Financial Enhancement Initiatives

ESP provides a wide array of services and products that are intended to generate additional revenues for its School District clients – and/or to reduce their ongoing operational costs. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

"Defeased Tax-Advantaged Leases"/"Sale In-Lease Out Agreements"

Capital equipment and real property such as buildings, communications equipment and computer systems have associated tax benefits that School Districts can not utilize, because of their public entity status. By working with private investors, however, School Districts can transfer the "tax ownership" of those assets to private sector entities – and receive back cash payments that can be used for any capital need (The amount of these payments is generally 4%-7% of the depreciable value of the assets – but, for certain assets, it can be as high as 10% of their depreciable value).

The transfer of "tax ownership" is accomplished via a "Defeased Tax-Advantaged Lease" or a "Sale-In Lease Out Agreement". In this regard, such an agreement does not require the title to the assets to be transferred – and does not interfere with the School District’s continued control and/or use of the assets.

E-Fate Funds

The E-Rate Program was created via the Telecommunications Act of 1996 in order to provide additional funding for School Districts’ data communications and telecommunications systems. Since 1998, it has provided more than $13 billion to help School Districts pay for digital infrastructure (e.g., ISDN, T-1, frame relay, etc.); Internet access (e.g., connectivity, equipment, wiring, etc.); telephone services (e.g., local service, long distance service, toll calls, etc.); and telephone systems.

Working in conjunction with several firms that specialize in E-Rate services, ESP provides assistance to School Districts at each stage of the E-Rate funding process. In addition, ESP also helps School Districts evaluate the various services and systems that are eligible for E-Rate funding.

Financial Analyses

ESP undertakes on-site analyses of School Districts’ operational budgets in order to identify instances in which Federal funds – and/or local funds – are not being utilized in an optimal manner. In this regard, ESP’s staff seek to identify expenditures of Federal funds for costs that would otherwise be eligible for Title XIX/Medicaid or Title XXI/SCHIP reimbursement (Example: Utilizing IDEA/Part B funds to pay for Counselors and/or Therapists) – and expenditures of local funds for costs that are not eligible for Title XIX/Medicaid or Title XXI/SCHIP reimbursement (Example: Special Education buses).

In conjunction with its financial analyses, ESP provides written recommendations with respect to the re-structuring of each School District’s operational budget. In addition, ESP also provides examples of how other School Districts have structured their budgets in order to make optimal use of their Federal funds and local funds.