What does "contractual" mean in the line-item budget?

Question: Could you please clarify what "contractual" means when viewing the line by item budget?

Answer: This is a common question that people have about the budget. The general misconception is that contractual means "according to employee contracts." That is generally not the case with contractual budget object codes (.400 budget code lines). Every school district function code has a contractual sub-code available to account for contractual and other expenses.

For example, the Board of Education has a function code of (A1010). A1010.400 is their contractual line. This budget line is used by the district for expenses such as legal and classified advertisements (which are required by state law) and the purchase of newspapers and periodicals.

Other common expenses that are paid from contractual budget lines are: agreements with outside contractors for services or repairs (i.e. water & sewer, waste removal, fire alarm and security systems, police patrol, school physician, etc.); utilities (i.e. electricity, natural gas, heating oil, fuel); professional development; conferences and assemblies; insurance; dues and subscriptions; and other outside contract-based fees.
-answered by Marco Zumbolo, School Business Administrator