Thank you!

I would just ask the treasurer. Some schools don't have list of everything they did but the treasurer should at least be able to give you your budget amount and let you look at receipts from the previous year so you know what was purchased. We always tell people to talk to the treasurer if they have any money questions because he/she is ultimately responsible for it.

Not dopey or rude; maybe she was just in a hurry and didn't read your question right. She also might not have a copy of all the detailed expenses from last year; it might just be with the treasurer only. I'd go back to her and say "thanks, that was helpful, but I'd also like a list of all the actual items charged against this budget last year to help me plan. Should I be asking (treasurer's name) directly for that report?"

This year I'm chairing a committee that has had the same budget for some years. I was going over the supplies for the committee, and noting down those things that will probably need to be purchased.

I sent our prez an email asking about the breakdown of the expenses applied to the budget last year, but in her reply she only told me the procedures for obtaining supplies and getting reimbursed. I feel like sending back an email saying "Ok, thanks, but exactly HOW was that $700 spent last year?" This is partly to get an idea of what was spent on supplies last year, and partly just to become educated on the expense process.

Is this a dopey or rude question? Are expenses directly applied to budget items, (and the budgets adjusted if they require more or less money)? Or is it more fluid? Or does it depend on the school?

Initially, I asked the question to get a guideline on managing the committee's expenses, but now I'm wondering why a treasurer's report of the expenses for that budget line item isn't just available.