Student Union – Decentralization

Introductions
Financing and Treasury
Colleen Nickles, Senior Director
Rosa Renaud, Senior Financial Manager
Angelique Sutanto, Financial Analyst
Financial Services Accounting
George Ashkar, Senior Director/Controller
Lam Le, Manager
Lawrence Gutierrez, Lead Accountant
Humboldt Student Union
Heidi Chien, Associate Director
San Bernardino Student Affairs
Helga Kray, Assistant Vice President

Agenda
Systemwide Revenue Bond Program
Flexibility with New Bond Indenture
Executive Order 876
Decentralization of the Student Union Program
Changes Affecting:
Student Unions
Campus’ CFOs
Financing and Treasury
Accounting Process
Traditional Student Union Budget Forms
New Debt Service Coverage Ratio Form

Systemwide Revenue Bond Program (SRB)
A pooled security debt program that provides greater security to bondholders and thus benefits the CSU by:
Lower interest rate cost
More efficient use of proceeds:
No Debt Service Reserve
Lower Cost of Issuance
Commercial paper program contributes to additional savings during a project’s construction phase.

Systemwide Revenue Bond Program (SRB)
Bonds issued under the SRB program are secured by a gross revenue pledge of all established fees. Pooled security with:
Housing
Student Union
Parking
Health Center
Continuing Education

Systemwide Revenue Bond Program (SRB)
Also incorporates other Auxiliary Organizations into the debt program as the CSU issues new debt.
Credit Rating Agencies have always “counted” Auxiliary Organizations as part of CSU debt.

SRB and Student Unions
Under the SRB program, we have been able to issue bonds for student unions for:
New capital projects
Refunding existing “senior” bonds

SRB and Student Unions
The SRB bond indenture is more flexible in certain areas than prior bonds, for example:
No more “Return of Surplus Test” requirement which under Section 5.02 of the old bond resolutions prevented distribution of funds to operate the union facility until after setting reserves to cover the coming year’s bond interest and principal payments. The excess reserves were then identified as “Surplus”.
Improves cash flow with a “pay-as-you-go” concept similar to other programs such as for Housing and Parking.
No bond reserve requirement.

SRB and Student Unions
Decentralization for the student unions occurred with Richard West memo dated April 30, 2004. The decentralization became effective 2004/05. (See handout.)
We saw this as an opportunity to decentralize student unions that are fully in SRB, that is only those that have all the related bond debt in SRB or have no bonds outstanding.
Those unions with only senior bonds or with a combination of senior bonds and SRB bonds are not eligible to be decentralized.

Student Unions Eligible for Decentralization
Bakersfield – Refunded Bonds
Dominguez Hills – Refunded Bonds
Fresno – Refunded Bonds & Issued New Bonds
Hayward – Refunded New Bonds & Issued New Bonds
Humboldt – Issued New Bonds
Long Beach – Refunded Bonds
Los Angeles – Refunded Bonds
Sacramento – Refunded Bonds
San Bernardino – Refunded Bonds & Issued New Bonds
San Marcos – Issued New Bonds
Sonoma – Issued New Bonds
Stanislaus – Refunded Bonds
Note: Channel Islands, Monterey Bay, and Maritime Academy – No Existing Bonds Are Outstanding. In the future new bonds would be in SRB.

Executive Order 876
Financing & Debt Management Policy
A CABO advisory committee was created to develop a financing and debt management policy. The focus was to:
Establish standards to maintain advantages of SRB including low financing costs.
Address debt capacity issues (i.e. a limit to how much the CSU can issued debt).
Establish a better capital planning process.
Retain flexibility to do special priority projects.
Give campuses guidelines.

Executive Order 876
Financing & Debt Management Policy
All student union programs regardless of whether they have been decentralized fall under this executive order.
The executive order is a good baseline for the decentralized student unions particularly because it parallels the new bond indenture requirements.

Executive Order 876
Critical Requirements
Two key benchmarks are defined in the policy to monitor campus and program financial position:
Net Revenue Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR). See Section 4 and Attachment A.
Debt Capacity. See Section 5.
Reserve Requirements. See Section 7.

Executive Order 876
Critical Requirement - DSCR
The Net Revenue Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) is computed using total gross revenue less operating expenses divided by debt service.
For the unions this means:
Fee Revenue + Interest Income – “Return of Surplus” = Net Income
Net Income then is Divided by Annual Debt Service Amount.
It is important that a campus appropriately records revenues and expenditures to avoid errors in calculating the DSCR.

