👑 TRAVERSE CITY AREA PUBLIC SCHOOLS STEP 5: BUDGETED vs. ACTUAL
There's a reason I like budgets. There's also a reason I like audits better. 🪶
A budget tells us what a district expects to happen. An audit tells us what actually happened.
And sometimes, those are two very different numbers.
For 2023–24, Traverse City Area Public Schools' final/amended General Fund budget projected a:
🔴 $1.47 million deficit
But when the books were closed and audited, the General Fund actually:
🟢 INCREASED fund balance by $963,455
That's a swing of approximately:
$2.43 MILLION
...better than the final budget projection.
Now, that does not mean somebody did anything wrong.
School budgets are forecasts. Revenues change. Expenses change. Grants change. Vacancies happen. Districts amend budgets throughout the year.
But it does demonstrate something important when we're talking about school finances:
A projected deficit is not the same thing as an actual deficit.
And that distinction becomes especially important when looking at the next year.
TCAPS began 2024–25 with an original General Fund budget projecting a:
🔴 $4.40 million deficit
That was a projection, not an audited result.
And TCAPS itself explains in its budget materials that original budgets are estimates and that later budgets more accurately reflect the direction of the General Fund.
That's why I'm careful when I see headlines, presentations or conversations about a district "running a deficit."
My next question is always:
Budgeted deficit, or actual deficit?
Because those aren't interchangeable.
The 2023–24 numbers are a pretty good example.
Projected: −$1.47 million
Audited: +$963,455
Difference: approximately $2.43 million
Neither number should be hidden.
Neither number should be exaggerated.
They should simply be labeled for what they are.
Budgets tell us what was expected.
Audits tell us what actually happened.
And Lady Budgetdown likes to read both. 👑🪶
Source: Traverse City Area Public Schools General Fund budgets and audited financial statements.
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #TraverseCity #TCAPS #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #SchoolBudgets #TheReceipts