Reaching for the Transparency Stars - Region One ESC...Reaching for the Transparency Stars Presented by Mr. David Robledo, CFO –Santa Rosa ISD 1. The program recognizes government

Reaching for the Transparency StarsPresented by Mr. David Robledo, CFO – Santa Rosa ISD

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The program recognizes government entities that accomplish the following:

• Open their books not only in their traditional finances, but also in the areas of contracts and procurement, economic development, public pensions and debt obligations.

• Provide clear and meaningful financial information not only by posting financial documents, but also through summaries, visualizations, downloadable data and other relevant information.

Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts –Transparency Goals

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A streamlined application process ‐ A short web form enables you to submit nominations with minimal data entry and a few mouse clicks

Adaptability ‐ You can apply for one or more Stars, up to five. Entities must first receive a Traditional Finances Star, but may apply for Stars in up to four other areas:– Contracts and Procurement– Economic Development– Public Pensions– Debt Obligations

Honorary distinction ‐ The new program recognizes great breadth and depth in the information presented for each specific Transparency Star awarded, making each star a prestigious achievement. The Stars stand on their own and are not awarded along a continuum or with an expectation that entities should be attaining five out of five stars.

GENERAL CRITERIA

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Dedicated Page or Section of Website– The page or website section should include a general narrative overview of the transparency area and other pertinent items.

Transparency Area Summary– Post a summary separately from audits and financial reports and provide citizens with a short list and narrative overview of facts or figures for your entity's activities in this transparency area

Visualizations– Post at least two charts or interactive visual tools providing a snapshot of your local government's activities

– a time trend going back at least five years– easy to view and to interpret

Transparency Stars Criteria

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Documents– annual financial reports

– in general, documents for the last five fiscal years should be posted if available

Downloadable Data– check register data going back at least three fiscal years

Other Information– contact information clearly accessible

– link their transparency information to the Comptroller of Public Accounts Transparency website

Transparency Stars Criteria, Cont.

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Finance Summary– Expenditures as total and per student– Revenues from all entity funds expressed as total and per student amounts– Total full‐time equivalent positions for all personnel– Revenues from property taxes as total and per student– Revenues from sales taxes as total and per student

Visualizations– Time trend for at least five years showing revenues and expenditures per student– Time trend for at least five years showing property tax rate(s) per $100 valuation

Documents– Budgets for last five fiscal years– Annual financial reports (AFRs or CAFRs) for last five fiscal years.

TRADITIONAL FINANCES GUIDELINES

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Downloadable Data– Raw format budget for the current fiscal year. A budget posted in a tabular or spreadsheet format.

– Check registers for three fiscal years.

Other Information– General contact information such as address and phone number for local government

– Contact names, phone numbers and/or email addresses for elected officials

– Application and instructions for open records requests

TRADITIONAL FINANCES GUIDELINES, CONT.

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Debt Information Summary– Total outstanding debt obligations– Tax‐supported debt obligations expressed as total and per capita amounts– Total revenue‐supported debt obligations– Total lease‐purchase or lease‐revenue obligations– Historical bond election information that includes date of election, purpose, amount

Visualizations– Time trend for last five years showing total outstanding tax‐supported and revenue‐supported debt

– Time trend for last five years showing inflation adjusted tax‐supported debt per student

DEBT OBLIGATIONS GUIDELINES

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Documents– Any documents created in compliance with HB 1378 on debt transparency

– Document containing tax rates for current fiscal year

– Link(s) to debt information in previous years adopted budgets dating back five years

Downloadable Data– trend for last five years showing total outstanding tax‐supported and revenue‐supported debt

– Time trend for last five years showing inflation adjusted tax‐supported debt per student

DEBT OBLIGATIONS GUIDELINES, CONT.

