The balance sheet is simply a listing of assets less liabilities. The difference is what businesses call equity, but what a governmental organization calls net position. The good news is that the District has an ample net position so solvency does not seem to be an issue.
Since the net position is an accumulation of revenues less expenses, and most of the revenues come from property taxes, this raises the question of whether these taxes are too high and whether they can be reduced.
Long-term capital assets of $200 million account for over half of the districts assets. Remember this data is over a year-old. These assets are normally recorded at cost, so if they’ve appreciated in value, that increase in value would not be reflected. On the other hand, if the assets are no longer needed, that decrease in value would not be reflected, and we need to see if those assets should be sold.
Over the last 10 years, Pinal County’s population has increased by about 20% yet enrollment has decreased by 20% indicating that there may be a mismatch between enrollment and assets. In this time frame, capital assets, less depreciation, have increased 25%.
The budget for the 12 months ending 6-20-26 shows an unexpanded plant fund of $55 million but there are no notes in the budget or on the website explaining what they would spend it on.
Bonds
Most capital assets are purchased with proceeds from bond sales. The district requires voter approval to issue bonds up to a certain amount. After these bonds are sold, they are paid through an additional property tax for periods of up to 20 years.
The authorization to raise money is separate from the authorization to spend the money. Most districts require Board approval above a certain amount, say $50,000. A search of the website shows no policy covering this.
There is no indication on the budget document or search of the website of how they plan on spending the money, nor is their any indication of how much authorization remains, what it would be used for and whether are plans to ask for increased authorization and if so, when, for how much and for what. I asked these questions at the end of June and never got a response.
CAC Monitor 