A common practice for government entities, particularly schools, is to issue short-term (promissory) notes to cover daily expenditures until revenues are received from tax collection, lottery funds, and other sources. School boards approve the note issuances, with repayments of principal and interest typically met within a few months.

The goal is to fully cover all expenses until revenues are distributed from the state. However, revenues distributed fluctuate due to changes in collection expectations, and schools may not be able to cover their expenditures in the current period. This leads to a dilemma—whether or not to issue more short-term notes to cover the deficit.

Short-term debt may be preferred over long-term debt when the entity does not want to devote resources to pay interest over an extended period of time. In many cases, the interest rate is lower than long-term debt, because the loan is considered less risky with the shorter payback period. This shorter payback period is also beneficial with amortization expenses; short-term debt typically does not amortize, unlike long-term debt.

What would you do if you found your school in this situation? Would you issue more debt? Are there alternatives? What are some positives and negatives to the promissory note practice?

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1 If I were a student at a school that is practicing the issuance of promissory notes to cover its daily expense despite the uncertainty of the revenue or budget to be received I will be worried Knowi... View the full answer