Due declining revenue in South Dakota, Gov. Dennis Daugaard proposed no inflationary increase for K-12 education for fiscal year 2019 during his budget address on Tuesday (12/5).

 

“I cannot recommend inflationary increases, at all,” Gov. Daugaard said, adding that funding for education for the 2018-19 school year will be “tied to increasing student enrollment” which is projected to increase by approximately 1,500 students next year.

 

Download the Governor’s budget address presentation here.

 

Gov. Daugaard noted “the state’s revenue collections have not been meeting projections” and the “growth (in sales tax) has been slowing since 2015” mainly due to low farm income, low inflation, increase e-commerce sales and increased health care costs.

 

“We’ve been seeing this trend in low sales tax returns for quite some time,” ASBSD Executive Director Wade Pogany said. “It’s troubling and obviously having an undesirable effect on school funding.”

 

 

With legislative session set to begin in less than a month, Pogany said school districts need to stay informed of the state’s financial situation and wait for the process to play out

 

“For now, we have to stay vigilant on how sales and other tax collections progress over the next few months,” Pogany said.

 

“There are still a few months ahead of us before a budget is passed by the legislature so the discussion on revenue and school funding could evolve.”

 

During session you can stay up-to-date on all that occurs through the ASBSD Blog, Twitter feed and Bill Tracker.