Item L: Carnival of Sloppiness!

Here’s the item as printed in the Agenda for June 14 (p.4):

L. Approval of Transfer of Funds Per Article 19
RECOMMENDATION: That the Board of Directors authorize the transfer of funds of up to 10% from the All Other Expenses budget line into the budget line listed below as voted upon at the District Referendum Vote on June 13, 2006. Transfer up to $_________ to the Transportation line.

Art wrote about this here (see comments), taking issue with the fact that, even before the Budget and Item 19 (Authorizing Transfer) were passed by the voters, the District was already planning on moving money around! Second, as written, with no dollar amount specified, a large amount of money – up to $402,831 – could be involved.

Well, here’s how, as the expression goes, it all went down:

• The superintendent specified that the amount would be $5000. Asked if it were for fuel, he said, no, actually for transmission repairs. We’ve had an extraordinary circumstance of difficulties with 3 transmissions, an unprecedented level.
• Someone then pointed out that this was for the current budget year, the one we’re still in, so actually the transfer was authorized by the vote at referendum of June 2005. The date of June 7, 2005 was conjured up.

And so the item was passed.

Upon coming home and looking it up, your faithful correspondent (or is it conversant?) discovered that the article authorizing transfer passed in June 2005 was Article #20.

So here’s the item as passed: (highlighted sections changed, or should be!)

L. Approval of Transfer of Funds Per Article 19
RECOMMENDATION: That the Board of Directors authorize the transfer of funds of up to 10% from the All Other Expenses budget line into the budget line listed below as voted upon at the District Referendum Vote on June 7, 2005. Transfer up to $5000 to the Transportation line.

And of course it should be Article 20! Kind of hard to follow things sometimes even when you do have a scorecard!