOME KIND OF THAT SAYS, WELL, YOU KNOW, BEAVER COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, YOU HAVE A, A SMALL BUSINESS, YOU HAVE A WHOLE TON, YOU HAVE A LARGE STACK OF PAPERWORK, LET'S DO, SO THEREFORE, UH, THAT, THAT'S ONE REASON WHY, WHY, UH, WE DON'T WANNA GO THROUGH THAT PAPERWORK.
OKAY, WELL LOOK HERE IT IS BEEN PROVEN.
EVERYONE'S GOING THROUGH THE SAME PAPERWORK.
SO, SO THIS RIGHT HERE IS, IS, IS A FAIR, MARKETABLE, EQUITABLE LOOK A A SNAPSHOT OF WHAT EVERYONE IS DOING ACROSS THE BOARD AND IT'S BEING TRANSPARENT.
SO THAT'S WHY I I, I WILL, I I, I AGREE WITH IT.
AND WHEN HE SAID IT, I WAS ALREADY THINKING IT IN TERMS OF FOREHAND, IN TERMS OF TIME FOR STAFF TO GET INFORMATION.
[02:00:01]
IS GOOD MOVING FORWARD.THANK YOU MS. MS. HAYES PUT IN THE CHAT.
SHE'S IN AGREEMENT WITH CHLOE.
ANY INFORMATION WILL BE FOUND.
IF SOMEONE HAS THE WILL TO FIND IT, SHE'S IN AGREEMENT.
JUST WANNA SAY, IS THIS THE LAST ITEM? NO, ONE MORE.
SO LET ME BEFORE GO INTO THE NEXT ITEM.
AND WE AS AN ORGANIZATION NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE CAN TAKE COSTS OUT OF THE STRUCTURE AND TAKE WORKLOADS OFF OF OUR COLLEAGUES SO THEY CAN FOCUS ON THE HIGHEST PRIORITY, MOST IMPACTFUL JOB TASK.
OKAY? AND TODAY WAS A WONDERFUL PRIME EXAMPLE OF HOW YOU'RE DOING IT.
UH, THIS IS ALL ABOUT THE FACILITIES AND OPERATIONS TEAM.
SO THEY, THEY HANDLED THAT WE BENEFIT FROM IT.
SO WE APPRECIATE THEIR WORK ON THIS.
I'M GONNA SAY IT'S THESE TWO LADIES, HAILEY AND BORING.
I MEAN, SHE IS OUR JAN, IT'S UNBELIEVABLE.
BUT WHAT SHE HAS BEEN ABLE TO DO WITH THIS, YES.
SO I WANNA GIVE HER TOTAL SHOUT OUT AND LORI, FOR BRINGING IT TO OUR ATTENTION.
WELL, AND HERE'S A GREAT CALL.
WE APPRECIATE THE DISTRICT SUPPORT TOO, TO BELIEVE THAT WE COULD MAKE IT HAPPEN.
SO THIS, UH, ITEM HAVE THIS FOR INFORMATION ON.
UM, THERE IS NO ACTION REQUIRED.
UH, THIS IS JUST AN UPDATE ON THE TIMING, UH, OF BONDS THAT HAVE, ARE OUT, UH, HAVE BEEN ISSUED OR, UM, SO, UH, SO BASICALLY I'M NOT SURE MY FIRST PARAGRAPH RELATES PROPERLY TO THIS.
UM, THIS PARTICULAR TOPIC, THE MOST RECENT BOND WAS AN 8% BOND.
AND SO WE WENT OUT TO SALE, UM, UH, ON AUGUST 6TH.
AND EACH BOND HAS A SERIES NUMBER.
UH, THIS WAS 2025 C, WHICH THE THIRD BOND IN THE CALENDAR YEAR OF 2025.
UH, THE DELIVERY DATE, WE ACTUALLY GET THE CATCH ON HAND AUGUST 28TH.
AND THIS IS FOR THE LATEST $30 MILLION PROJECTS FOR 8%.
UM, IT DOES, UH, IS PAID BACK IN TWO YEARS.
SO, UH, SO THAT IS A VERY GOOD PAYBACK CYCLE.
WE ARE ON, UH, SHORT AND SWEET, AND THAT MEANS LESS INTEREST FOR US.
