Glossary of Budget Terms

Apportionment – Money provided by the State to school districts to fund basic education. The primary factor in determining Tahoma’s apportionment is the district’s full-time equivalent (FTE).

Capital Expenditures: the cost to buy or maintain the physical assets of the District. This includes: buildings, classroom and office furniture, district vehicles, land, and large-technology related hardware and software.

Certificated Employees: all employees with a teaching certificate. This includes: all classroom teachers, teaching specialists, counselors, principals, and the Superintendent.

Classified Employees: all employees without a teaching certificate. This includes: athletic coaches, bus drivers, bookkeepers, classroom paraeducators, custodians, the district business office, food services, operations, safety and security, school office staff, and technology.


Debit Transfers: the transfer of money from General Fund to another Fund (Capital Projects, Debt Service, ASB, or Transportation Vehicle). State law requires money to be transferred to the appropriate “Fund” to pay for qualifying expenses. This is similar to transferring money from one checking account to another checking account. For example, the District purchased 3 school buses during the 20-21 school year for $100K each. To pay for the buses, the District transferred $300K from the General Fund to the Transportation Vehicle Fund.

ESSER Funds – Stands for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.This is the primary source of “COVID-19 funding” that was given by the Federal government to support school districts nationwide.

Full-time equivalent (FTE) – The number of full-time students enrolled in the District. For example, if a high school student is enrolled in half of their classes at the Tahoma High School and half at a community college through the Running Start program, that student would count as a 0.5 FTE for apportionment purposes, but a 1.0 for total headcount.

MSOCS: stands for Materials, Supplies, and Other Operating Costs. This is an acronym used by Washington state school districts when referencing all non-payroll related expenditures (everything except for certificated employees, classified employees, payroll benefits, and taxes).

Payroll Benefits & Taxes: the cost to provide all qualifying employees with benefits, plus payroll taxes. On average, benefits for a certificated employee cost 33% of the employee’s salary and benefits for a classified employee cost 47% of the employee’s salary. For example, if a certificated employee makes $10K a year, the District will pay $3.3K for the employee’s benefits. Benefits for a classified employee are typically a higher percentage because, on average, classified employees have a lower salary than certificated employees.


Prototypical Funding Model -- The State distributes funds to school districts based on the number of FTE enrollment. Those funds are allocated according to a formula known as the "prototypical funding model," in which funding is based on a predetermined ratio of teachers and other staff to students.


Purchased Services: all services provided to the District. This includes: all utilities (electricity, gas, sewage, water), contractors, employee trainings, guest speakers, legal fees, professional cleaning fees, rental fees, and tuition (for special needs schools and running start).

Supplies & Materials: all products used or consumed throughout the District. This includes: all district provided teaching materials, books, cafeteria food (when not provided by the Federal government), computers, computer software, fuel for district vehicles, musical instruments, paper, sports equipment, and software subscriptions.

Travel: the cost associated with employee travel on behalf of the District. This includes: conference fees, lodging, meals, and reimbursable mileage.

Not seeing a term that needs to be defined? Send us a message at TSDMessages@TahomaSD.us