PONDERAY — About 30 percent of the Lake Pend Oreille School District's budget is funded through a supplemental maintenance and operations levy.

Now in the second year of the current levy, which expires in June, district officials have once again started the process of the next two-year levy that will go to voters on March 12. The discussion began during Tuesday's LPOSD board meeting with a financial presentation by the district's chief financial and operations officer Lisa Hals.

"The intent tonight for the board is to essentially give you a financial overview that would serve as the platform for discussion, by the board, for our maintenance and operations supplemental levy," Hals said.

There are several factors to look at in regard to the financial environment of the district, some of which Hals went over in detail. One factor, for example, was an unexpected enrollment increase — the largest in a decade — that the district experienced in September, Hals said. LPOSD saw an increase of 125 students this year, with the growth primarily at Lake Pend Oreille and Clark Fork Junior/Senior high schools, as well as Hope Elementary, Hals said. Those schools, under the current state funding formula, generate the most money, she said.

Due to that increase, LPOSD qualified for emergency levy funds of just under $800,000, though the board chose to forgo the opportunity in September. Emergency levy qualification is based on the average daily attendance in the first week of school compared to the first week of school the prior year. For qualifying districts, emergency funds can be levied at the expense of taxpayers without voter approval.

Legislative changes sought by the state's Public School Funding Formula Committee could factor into district finances next year as the interim committee is looking at moving away from average daily attendance and toward an enrollment-based funding model. The committee is also looking at a new funding model for rural schools, of which the district has two, and alternative schools, Hals said. In comparing the last iteration of the proposed model to the current model, Hals said it is a "big loser" from a cash standpoint.

"And I do mean big," Hals said. "From the state, we receive about two-thirds of our general fund ... In the iteration they presented it was a loss of $1.7 million."

Also, Hals said, fiscal year 2020, the first year of the next supplemental levy if it passed, would be the fifth and final year of the state's teacher-career allocation model. If the career ladder comes to an end, Hals said, the second year of the supplemental levy could be "very different" from the first year from a funding perspective. Hals projected state appropriations for fiscal year 2020 at $1,225,000. Financial variables for fiscal year 2020 could include increases in health insurance and retirement, as well as other operational costs and the need to rebuild the budget buffer, contingency and plant fund balance, Hals said, putting the district at an estimated $432,625 over current.

The district's current two-year, $17 million levy was approved by voters in March 2017. Over the next three meetings, the board will look at the needs of the district and the financial projections to determine the amount and language that will appear on the March 2019 ballot. The next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12, during which Superintendent Shawn Woodward will provide an administrative presentation. Board members will then deliberate on Tuesday, Nov. 27 during an early start meeting at 5 p.m., with the final meeting for ballot recommendation and resolution at 6 p.m., Dec. 11. All meetings will be held in the Ponderay Events Center, 401 Bonner Mall Way.    

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