THERE WERE 10 BIDS, WHICH IS A HIGH NUMBER COMPARED.
I THINK THE LAST ONE WE RECEIVED WAS EIGHT.
THAT MEANS OUR BONDS ARE VERY, UM, ARE VERY MUCH LOOK CHAPTER LOOK FOR, AND THOSE THAT ARE INTERESTED, UH, OUR, OUR, OUR BRIAN
AND SO THEY'RE ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR THOSE BONDS ON THE SALE DATE.
UM, SO WE HAD A, UM, WE ACTUALLY RECEIVED THE LOWEST BID WAS A 2.297% INTEREST RATE FOR JP MORGAN.
UM, LAST BOND WE ISSUED WAS A 2.75, WHICH IS FOUR 10 POINT MORE.
AND THE PREVIOUS ONE WAS A 3.15.
I WANTED TO GO BACK IN HISTORY.
SO IT IS, YOU CAN SEE THE, THE, THE PATTERN IS FALLING AND THAT IS A GOOD THING FOR US.
SO INTEREST RATE, LOW INTEREST RATES MEAN WILL PAY IT BACK FASTER AND IT'S CHEAPER.
THE TOTAL DOLLAR AMOUNT WILL BE LESS FOR OUR TAXPAYERS.
SO WE'RE ABLE TO DO MORE WITH THE MONEY THAT WE HAVE AND LESSEN THE INTEREST COSTS.
WE DID NOT HAVE TO GO OUT FOR ANOTHER CREDIT RATING.
OUR MOODY'S AND STANDARD EMPLOYERS SAID, UH, WE'LL JUST, UH, WE WILL AFFIRM THE SAME RATE.
JUST TELL US IF THERE ARE ANY CHANGES.
YOU KNOW WHAT THE ONE QUESTION WAS THAT I GOT, ARE YOU STILL PLANNING TO ADD AT LEAST $4 MILLION TO YOUR FUND BALANCE IN THE GENERAL FUND? THAT WAS THE QUESTION.
AND THEN I SAID, YES, WE'RE STILL PLANNING TO DO THAT.
THAT WAS THE ONLY QUESTION I RECEIVED, UM, FROM, I THINK IT WAS EITHER MOODY'S OR STANDARD EMPLOYERS, BUT THAT WAS THE ONE THING THEY WERE MOST INTERESTED IN.
UM, SO THAT'S GOOD THAT NO RATINGS WERE REQUIRED BECAUSE THEIR RATING, THEM GIVING US A RATING IS VERY EXPENSIVE.
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS EACH TIME WE GET A RATING.
SO TO HAVE THEM HAVE IT CLOSE TOGETHER WITH THE LATEST REFERENDUM BOND MADE THAT POSSIBLE.
UM, IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE ARE, UH, WATCHING, UH, WE ARE WATCHING A REFUND, A POTENTIAL REFINANCING OPPORTUNITY.
[02:05:01]
DIDN'T PUT THIS IN THE SUMMARY HERE, BUT, UH, THE, THE MARKET IS, WE'RE WAITING ON THE MARKET TO IMPROVE SLIGHTLY.AND WE BELIEVE THAT IT WILL, THERE'S SOME INDICATION THAT THE FED RATE IS GONNA BE, UH, REDUCED BY A QUARTER POINT, QUARTER OF A POINT IN SEPTEMBER IS WHAT YOU JUST SAID.
SO CINDY WATCHES THOSE THINGS, THE ECONOMIC ASPECTS VERY CLOSELY AND MAKE SURE WE TALK ABOUT THAT CONSTANTLY.
CPI, INFLATION, ALL OF THOSE THINGS.
SO, UM, WE ARE ANTICIPATING THAT IN A FEW MONTHS, WE, THE REFINANCING MIGHT BE JUST RIGHT FOR THE SAVINGS.
WE HAVE A LOW POINT, UH, OR, UM, OUR MINIMUM, NO, THE SAVINGS WE WANT TO ACHIEVE, THE MINIMUM SAVINGS POINT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE IS AT LEAST A ONE AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS OF SAVINGS WHEN WE REFINANCE.
AND IT'S NOT QUITE AT THAT POINT RIGHT NOW IN ORDER TO, UM, BE ABLE TO, UM, JUSTIFY THE BOND COUNCIL, THE OTHER BOND FEES, UH, FINANCIAL ADVISOR AND BOND COUNCIL FEES.
SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PROFITING ENOUGH OFF OF THE SAVINGS IN ORDER TO JUSTIFY GOING WITH A LOWER INTEREST RATE AND REFINANCING PROPERTY.
SO, UH, IF THAT OPPORTUNITY, UH, COMES ABOUT, UH, WE MAY HAVE ANOTHER UPDATE IN OUR NEXT MEETING TO INFORM YOU HOW THAT'S GOING.
UM, AND LASTLY, UM, I INCLUDED, UH, DEBT SERVICE MILLAGE SUMMARY.
UM, THIS MILLAGE SUMMARY IS A LISTING OF EVERY, UM, PRINCIPLE AND INTEREST PAYMENT COMING DUE IN THE NEXT 18 MONTHS.
THIS IS THE DOCUMENT WE USE TO DETERMINE HOW MUCH MILLAGE WE NEED IN DEBT SERVICE, WHICH WE HAVE 36.3 MILL, AND HOW MUCH WE WILL NEED IN ORDER TO MAKE THOSE PAYMENTS AND STILL MAINTAIN THE MINIMUM FUND BALANCE OF $5 MILLION AT DECEMBER 31ST.
SO, UM, SO WE TAKE THE BEGINNING BALANCE AND THE FUND BALANCE.
WE ADD IN WHAT REVENUES WE BELIEVE WE CAN ACHIEVE WITH A 36.3 MILS.
WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF STATE REVENUE THAT COMES IN FROM HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION, AND THEN WE ADD THAT ALL UP, SUBTRACT 18 MONTHS OF PAYMENTS AND CALCULATE HOW MUCH WE HAVE LEFT.
SO IT'S IMPORTANT THAT IT'S NOT, IT WAS SOME QUESTION YEARS.
WHY ARE YOU, WHY ARE YOU CALCULATING 18 MONTHS? WHY DON'T YOU CUT IT OFF AT, AT JUNE 30TH? WELL, THERE'S A SEPTEMBER INTEREST PAYMENT.
WE PAY INTEREST IN THE FALL, ONLY INTEREST ONLY AND PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST IN THE SPRING BECAUSE THAT'S RIGHT AFTER ALL OUR TAX REVENUE COMES UP.
SO WE ONLY PAY TWO TIMES A YEAR.
WE HAVE TO HAVE ENOUGH MONEY IN THE FUND BALANCE IN JUNE TO MAKE THE SEPTEMBER PAYMENT UNTIL THE MONEY COMES IN IN DECEMBER.
SO IT'S, IT'S CRITICAL THAT OUR FUND BALANCE LOW POINT IS DECEMBER OR DECEMBER 1ST AND NOT JUNE BECAUSE WE WON'T HAVE ENOUGH TO PAY THE PRINCIPAL IN THE FALL IF WE DON'T KEEP A LARGE ENOUGH PLAN BALANCE.
SO THIS DOCUMENT HAS TO BE CERTIFIED, UH, BY THE OR, OR THE, UH, THE BOARD CHAIR SIGNS OFF ON THAT.
WE SEND THAT MILLAGE SUMMARY OVER TO THE COUNTY AUDITOR THAT MR. CAD, AND HE USES THIS DOCUMENT AND THE ORDINANCE THAT WAS PASSED RIGHT AFTER OUR BUDGET WAS PASSED, AND THAT JUSTIFIES THE MILLAGE AMOUNT, 36.3 THAT IS PUT ON THE TAX BILL AND THAT'S COMING, GETTING READY TO GO OUT IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS.
AND UM, SO WE JUST WANT THE BOARD TO BE INFORMED, UM, THAT THAT IS THE, OF THE PROCESS AND HOW WE JUSTIFY AND, AND CALCULATE THOSE NUMBERS.
SO, UM, WITH THAT, INCLUDE MY REPORT.
I'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMENTS HERE, THREE, NONE.
UH, I'D JUST LIKE TO SAY THIS HAS BEEN ONE HECK OF AN INFORMATIVE MEETING.
APPRECIATE THE CANDID CONVERSATION, UM, THE LISTEN EARS AND, UM, THE EFFORT TO IDENTIFY EFFICIENTLY AND MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR ALL OUR COLLEAGUES.
