**LADY BUDGETDOWN ASKS: WHO HAS THE DISTRICT CREDIT CARD. AND WHAT ARE WE BUYING?**
Dear Readers,
Sometimes the most interesting numbers in a school district aren't the biggest ones.
Lady Budgetdown recently received a detailed analysis of Novi Community School District spending from a source who wishes to remain anonymous. The analysis states that it reviewed **33 months of district purchasing-card transactions, from September 2023 through May 2026.**
Before we go any further, an important distinction:
**Lady Budgetdown has not independently reviewed the underlying purchasing-card receipts.**
The spending figures below are findings reported in the analysis provided to this page. They should be understood as such. However, Lady Budgetdown *has* independently reviewed Novi's publicly posted credit-card-holder lists and out-of-state travel disclosures.
And those records add some interesting context.
### 💳 FIRST, THE SUPERINTENDENT'S PURCHASING CARD
According to Novi's own 2025–26 credit-card-holder disclosure, Superintendent **Ben Mainka** is authorized for:
**$20,000 - single transaction**
**$100,000 - cycle limit**
And this isn't new.
Novi's records show Mainka had a **$25,000 single-transaction limit and $100,000 cycle limit** in both 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Now let's look at what the source analysis says was actually charged to his purchasing card.
Over the 33-month period reviewed:
**289 transactions**
**$27,826.54 total**
Among the expenditures identified by the analysis:
🍽� **Board-member meals and coffee**
96 transactions - **$5,068.08**
✈️ **AASA national conferences**
39 transactions - approximately **$6,065.75**
🎥 **Snow-day video/audio production**
4 transactions - **$1,572.50**
🤖 **HeyGen video/AI subscriptions**
3 transactions - **$1,728.00**
📹 **Vimeo subscriptions**
2 transactions - **$600.00**
And let's make something very clear:
**$27,826.54 did not create Novi's multimillion-dollar budget problem.**
Neither did $5,068 in meals.
That's not the point.
The question is whether discretionary spending practices deserve closer scrutiny when a district is confronting a multimillion-dollar budget gap.
🍽� ABOUT THOSE BOARD MEALS...
According to the analysis, **96 dining or coffee transactions totaling $5,068.08** were explicitly identified as involving Board members.
And the reported frequency increased:
**2024 - approximately 30**
**2025 - approximately 41**
**January through May 2026 - approximately 25**
Descriptions reportedly include phrases such as **"working lunch with Board member"** and **"working breakfast with Board member."**
The same analysis reports finding **no comparable Board-member dining descriptions for Novi's three current assistant superintendents** during the period reviewed.
Does that establish wrongdoing?
**No.**
Does it establish a violation of district policy?
**Not from the information Lady Budgetdown currently has.**
But the Novi Board of Education collectively evaluates the superintendent and approves his contract and compensation.
So it raises a perfectly reasonable question:
**Should taxpayers routinely pay for meals and coffee between the superintendent and individual members of the Board that collectively evaluates and compensates him?**
And what public purpose should be documented for those meetings?
💳 BUT MAINKA IS FAR FROM THE ONLY CARDHOLDER.
Novi's **2025–26** transparency disclosure contains pages of district credit-card holders.
Mainka:
**$20,000 single / $100,000 cycle**
Five other cardholders with some of the highest authorized limits include:
**Beth Henderson**
$50,000 single / $50,000 cycle
**Nancy Turner**
$45,000 single / $100,000 cycle
**Cathryn Loeffler-Park**
$40,000 single / $100,000 cycle
**Sandra Brasil**
$25,000 single / $100,000 cycle
**Michael Dragoo**
$25,000 single / $50,000 cycle
A spending limit is **not the same thing as actual spending.** Lady Budgetdown is not suggesting otherwise. These numbers tell us how much these employees are *authorized* to charge, not how much they actually charged.
But they raise another question worth asking:
**How many district employees need purchasing cards—and are the limits appropriate?**
Some positions may have perfectly legitimate operational reasons for substantial purchasing authority.
But taxpayers are also entitled to ask:
How many employees have district cards?
What positions do they hold?
How are spending limits determined?
How frequently are those limits reviewed?
What approval is required for large purchases?
And what oversight occurs after the money is spent?
✈️ ONE ITEM WE COULD INDEPENDENTLY CROSS-CHECK
The source analysis identifies national-conference spending by Mainka.
Novi's own out-of-state travel disclosure independently confirms that Mainka attended an **AASA Conference in Louisiana in March**, with **$291.07** reported in the district's "Expenses" column.
The prior year's disclosure also reports a February 2024 California trip for Mainka labeled **MASA**, with **$3,630.02** in expenses.
Those district disclosures don't allow Lady Budgetdown to conclude that their amounts represent the complete costs of the trips, nor do they independently verify every conference expenditure identified in the source analysis.
So we won't pretend they do.
AND THAT'S REALLY THE POINT.
Transparency isn't about declaring every conference wasteful.
It's not about suggesting every purchasing card is unnecessary.
It's not about pretending a $28,000 spending pattern created a multimillion-dollar deficit.
And it certainly isn't about accusing someone of misconduct without evidence.
It's about asking whether the practices surrounding taxpayer money are reasonable.
**Are the purchasing-card limits appropriate?**
**Does the district need this many cardholders?**
**Should district funds pay for repeated meals between the superintendent and individual Board members?**
**Are the discretionary expenditures reasonable?**
**And when a district is confronting a multimillion-dollar budget problem, should taxpayers expect greater scrutiny of spending at every level-including the top?**
Lady Budgetdown has some of the records. A source brought additional information. Now you have the numbers.
**What do you think?**
*With receipts and respect.*
*Data compiled and visualized by Lady Budgetdown using publicly available records.*
#LadyBudgetdown #NoviSchools #FollowTheMoney #SchoolTransparency #TaxpayerDollars #PublicSchoolAccountability #WithReceiptsAndRespect
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