PONDERAY — The Lake Pend Oreille School Board unanimously approved the $74.2 million general fund budget for the upcoming fiscal year Tuesday evening.

The district’s general fund budget remains fairly flat from last year, seeing an increase of $2.3 million in spending, which is supported by a small state apportionment increase and some general fund dollars. LPOSD Chief Financial Officer Brian Wallace said taking the budgeted $3.8 million from the general fund is a “worst-case scenario.”

Wallace said although the district is set to spend at a deficit, it has prepared to do so by keeping around $22 million in reserves. Superintendent Dr. Becky Meyer has told the Bonner County Daily Bee previously that the district built those reserves in an effort to effectively stretch taxpayer dollars further. 

“I'm projecting that as part of the funding we talk about eventually; we're going to be with our flat levy for so long that eventually we're going to probably get into a pattern of deficit spending,” Wallace said. “Can't do that forever. Right now, we're financially able to do that.” 

The vast majority of the district’s budget will go toward salaries and benefits for employees. One challenge that the district had to overcome was a nearly 20% increase in healthcare premiums and only an 11% increase in state funding for that category. 

In the agenda packet, Wallace said the district can cover a majority of the increase to premiums. 

“We also worked closely with LPOEA and our benefits broker to adjust our benefits package that allowed us to minimize the impact to staff,” Wallace wrote. 

The other notable shift from the previous year’s budget is around $16 million in capital outlay expenses in the district’s other fund budget that is going toward facility improvements. Wallace said these include the Sandpoint Middle School renovations and wrapping the new Career Technical Education Center at Sandpoint High School.  

Wallace said that this year is probably the most the district has spent on facilities since it completed Kootenai Elementary. 

“We are definitely taking those resources and putting them into where there's some really big needs for facilities and improving them in our district, and then it's sort of exciting, right?” Wallace said. 

The board did not ask any questions at the meeting, but chair Lonnie Williams thanked Wallace and his staff for their work compiling the budget.  

“We budget very, very carefully,” Williams said. “I think that our ability as a district to plan for these rainy-day type situations when we do get those insurance scares is a testament to all the hard work that you and the district staff do, and the predecessors before us put us on this path. So, I greatly appreciate what you're doing.” 

LPOSD’s next board meeting is scheduled for July 14 at 5 p.m. at the district headquarters in Ponderay.