Flint Schools shorted $2 million in tax revenue since 2009, officials say

Flint, MI—Flint Schools was shorted approximately $2 million in tax revenue since 2009 due to a reporting error, Chief Financial Officer Carrie Sekelsky told school board members in an email on Oct. 16. 

It is still unclear whether the city or the county made the error, Sekelsky said in the email. 

“The city or county (I’m still not sure which) had not reported information correctly on their end and the District had been getting shorted for many years,” she wrote.

Sekelsky said that she “probed” the state Treasury, the Michigan Department of Education and the Genesee County for answers and as a result, the district will receive an additional $1,960,922.55 in state aid due to the revenue it did not receive in taxes over the last 10 years.  

Treasurer for Flint Schools Board of Education Danielle Green said Sekelsky had started asking questions during a financial audit. “She was saying that something wasn’t adding up,” Green said. 

“I did not let up in figuring out why,” Sekelsky wrote. 

Green said she is angry that this has been going on since 2009. Before Sekelsky was hired, the district worked with a third party who performed their financial audits, Green said.

“We got rid of them because we were paying them close to $1 million a year and they wanted to double their fees…They were doing a crappy job, which we already knew, we just didn’t know it was this crappy,” she said.

Flint Schools Board President Casey Lester said he does not know which fund was affected by the loss or how it will be used. The board will discuss the matter at a board meeting on Oct. 21, he said.

“Any money we can get is going to benefit our students…it’s a benefit to all of us,” Green said.

Sekelsky’s email was received with an outpouring of congratulations, Lester said.

City and county officials were not immediately available for comment.