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU AND YOUR TEAM DO ANYTHING ELSE FOR ANYONE? UM, FUTURE TOPICS? UM, I HAVE SOME FUTURE TOPICS.
NEXT TIME, UM, JUST WE, UH, WE'LL BRING BACK THE NEW TRANSPARENCY REPORT ALONG WITH THE ORIGINAL ONES AS WELL.
THE ONE MONTH ONLY THE ONE MONTH? YEAH.
UH, AND WE WILL BRING THE FOURTH QUARTER FINANCIAL REPORT, A SUMMARY VERSION, AND THE MINORITY WOMEN
[02:10:01]
BUSINESS ENTERPRISE REPORT FOR JUNE 30.SO REALLY TWO EXTRA ITEMS. NOT A PROBLEM AT ALL.
WOULD UM, UH, JUSTIN ENCOURAGE YOU AND YOUR TEAM FROM THE FINANCIAL PLATFORM THAT YOU HAVE TO, AS YOU ENGAGE IN MULTIPLE CONVERSATIONS, ENCOURAGE ALL ENTITIES IN THE DISTRICT TO LOOK FOR OFFICIAL COLONEL? ANYTHING FROM YOU? OH, MR. SMITH? UH, YES, SIR.
UM, UH, WELL, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW, UM, IN TERMS OF FUTURE TOPICS, WHAT, WHAT ARE WE SPENDING FOR, UH, UH, CON WE HAVE, UH, CONTRACTORS, I NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE RIGHT, RIGHT WORD IS, BUT I, UM, IN, IN TERMS OF, OF CONTRACT OR CONTRACTORS, UH, WE'RE SPENDING IN, IN, IN, WELL, I GUESS I, WHERE I GUESS WE KNOW HR FOR WHO, FOR WHO THEY ARE.
BUT, BUT THE AMOUNT OF CONTRACTORS THAT, THAT WE ARE, AND THEN I'M NOT, I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE BUILDING CONTRACT OR CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT.
I'M TALKING ABOUT EMPLOYEES, CON CONTRACTORS, CONSULTANTS.
WHAT, YEAH, SPENDING, UH, CONSULTANTS BECAUSE, 'CAUSE CONSULTING IS SOMETHING THAT I DON'T REALLY SEE COMES, COMES PAST THE BOARD.
MAYBE IF I, I'VE MISSED IT, BUT, UH, YEAH, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY WE SPENDING IN, BECAUSE IN CONSULTING WORK AS A DISTRICT AS WELL.
LIKE FROM, UH, MARTHA ALSO, UH, WHAT'S THAT PROCESS TO BECOME A CONSULTANT? MS. YER, SHE WOULD BE THE POINT PERSON FOR THE PROCESS, I THINK PROBABLY.
THAT PROBABLY COMES THROUGH HR.
IT DEPENDS ON WHAT KIND OF CONSULTANT YOU'RE ASKING, RIGHT? MULTIPLE.
SO I'M, I'M STRUGGLING ON HOW WE'RE GONNA EXTRAPOLATE THAT BECAUSE YOU'RE IN A SERVICE DEPART, UH, CATEGORY WITH OTHER SERVICES AS WELL, SO THAT AREN'T NECESSARILY CONSULTANTS.
SO I, UM, IT'S NOT A CONSISTENT BILL.
YOU MAY HAVE DIDN'T WORK SO MANY HOURS THIS MONTH, NEXT MONTH THEY'RE ONLY CALLING IN FOR SO MANY HOURS NEXT MONTH.
THEY, I CAN IGNORE THAT, BUT TWO PEOPLE ARE AND WHAT KIND OF CONSULTANTS? ACADEMICS, AGENT, I THINK SPECIAL ED, RIGHT? YEAH.
WELL, WELL THOSE CONTRACT AND, AND CONSULTANTS BECAUSE THOSE, THOSE ARE PEOPLE ONCE AGAIN THAT, THAT WE SHOULD, WE, WE, WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT, WHAT, WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
BECAUSE THAT ALSO HELPS US UN UNDERSTAND IT IN TERMS OF WHEN WE, WHEN WE ASK FOR A LIST OF WHAT POSITIONS ARE ARE FILLED AND HOW THOSE POSITIONS ARE GETTING FILLED.
