CSPT Budget Management & Financial Planning Flashcards

Which cost category typically represents the largest portion of a school transportation department's annual budget?

Answer: Personnel (salaries and benefits)

Personnel costs—drivers, mechanics, dispatchers, and supervisory staff—consistently make up the largest share of transportation department budgets.

A transportation supervisor is asked to perform a cost-per-mile analysis. Which data inputs are REQUIRED for this calculation?

Answer: Total operating costs and total miles driven

Cost-per-mile is calculated by dividing total operating costs by total miles driven, providing a standard efficiency benchmark.

What is the purpose of a zero-based budget (ZBB) approach for a transportation department?

Answer: To justify every expenditure from scratch rather than incrementally adjusting the prior year's budget

ZBB requires each budget item to be justified anew each cycle, encouraging departments to eliminate waste and re-evaluate all spending priorities.

Which federal program provides funding to help school districts replace older diesel school buses with cleaner or zero-emission vehicles?

Answer: EPA Clean School Bus Program

The EPA Clean School Bus Program provides grants and rebates to help districts replace older diesel buses with electric or alternative fuel vehicles.

When preparing a transportation budget request for the school board, a supervisor should include which of the following to strengthen justification?

Answer: Data on ridership trends, cost benchmarks, and projected needs

Data-driven justifications—including ridership trends, peer benchmarks, and forward-looking projections—build credibility and support for budget requests.

What is a 'chargeback' system in school transportation finance?

Answer: A method of billing individual schools or programs for transportation services they use

Chargeback systems allocate transportation costs to the schools or programs that generate them, promoting cost awareness and equitable distribution.