Executive Order 876
Critical Requirement - DSCR
Policy Minimum DSCR Benchmarks are:
Systemwide: 1.45
Campus: 1.35
Program: 1.10 *
Project: 1.0 (if part of an existing program)
1.10 (if stand alone project).
* Note: if one campus’ program is at 1.10 then other campus’ programs must be higher than 1.35 to meet the campus’ goal of 1.35.

Executive Order 876
Critical Requirement – Debt Capacity
Debt Capacity is a measure that focuses on the overall campus. The campus debt payments compared to its net unrestricted expenditures need to be within the maximum CSU benchmark of 4.0%.
Financing and Treasury notifies the campuses annually of their positions.
Further, the Board of Trustees is notified with every project that is being considered for financing approval.

Executive Order 876
Critical Requirement – Reserves
Campuses are responsible for developing reserve policies that, at a minimum, address:
Major Maintenance and Repair/Capital Renovation and Upgrade
Working Capital
Capital Development for New Projects
Catastrophic Events.

Executive Order 876
Critical Requirement – Reserves
Repair and Replacement Funds - Decentralized Student Unions are no longer required to set aside a specific amount however, student union budgets should identify transfers to the fund that will meet their future needs.
Working Capital or Local Reserves – the Campus CFO is required to develop guidelines for the union.

Decentralization of the Student Union Program – Effects on the Unions
Unions are still under the same operating agreements with the campuses.
The primary focal point for approvals and funding for operations and maintenance/repair will be directly with the campus CFO.
The budget process will now be shaped from the direction received from the CFO.
Receipt of funds for operations and maintenance/repair expenses will be quicker given the more direct accounting process established with the campus.
Construction project review/approval process has not changed. It is a coordinated effort between the union, VP Admin/Finance and staff, CPDC, and FT.

Decentralization of the Student Union Program – Effects on the Unions
Unions/campuses will receive an annual “PFA” budget memo from FT that identifies the amount needed to be transferred on a quarterly basis to cover:
Payment of principal and interest on outstanding bonds;
Debt reserves of 15% of debt service when applicable;
Payment of centrally paid administrative expenses such as State and Chancellor’s Office overhead expenses;
This is a big accounting and budget change from prior years.

Decentralization of the Student Union Program – Effects to the Campus’ CFOs
Richard West requests that the campus’ CFO be responsible for the implementation of the decentralization and oversight of the student union program.
The campus CFO is delegated direct expenditure authority for the DRF Student Union Revenue Fund (#580) and the DRF Student Union Repair and Replacement Fund (#575).
The CFO must assure that sufficient funds are available in Fund 580 to cover the quarterly transfers for payment of debt service and overhead obligations.

Decentralization of the Student Union Program – Effects to the Campus’ CFOs
The CFO is responsible for the review and oversight of an annual budget package received from the union.
The CFO has the authority to release funds to the union to cover upcoming operating expenditures and a working capital reserve.
The CFO will monitor the union’s performance related to the Net Revenue Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) and Reserve requirements per E.O. 876.

Decentralization of the Student Union Program – Effects to the Campus’ CFOs
The CFO must assure that the student union fee revenues are invested in the Surplus Money Investment Fund (SMIF) in the DRF – Student Union Revenue Fund and other DRF accounts.
The CFO must make “prudent” decisions as to how much is distributed to the union’s auxiliary organization.

Decentralization of the Student Union Program – Effects to Financing and Treasury (FT)
FT continues to monitor student unions with senior bonds outstanding to assure compliance with specific bond requirements.
FT will monitor decentralized student unions on a global basis given the new DSCR form.
FT will provide campuses with an annual budget (“PFA memo”) in the Spring showing transfers that are required to pay for debt service and overhead expenses.
FT continues to be responsible for the approval of capital/construction projects.
FT continues to be a resource for all campuses and unions.

Major Accounting Changes for Decentralized Student Unions
Presentation by:
Systemwide Financial Operations

Funding student union operations
(Return of Surplus)

Fund 580 Dormitory Revenue Fund

SMIF interest earnings

Cost recovery for centrally paid expenses (e.g. debt service obligations and reserves, State Pro Rata, and Chancellor’s Office overhead)

Transfers to Fund 575 Dormitory Building Maintenance and Equipment Reserve Fund (DBMER) also known as the Repair & Replacement Fund

Transfers to Fund 576 Dormitory Construction Fund (DCF)

State Controller’s Office Contacts
Dana Parrish [phone]
Plan of Financial Adjustments, Allocation Orders
Karen Brenenstall [phone]
SMIF Interest Earnings
Karri Boyer [phone]
Transfer Requests

Financing and Treasury
Student Union
Budget Review Process

Student Union Budget Forms
Review of Student Union Budget Forms -Handout.
Campuses have flexibility to modify schedules to fit their needs.
However, for unions considering capital construction projects, FT recommends maintaining the same format for consistency. Additional schedules are always welcomed.

