Dearest reader,
Lady Budgetdown has finished another county.
This time, I took my spectacles and abacus to Macomb County and went district by district looking for one very specific receipt:
District-paid association dues for the 2024–25 fiscal year.
Macomb County has 21 traditional public school districts. I accounted for all 21.
And among the districts where I could verify a current FY2024–25 dollar disclosure, the receipts I could document total at least $601,745.92.
Yes. More than $600,000 in one county.
Now, before anyone reaches for the pitchforks, let me be very clear about what that number means, and what it does not.
Association dues are not inherently improper. School districts belong to professional organizations, athletic associations, purchasing groups, administrator organizations, school board associations and plenty of others. Some memberships may provide training, resources, advocacy, professional development or services districts find valuable.
That isn't the question I'm asking.
The question is much simpler:
When taxpayers are paying the membership bill, what are they paying for, and how much does the entire ecosystem cost when we stop looking at one district at a time?
That is why I wanted to build the ledger county by county.
Because $500 here, $2,000 there and $10,000 somewhere else can look rather ordinary on individual transparency pages.
Put the receipts on the same table?
The scale becomes much easier to see.
And there are still holes in this ledger.
Fitzgerald Public Schools and Fraser Public Schools had older disclosures as the newest ones I located, both FY2023–24, so I did not quietly substitute those numbers into a FY2024–25 total.
L'Anse Creuse Public Schools did not have FY2024–25 dues listed where I looked.
South Lake Schools has an association-dues document listing $11,266.37, but the document itself does not identify the fiscal year. I am not going to assume a year simply because it would make my spreadsheet prettier.
So those dollars are not included in the $601,745.92.
Which means this is not a complete Macomb County total.
It is the amount I can document from the FY2024–25 receipts currently in my ledger.
No estimates.
No plugging holes with check registers.
No borrowing numbers from another fiscal year.
If the receipt isn't there, the hole stays visible.
I'll put the district totals into two graphics, 1–10 and 11–21, so you can see how differently this spending looks from district to district.
And as always, if a district has a newer receipt that I missed, bring me the breadcrumb. I will happily update the ledger.
Receipts first. Questions second.
With receipts and respect,
Lady Budgetdown
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