LPOSD approves $34.9M budget

PONDERAY — The school year is over, but the new fiscal year for the Lake Pend Oreille School District is just around the corner.

LPOSD trustees adopted a $34.9 million budget on Tuesday for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The district will begin the second year of its two-year, $17 million supplemental levy at that time, with $8.5 million in levy funds appropriated to the budget.

Of 164 districts in Idaho, LPOSD is the 22nd largest with approximately 500 full-time equivalent employees serving 3,715 students, said Lisa Hals, the district's chief financial and operations officer.

"There are really four factors that sculpt the budget this year and I am going to start with number four, which is a factor in every public school district's budgeting process — trying to project what student enrollment, or average daily attendance, will be," Hals said.

The third factor, she said, is the supplemental levy, which represents about 27 percent of the general fund revenue for next year, Hals said. The first and second factors were both in regards to the federal tax budget. First, Hals said, the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was signed into law in December had an "unintended effect," increasing the tax responsibility of the taxpayers for several states, including Idaho.

"What ultimately resulted is our Idaho Legislature has passed reductions in tax responsibility, both on the corporate level and on the individual level," she said.

Also, she said, the federal government's budget cycle starts October 1 and the federal budget is rarely adopted by that date. Generally it is adopted by January, Hals said, and this year it was March before the budget was adopted.

"That meant that for this fiscal year, we were operating on estimated appropriations," Hals said. 

In addition, the state increased funding by 5.1 percent, translating to an additional $1.1 million, she said. The district relies on the state for 71.1 percent of its general fund operations.

Hals said the general fund balance at the end of the current fiscal year on June 30 is projected at $2.2. million to roll over into the 2018-2019 year. A contribution of $100,000 will be made to the district's plant fund reserve for the second consecutive year. When the first contribution was approved by the board last year, the plant fund was sitting at just under $900, Hals said.

An additional $200,000 will go into the general fund reserve. Hals said the goal is to maintain a general fund operating reserve equal to 5 percent — approximately $1.5 million — of the general fund revenue, plus the maintenance and operating costs included in any supplemental or emergency levy. A minimum of $100,000 will be allocated to the fund each year until the goal is achieved.

A summary of the budget will be posted on the district's website at lposd.org.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.