Here is another reason why school districts such as Wichita have contingency funds, and why they are reluctant to spend them down, as some anti-tax groups are urging: The state doesn't honor its funding commitments. For the third consecutive month, the state is delaying $200 million in aid payments to public schools. As a result, districts that don't have contingency funds are struggling to meet payroll, and state officials expect that nearly 100 districts will be forced to violate cash-management laws to pay their own bills.