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Other Information– Link to Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Debt at a Glance tool

– Link to Bond Review Board local government debt data

– Upcoming bond election information that includes date of election, purpose, and amount

– Local elected official contact information

House Bill 1378, passed in the 84th Legislative session, requires public entities to post certain debt information online. Obtaining the Debt Obligations Transparency Star fulfills this requirement.

DEBT OBLIGATIONS GUIDELINES, CONT.

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Contracts & Procurement Summary– Spending on procurement and contracting activities expressed as total and per student amounts

– Total number of publicly posted bidding and contracting opportunities opened (invitation for bids or requests for proposal)

– Total number of closed bids/solicitations or awarded contracts– Total dollar amount of bids received from invitations for bids or requests for proposals– Total dollar amount awarded from contracts

Visualizations– Time trend showing authorizations versus actual procurement expenditures for past five years

– Total contracts broken down by categories

CONTRACTS AND PROCUREMENT GUIDELINES

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Documents– Bid documents– Intent to award documents– Awarded, competitively bid contracts– Vendor registration forms and/or guide– Procurement manual or written purchasing procedures document– Glossary of procurement terms

Downloadable Data– Vendor check register dataset (date, type of transaction, amount, purpose, etc.) for the past 36 months

– Dataset on open contracting and bidding opportunities and closed solicitations for the past 36 months

CONTRACTS AND PROCUREMENT GUIDELINES, CONT.

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Other Information– Links to contracting and procurement statutes such as Local Government Code 252.021‐.0436, 262.021‐.030 and 271.021‐.029, Texas Government Code 2269.101‐.411 and Texas Education Code 44.031.

– Links to applicable GASB statements or other reference resources.

– Local contact information of procurement/purchasing officer (i.e., email and phone number)

CONTRACTS AND PROCUREMENT GUIDELINES, CONT.

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Economic Development Summary– Number of appraisal value limitation agreements entered into in the most recently completed fiscal year

– Estimated tax foregone in year 1 of the agreements expressed as total and per student amounts

– Estimated taxes forgone for life of agreements– Number of jobs projected to be created/retained by all existing agreements to date (up to the most the last day of the most recently completed fiscal year)

– Total estimated lifetime investment in all existing limitation agreements

Visualizations– Number of value limitation agreements granted for previous five years– Amount of taxes forgone in previous five years

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES

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Documents– Value Limitation agreements– Agreement contract

Downloadable Data– Value limitation dataset containing items such as project names/goals, agreement holders, payments in lieu of taxes, first year of tax benefit, estimated total taxes forgone and actual taxes forgone

Other Information– Applicable GASB guidance documents such as Statement No. 77 regarding disclosure of taxes foregone; links to applicable sections within financial statements

– Other documents regarding economic development activities if available. Acceptable examples include but are not limited to non‐annexation agreements and in kind agreements

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES, CONT.

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Due to limited independent decision‐making, entities participating in statewide or other non‐single employer defined benefit plans are ineligible for the Public Pensions Transparency Star, as noted in the awardees table.

PUBLIC PENSIONS GUIDELINES

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Region One ‐ School Districts– Santa Rosa ISD

Traditional Finances Star (Second in ESC 1) Debt Obligations Star (First in ESC 1)

– McAllen ISD Traditional Finances Star (First in ESC 1) Debt Obligations Star (Second in ESC 1)

Cities– City of Pharr

Colleges & Universities– South Texas College

Complete Local Entities List– https://comptroller.texas.gov/transparency/local/stars/approved.php

Who has Stars?

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Santa Rosa ISD – Texas Transparency

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http://www.srtx.org/

Santa Rosa ISD – Texas Transparency, Cont.

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http://srtx.org/District/Portal/texas‐transparency


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Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Website– https://comptroller.texas.gov/transparency/local/stars/general‐criteria.php

Mr. David Robledo, CFO– Santa Rosa ISD

– 956‐636‐9800 Ext. 110

– [email protected]

– WWW.SRTX.ORG

Helpful Resources

Santa Rosa Independent School District“Warriors On the Move – Education On the Rise”