Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) All transfers
shall be executed only by district board of education resolution approved in
accordance with law and regulation applicable to the particular circumstances.
Each resolution shall indicate the exact amount of the transfer(s) to and from
the applicable accounts or fund balance.
(b) A district board of education may
transfer surplus or other unbudgeted or underbudgeted revenue between April 1
and June 30 only upon prior approval by the executive county superintendent, as
the Commissioner's designee, pursuant to
N.J.S.A.
18A:22-8.1. Requests shall be received by
June 30. All approved transfer requests shall be expended or encumbered for the
approved use by June 30, or the district board of education shall reserve and
designate the funds for appropriation in the subsequent budget year. To request
approval of such transfers, a district board of education shall submit to the
executive county superintendent the following:
1. Documentation of approval of the transfer
by a two-thirds affirmative vote of the authorized membership of the district
board of education;
2.
Certification by the same membership that the transfer is necessary to achieve
the thoroughness standards for the current year. The certification shall
include the purpose, need of transfer, and, at a minimum, a list of specific
line items to be transferred into and corresponding amounts. Requests to
appropriate surplus for textbooks, computers, equipment, or other needs for use
and operation for the subsequent school year shall not be considered a need for
the current year and shall not be approved; and
3. The latest board secretary's report as
documentation that no other line item balances are available and all
appropriation balances are or will be expended or encumbered.
(c) Prior to April 1, a district
board of education may petition the Commissioner, by a two-thirds affirmative
vote of the authorized membership of the district board of education, for
approval of a transfer of surplus or other unbudgeted or underbudgeted revenue
only for an emergent circumstance. The district board of education shall be
subject to an on-site inspection by the executive county superintendent for
verification of the emergent circumstance and other supporting documentation.
The district board of education shall submit the district board of
education-approved petition to the executive county superintendent for
recommendation to the Commissioner. At a minimum, the district board of
education shall include the following in its submission:
1. Certification the transfer is necessary
for an emergent circumstance, no other line-item balances are or will be
available, and the remaining surplus will enable the district board of
education to operate in a fiscally solvent position for the remainder of the
budget year;
2. Documentation the
emergent circumstance, if not addressed through an appropriation of additional
revenue, would render peril to the health and safety of students or staff,
and/or force the school district into an operating deficit as a result of the
required implementation of the thoroughness standards;
3. The latest board secretary's report as
documentation that no other line item balances are or will be available as set
forth in (c)3i below:
i. Any unexpended,
unencumbered balances are for non-discretionary fixed costs and supported by
historical expenditures or other documentation ensuring that the balances will
be expended by June 30; and
4. Evidence of approval of the petition and
supporting documentation by a two-thirds affirmative vote of the authorized
membership of the district board of education.
(d) A district board of education may at any
time and without Commissioner approval:
1.
Appropriate unbudgeted or underbudgeted State aid for which approval was
granted by the Department in the written notification to the district board of
education of the additional aid;
2.
Appropriate unbudgeted and underbudgeted tuition revenue generated from a
school district specific program that is not part of a formal sending-receiving
relationship, pursuant to
N.J.S.A.
18A:38-19 and
18A:46-21;
3. Appropriate unbudgeted or underbudgeted
school transportation revenue generated from a school district's or coordinated
transportation services agency's role as the host provider of school
transportation services, pursuant to
N.J.S.A.
18A:39-11 and 11.1;
4. Appropriate unbudgeted or underbudgeted
restricted miscellaneous local revenue;
5. Appropriate unbudgeted or underbudgeted
Federal revenue;
6. Appropriate
surplus generated from any Federal and/or State revenue excluded from the
excess surplus calculation in the prebudget year in accordance with the annual
audit program; and
7. Appropriate
unbudgeted or underbudgeted revenue from school bus advertising or restricted
fund balance that has been designated to offset fuel costs associated with the
provision of transportation services pursuant to
N.J.S.A.
18A:39-31.
(e) As used in this section, general fund
appropriation account means the required advertised appropriation accounts
pursuant to
N.J.S.A.