Senior Bonds - Student Unions Flow of Funds – “Old Method”
Fee
Revenue
Debt Service & Overhead
“Surplus”
Transfers to Repair & Repl.
Construction
Projects
Union
Oper. Exp./
Aux. Org.
Gross Revenue
Test of 1.25
Interest & Redemption
Overhead

Decentralized Student Unions
- Flow of Funds
Fee
Revenue
& Int. Income
Union Oper.
Expenses/
Aux. Org.
Net
Oper.
Income
Net
Income
Transfers to Repair & Repl.
Construction Projects
PFA for Debt Service &
Overhead
DSCR calculation based
On E.O. 876

Student Union Budget Analysis Sheet
❑ Confirm that “actuals” trace to audited DRF financial statements;
❑ Confirm that “actuals” trace to auxiliary audited financial statements;
❑ Confirm that budget uses FT coded memo data;
❑ Verify budget accurately adds/subtracts data.
❑ Review budget to actuals trends;
❑ Verify operating agreements and leases are current;
❑ Review current and future fee levels;
❑ Review capital expenditures are within minor capital outlay guidelines;
❑ Review financial plan vs. approved Major capital outlay plan;
❑ Verify compliance with key bond covenants (i.e. Fee Revenue to Debt; Return of Surplus test; Requirements for Interest and Redemption Fund balances); NOTE: Would be modified for Decentralized Student Unions.
❑ Confirm that working capital levels at local level are within Chancellor’s Office policy limits;
❑ Comments:

Student Union Budget Analysis – Key Reviews
Schedule 1 – Cash Flow and Operation Projections:
This Schedule combines DRF Revenue Fund and Auxiliary Org./Local Funds
We review trends of Revenue Fees; Fund Balances; Operating Expenses, …
Check reasonableness of assumptions for Operating Revenue; Operating Expenses and all Transfers.
Verify that Capital/Construction project has an approved financial plan and is incorporated into the financing and CPDC processes.

Student Union Budget Analysis – Key Reviews
Schedule 2 – Working Capital and Contingency Reserve Computation:
Verify accuracy of calculation and traceability to Schedule 1.
Verify that if the auxiliary organization has excess Working Capital then a decrease in the coming year’s Net from Operations (line 21) is identified to bring it back in line.
We also compare with the calculation of:
Working Capital = Current Assets – Current Liabilities
Note: for Decentralized Student Unions the Campus’ CFO may develop own policy.

Student Union Budget Analysis – Key Reviews
Schedule 3 – Fee Revenue Summary:
Confirm that Actual Revenues tie with Audited Financial Statements.
Identify a fee increase or decrease and research as needed. FT and Campus’ CFO have responsibility to assure that fees are at sufficiently high levels to meet bond indenture and E.O. 876 requirements.
Confirm traceability to Schedule 1.

Student Union Budget Analysis – Key Reviews
Schedule 4 – Capital Equipment and Related Expenses:
Review reasonableness of project descriptions.
Identify large projects that need to be funded by the Repair & Replacement Fund in order to assure that the State procurement process is followed.
Confirm traceability to Schedule 1.

Student Union Budget Analysis – Key Reviews
Schedule 5 – Summary of Key Bond Covenant Test:
The old format is Not Applicable to the new SRB bond indenture. We modified the schedule in your handout with both the new and old formats. The new format duplicates some of Schedule 1 information yet is not complete.
For Senior Bonds: we review per the requirements of Section 5.02 of the bond resolution. We review trends of Uncommitted Facility Bond Fund Reserve levels and confirm that levels are not negative. We adjust the budget accordingly to prevent covenant default.
We confirm traceability to Schedule 1.

New Debt Service Coverage Ratio Form
FT will request from campuses to submit this summary form for each of the pledged programs.
The decentralized student union program is the first segment that we are requesting feedback.
Target for receipt of information: tentatively set for November 1, 2004. The CFO will be requested to respond.