“Striving to be the Most Caring Place on Earth…”

Financial Reporting And Transparency

Annual Audited Financial Statements

Annually, Hall County Schools prepares and publishes a set of audited financial statements. The financial statements serve as an instrument to annually evaluate the school district’s financial position and financial performance. The financial statements are developed each year in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, as prescribed by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).

The School District’s fiscal year begins on July 1st and ends on June 30th, corresponding with the annual school year. In accordance with Georgia law, a financial audit of the statements is conducted each year by an independent audit firm to provide reasonable assurance of their material accuracy. The audited financial statements for the most recent fiscal year and the five preceding fiscal years may be accessed below. Audited financial statements for further preceding fiscal years may be obtained from the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts website.

Annual Audit of E-SPLOST Expenditures

The Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) is a one percent sales tax imposed on all retail sales within the bounds of Hall County. In November 1996, Georgia voters approved an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Georgia allowing local boards of education to call for a referendum to approve a one percent sales tax on retail sales. The first ESPLOST referendum for Hall County Schools was approved by the citizens of Hall County in a county-wide vote cast on June 17, 1997, with collections commencing that same year. The ESPLOST tax must be renewed through a county-wide referendum every five years.

E-SPLOST expenditures, under Georgia law, may only be used for specific capital improvement projects for educational purposes or to retire general obligation bond debt incurred with respect to those capital outlay projects. As such, State law requires an annual compliance and performance audit of E-SPLOST expenditures by an independent audit firm to verify that E-SPLOST funds have been spent only for appropriate capital outlay projects. Georgia law also requires the school district to publish a schedule of its E-SPLOST expenditures on an annual basis, which is made available on the Open Georgia website, maintained by the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts.

Compliance audits of E-SPLOST expenditures for the most recent fiscal year and the five preceding fiscal years may be accessed below. Compliance audits of E-SPLOST expenditures for further preceding fiscal years may be obtained through an Open Records Request to the Hall County Schools Finance Department.

Annual Salary & Travel Reporting

In accordance with Official Code of Georgia §50-6-27, the School District reports the annual salary and travel expense for each of our employees to the State Auditor on a yearly basis. The Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts maintains a searchable database by individual on its website where this information is available for public inspection.

Financial Transparency in Education Act

O.C.G.A. §20-14-49.11 requires the Georgia Department of Education to collect, aggregate, and publish, on its website, a variety of financial information for each school district within the State of Georgia. This information includes:

  • The cost of all materials, equipment, and other non-staff support.
  • Salary and benefit expenditures for all staff.
  • The cost of all professional development, including training, materials, and tuition provided for instructional staff on an annual basis.
  • The total cost of facility maintenance and small capital projects.
  • The total expenditures of new construction or major renovations, based on a district’s facility plan.
  • The per student expenditures of local, state, and federal funds for a school district and each school within a district.
  • A district’s annual budget.
  • Ratios of expenditures to revenues for all general and special revenue funds.
  • The total dollar amount of local property tax revenue a school system collected in addition to the millage levied.
  • The total dollar amount of all other tax revenue collected by a school district.

Financial Efficiency Star Rating

O.C.G.A. §20-14-33 requires that the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA), in coordination with the Georgia Department of Education, create a financial efficiency rating for public school districts in the State of Georgia. The Financial Efficiency Star Rating (FESR) provides a comparison of district spending per student with overall academic performance, based on the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). The School District’s Financial Efficiency Star Rating, as well as information about how the rating is calculated, may be obtained from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement website.