By Staff Reporter |

Superintendent Tom Horne and Treasurer Kimberly Yee are at odds over a sizeable loan to a school district.

Horne wants Yee to approve a $3 million cash advance to Nadaburg Unified School District (NUSD), located inside Wittman. He stated in a Monday press release that Yee failed to conduct a proper review of the district’s finances before denying the advance. 

The superintendent cleared up previous reports of a projected deficit as a “clerical error.” Horne called Yee’s denial “irresponsible” and urged her to reconsider.

“Our Finance Division did its research and determined that Nadaburg is operating within its budget, and by the end of the year they will have a projected positive cash balance of $1.3 million. Initially it was thought that they would have a negative cash balance at the end of the year, but the Department of Education, being a service institution, checked the forms and found the district made an unintentional clerical error that they can correct,” said Horne. “The Treasurer could have done the same review because she has the necessary forms, which were provided to her by our office, and her office failed to follow up with us to determine why we approved the advance.”

Yee not only denied the district a $3 million cash advance to address a $5 million deficit, she asked the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to direct a special investigation of the district through the Auditor General. The reported deficit amounted to three times the total amount of revenue NUSD anticipates from property taxes.

Yee’s announcement came last week, several days before Horne issued his response. 

The treasurer expressed concern that Horne and the Arizona Department of Education had approved an advance to a district “in considerable financial crisis.” Although Horne alleges Yee failed to conduct a proper review of NUSD finances, Yee claimed in that preceding press release that she identified poor financial practices.

“The state’s top education agency should have been able to identify, as the Arizona Treasury has, that this District may desperately need financial experts to bring their books into the black,” said Yee.

In the denial letter to NUSD Superintendent Aspasia Angelou, Yee said the district failed to justify the necessity of the expenses the advance would cover and failed to show efforts to reduce current expenses to the minimum. 

“[This] raises concern that the deficit is not necessary due to the timing of property tax collections, but could potentially be indicative of gross financial mismanagement,” said Yee. “[Our office] is seriously concerned that an advancement of funds now will only compound the district’s deficit and harm the financial stability of the district for years to come.” 

In his Monday press release, Horne dismissed Yee’s claim of financial mismanagement as lacking any evidence. Rather than evidence of impropriety, Horne said the request was normal.  

“District cash advances are common because a school district’s income and expenses may fluctuate,” said Horne. “As long as the district’s cash position is positive by the end of the year, and the funds will be paid back, cash advances are allowable.”

NUSD cited a low ending fund balance from the prior fiscal year and decreased property tax collections in 2024 as the main reasons for the deficit. 

There are nearly 1,500 students in NUSD.

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