AND THAT'S A BETTER UNDERSTANDING.
ALL, ALL, ALL THAT STUFF GOES, IT GOES, IT GOES HAND.
SO AS, AS A BOARD, THAT HELPS US TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT WE HAVE, WHAT WE HAVE GOING ON HERE AS DISTRICT.
SO, UH, SO, SO MY QUESTION WILL, WILL BE THEN, THEN WILL BE MY QUESTION THEN WITH THEN WELL, SO HOW, SO HOW, HOW DO YOU, HOW DO YOU PLUG THOSE PEOPLE, THOSE PEOPLE IN AND, AND, AND, AND IN, IN TERMS, IN TERMS OF PAYING THEM, RIGHT? RIGHT.
SO, SO, SO EVERY, EVERY DEPARTMENT, SO OTHER WORDS FINANCE MAY HAVE SOME PEOPLE WHO GAVE MAY CONTRACT AND, AND SO YEAH, YOU PUT THAT SUMMARY IN YOUR BUDGET AND, AND YOU PUT 'EM UNDER CONTRACT IN THE SAME WAY HOW WE, HOW, HOW, HOW, HOW, UH, SHE JUST GAVE US THIS, UH, THIS UH, GREAT, UH, UM, THIS GREAT, UM, NEW, NEW TOOL.
IS THERE ANY WAY WE CAN NARROW THE SCOPE OF THAT MAYBE TO JUST INSTRUCTIONAL AREAS INSTEAD OF ALL DEPARTMENTS? 'CAUSE THIS IS GONNA TAKE, THIS IS A MASSIVE, IN MY POINT, IT'S GOING TO BE A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF DATA TO FILTER THROUGH WHAT A CONTRACT VERSUS ANOTHER SERVICE MIGHT BE.
UM, SO IS THERE ANY WAY WE CAN START WITH ONE AREA, ONE DEPARTMENT? CAN I MAKE A SUGGESTION? YES SIR.
UH, THIS IS A HUGE UNDERTAKING.
UH, JUST TAKE SOME TIME, CONFER AT SOME OF THE EXECUTIVE STAFF DISCUSSIONS THAT YOU HAVE WITH THE SUPERINTENDENT.
YOU'VE HEARD WHAT WE ARE REQUESTING AND THEN YOU FOLKS DECIDE HOW BEST TO MOVE IT FORWARD AND COME BACK TO US.
BECAUSE YOU GOT OTHER THINGS THAT'S A LEGITIMATE REQUEST THAT YOU'RE MAKING, MR. SMITH.
SO LET'S, UM, LET'S TRY TO GET TO IT.
BUT, YOU KNOW, WELL ACTUALLY I WOULD LIKE TO, I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE LITTLE SHOT.
MAYBE I WANT TO NARROW IT DOWN BECAUSE I DO WANT TO GET STARTED.
THAT'S SOME, SO MAYBE, MAYBE I'LL GET NARROWED DOWN AND SHE SAID ASKING THE DEPARTMENTS, UH, AND, AND, AND, BECAUSE I WANT, I WANNA THINK THAT IT'S ALREADY, WE ALREADY, WE HAVE TO ALREADY BE GETTING THIS INFORMATION.
SO YOU ARE ASKING HER TO GO TAKE IT AND COME BACK WITH US AND WITH DUE DILIGENCE.
SO YOUR REQUEST IS BEING HONORED, THAT'S ALL.
ANYTHING ELSE, MS. HAGUE? SHE HAS LEFT.
[02:15:01]
WE ARE SCHEDULING TO MOVE IT.WHAT? THAT THE, WE, WE ARE MOVING THE FINANCE OF THE 18TH.
WE'RE MOVING THE NEXT FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING FROM THE 11TH TO THE 18TH.
EVERYBODY GOOD OF SEPTEMBER? ALRIGHT.
AGAIN, MS. CROSBY AND YOUR TEAM, HUGE, HUGE THANK YOU.
AND ON THE, UNLESS THERE'S SOME OBJECTION FOR THE GOOD OF THE CALLS, WE WILL ADJOURN THIS MEETING.
AND AGAIN, THANKS TO EVERYBODY.