Getting a Fix on Assets

Here's another item from the Oct. 25 Meeting (sorry for the delay -- work and life are both busy these days!)....

At the Sept. Meeting, during the FY04 Audit Report, President Zasadil asked Supt. Hill for a quote to compile a Fixed Asset Listing. The district currently has several informal asset lists, and a Fixed Asset Listing will be required when the district is faced with implementing GASB 34 Accounting Standards, which may be required by state law.

Supt. Hill presented the report that was prepared for him by Industrial Appraisal Company. The quote presented for the Fixed Asset Listing was approximately $5,445.00. This would include Inventory and Appraisal services, annual updating of insurable value, annual updating of the Fixed Asset Report, tagging of inventory with 2,500 tamper-evident tags, and a data file in Micorsoft Excel format.

Supt. Hill remarked that the district currently maintains an asset list of all technical hardware, a/v equipment, and items valued at $500 or more, though this is done on an ad-hoc basis, and would not be sufficient for GASB 34 standard.

Board member Don Rose noted that the district is preparing a technology plan for the schools, and asked if it would make sense to wait to do any appraisal until after any new technology hardware or software approved for the plan was acquired. Supt. Hill agreed, noting that it wouldn't make much sense to tag computers that wouldn't be there very long.

Board member Bob Nunamaker questioned the value of the Listing, remarking, "This won't stop things from walking out the door." Supt. Hill noted that a Fixed Asset Listing would, among other things, track the depreciation of the assets, which would be required under the GASB 34 standard. He added that, without this tracking, the district's insurance rates could be affected.

Bob noted that a huge internal process would be needed to maintain a Fixed Asset Listing, and wondered if the district would be able to save the $5K and do the Listing in-house. Dr. Mahaffy cited the district's current inventory system which, he said, works fine on a day-to-day basis, but might not be sufficient in a catastrophic event. He noted that the schools' libraries have inventoried all televisions on carts and overhead projectors. They did this on their own, when they realized there was a need for such an inventory.

Don Rose also warned that the district might be audited by the Business Software Alliance (BSA). He noted that the Chicago Public Schools were audited and fined $12M, which they negotiated down to $1.2M.

Further discussion on the Fixed Asset Listing was tabled until the November 22, 2004 meeting.