BIRMINGHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS: A $7,500 QUESTION

[Shadowninja]

👑 BIRMINGHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS: A $7,500 QUESTION

Dearest gentle taxpayers,

Sometimes the records provide an answer. Sometimes they leave a rather interesting question.

Lady Budgetdown reviewed the First Amendment to Superintendent Embekka Roberson's employment contract. One provision offers a $7,500 merit payment if Birmingham Public Schools' final 2024–25 audit confirms a General Fund Balance of 11% or more.

So, naturally, I went to the final audit.

For 2024–25, Birmingham reported:

📜 Ending General Fund Balance: $16,224,706
📜 General Fund Expenditures: $152,162,764
📜 General Fund Revenue: $147,519,565
📜 Decrease in Fund Balance: $2,131,707

And here is where things become interesting.

Using expenditures:

$16,224,706 ÷ $152,162,764 = approximately 10.66%

Using revenue:

$16,224,706 ÷ $147,519,565 = approximately 11.00%

Same audited fund balance.

Two different percentages.

And the contract provision itself simply says "General Fund Balance of 11% or more."

I searched publicly available payroll information and Birmingham Board of Education records looking for an answer, but I have not found a public record that clearly establishes whether this particular $7,500 payment was made.

So Lady Budgetdown isn't going to pretend to know something the records haven't yet told us.

Instead, I'll simply ask:

Did the superintendent qualify for the $7,500 fund-balance merit payment for 2024–25?

And, if so:

How did Birmingham Public Schools calculate the 11% required under the contract?

Perhaps there is a perfectly straightforward answer.

Until then, it remains a $7,500 question.

Facts should never tell people what to think. They should give people enough information to think for themselves.
With receipts and respect. 👑

Data compiled and visualized by Lady Budgetdown using publicly available records.

#BirminghamPublicSchools #BirminghamMI #SchoolFinance #PublicSchools #Transparency #Accountability #LadyBudgetdown