18A:22-1 et seq., except where consolidated
as follows:
1. Basic skills, bilingual, and
special education instruction, including other related and extraordinary
services;
2. Student activities,
student athletics, and other student instructional services;
3. Student support services, including
attendance, health, guidance, child study team, and media;
4. Improvement of instruction and staff
training; and
5. Special programs
(fund 13).
(f) For all
transfers from any general fund appropriation account as defined in (e) above,
and as amended to include prior year encumbrances carried forward to the
current year and revenue appropriated pursuant to (d) above, the district board
of education shall obtain approval for such transfers by two-thirds affirmative
vote of the authorized membership of the district board of education, pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 18A:22-8.1.
1. When the total amount of such transfers,
on a cumulative basis, exceeds 10 percent of the amount of the account that was
included in the school district's budget as certified for taxes, as amended to
include prior year encumbrances carried forward to the current year and revenue
appropriated pursuant to (d) above, the district board of education shall
request in writing approval from the executive county superintendent, as the
Commissioner's designee, by submitting the request and purpose for the transfer
using the report pursuant to (i) below.
i.
The district board of education may request approval from the executive county
superintendent prior to obtaining the two-thirds affirmative vote of the
authorized membership of the district board of education for such
approval.
ii. A district board of
education's written transfer request shall be deemed approved after 10 business
days of receipt of the request by the executive county superintendent if no
executive county superintendent approval or denial is provided within that
timeframe. A district board of education shall maintain proof in the form of a
sent and received e-mail receipt, or other form of documentation of proof of
delivery to the executive county superintendent for all transfer requests
deemed approved under this subsection.
2. Prior to any transfer(s) from capital
outlay accounts to current expense, except for equipment, a district board of
education shall submit to the executive county superintendent a written request
for approval with documentation the transfer is required due to demonstrated
hardship.
(g) For all
transfers to the advertised appropriation accounts identified as general
administration, school administration, central services, or administrative
information technology that, on a cumulative basis, exceed 10 percent of the
amount of the account included in the school district's budget as certified for
taxes, amended to include prior year encumbrances carried forward to the
current year, a district board of education shall submit, prior to the
transfer, to the executive county superintendent a request for approval in a
Commissioner-prescribed format.
1. Such
approval will not be granted, except as provided in (g)2 below if:
i. The school district's budget currently
exceeds the administrative cost limits; or
ii. The transfer would result in a budget in
excess of the administrative cost limits in the applicable budget year, as
prescribed in
N.J.S.A.
18A:7F-5.c.
2. Transfers may be approved to support a
contractual obligation or one-time increase in spending as justified by
district board of education documentation. Transfers may not be approved if the
school district did not budget sufficient funds upon review of actual
expenditures and historical trends in those accounts. A district board of
education that is granted approval remains subject to the requirements in
N.J.S.A.
18A:7F-5.c.
(h) For all transfers to the advertised
appropriation accounts identified as capital outlay for a capital outlay
project not previously approved by voters or the board of school estimate,
pursuant to
N.J.A.C.
6A:23A-8.4, a district board of education
shall submit, prior to the transfer, to the executive county superintendent a
request for approval. Approvals are required for unbudgeted or underbudgeted
revenue, including those listed and appropriated pursuant to (d) above, and
shall be granted only for requests with written documentation that supports the
existence of an emergent circumstance, as defined in (c)2 above, and only after
an on-site inspection by the executive county superintendent to verify the
emergent circumstance. Transfers to equipment accounts or to supplement a
capital outlay project previously approved by voters or the board of school
estimate, pursuant to
N.J.A.C.
6A:23A-8.4, do not require approval by the
executive county superintendent.
(i) Each district board of education shall
maintain a report of current month and year-to-date transfers between general
fund appropriation accounts as defined in (e) above, in a
Commissioner-prescribed format or in a format developed locally and approved by
the executive county superintendent. The district board of education shall
submit the report to the executive county superintendent with any transfer
request(s) and in accordance with the submission requirements of the board
secretary's and treasurer's financial reports under
N.J.A.C.
6A:23A-16.10.
