Dearest reader,
Lady B has reached Step Four of the Cheboygan Area Schools ledger.
Which means it is time to open the check register. 👀🪶
For 2024–25, the district's register contains 2,199 checks totaling $8,145,822.42 after voids.
Now, there are plenty of large checks in there.
But Cheboygan also has bond-funded construction underway, and Lady B isn't interested in tossing millions of dollars in construction payments onto a graphic without context simply because the numbers look impressive.
So instead, I narrowed the ledger.
Here is what we found.
⚖️ LEGAL — $43,880.72
Thrun Law Firm — $43,880.72
📣 ADVERTISING / MEDIA — $6,835.63
Gannett Michigan LocaliQ — $6,299.86
USPS Marketing Mail — $350.00
Choice Publications — $185.77
🪶 CONSULTING — $46,375.00
Air N Energy Consulting — $33,440.00
Sandra Jeannotte, instructional support/consulting — $12,935.00
A little context belongs here: Air N Energy Consulting appears operational/technical in nature, so Lady B is not suggesting that the entire consulting total represents administrative consulting.
And finally...
📚 ASSOCIATION DUES — $17,838.00
Put those four identifiable categories together and we arrive at:
$114,929.35
One more receipt-cleaning note: a $3,038.70 consulting/mileage check to Michael Bob Grover Jr. was voided, so it is not included in these totals.
That's the thing about check registers.
Sometimes the interesting part isn't finding the biggest check.
It's figuring out what the checks actually represent before putting them in front of thousands of people.
Context first.
Then the numbers.
Then you decide what deserves another question. 👀
One final page remains in Cheboygan's ledger.
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #CheboyganAreaSchools #Cheboygan #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #PublicEducation #LegalSpending #Consulting #Advertising #AssociationDues #PublicRecords #Transparency #Accountability #FollowTheMoney #WithReceiptsAndRespect
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