LPOSD approves $31.6M budget
SANDPOINT -- With another fiscal year almost over, the Lake Pend Oreille School Board took a look ahead to 2016-2017 with a budget preview. Chief Financial and Operations Officer Lisa Hals made a detailed presentation at last week's school board meeting, which reflected the description of a tightly run ship.
The total amount available to spend next year is $31.6 million, with about 69 percent of that amount coming from the state, nearly 30 percent from the second year of levy funding and the remaining 1 percent from other sources. The total budget represents a 4.2-percent increase over the previous year, Hals said.
State funding relies on the number of students in attendance district-wide. Enrollment in Lake Pend Oreille School District is relatively stable, with officials expecting a 0.08-percent rise this year, which amounts to approximately 27 pupils. However, state legislators voted to increase funding levels for the coming year, Hals said.
"A 7.7 percent increase to the K-12 appropriation ... was adopted. For LPOSD, the state's increase translated into an additional $1,278,000 over current funding," according to the budget report.
Very little of the budget will be consumed by existing financial obligations, Hals said, because LPOSD carries minimal debt.
"The district has $51,000 in lease purchase debt obligation in 2017 that must be financed through our general fund revenues," according to the budget report. The lease is for the district office building in Ponderay.
The district even maintains a savings account in case of unforeseen expenses. According to the budget report, the goal for this reserve account is 5 percent of the combined general fund revenue plus the maintenance and operating costs of any supplemental or emergency levy. According to the budget report, this amount is $1,402,525. The current balance is $1,200,000.
"We were able to add $100,000 this year for the first time since the recession," Hals said.
The largest expenditure in the 2017 budget is salaries. At 56.2 percent of the total funds, LPOSD salaries come in above the statewide average of 49.6 percent. Benefits claim the second budget slot at 23.3 percent. Services, supplies and materials, capital objects, debt retirement, insurance and judgement, contingency and transfers comprise the remaining expenditures in the fiscal year 2017 budget.
The budget report breaks school funding into a number of categories as well, offering a different perspective on district spending. For example, expenditures for the elementary schools in the district are more than $5 million, and secondary programs will cost $5.6 million. The alternative school program claims about $482,000 while vocational-technical programs will cost nearly $2 million. Special education programs claim $1.5 million, the interscholastic program costs about $617,000. Other categories include administration, support services, technology, maintenance, security, transportation and nutrition.
"Lake Pend Oreille School District No. 84 is among the area's major businesses ... Of 164 school districts in the state of Idaho, we are the 22nd largest, educating approximately 3,675 students ... In fiscal year 2015, LPOSD was ranked 53rd of 164 Idaho public schools for general fund expenditures per full-time average daily attendance ($8,315/pupil),” according to the budget report.