Revenue projections for South Dakota were not rosy.

 

Representatives from South Dakota Bureau of Finance and Management and Legislative Research Council presented the projections to legislative appropriators on Monday (3/9).

 

Compared to the projections proposed by Gov. Dennis Daugaard during his Budget Address in December, BFM projects an approximately $10 million shortfall and LRC nearly a $12 million shortfall for the Fiscal Year 2016 budget.

 

At December’s budget address, Gov. Daugaard proposed a two percent increase in state aid for school districts, which was 0.5 percent higher than the statutorily required 1.5 percent increase, that would bring the per-student allocation to $4,877 for the 2015-16 school year.

 

The additional 0.5 percent developed from the proposed addition of the costs of school technology, assessment and the sparsity factor to the school funding formula.

 

The proposed increase comes in the form of Senate Bill 53, which currently awaits review and vote on the Senate floor. SB 53 has been amended and will be reviewed by a legislative conference committee once final revenue projections are adopted.

 

Similar to the FY16 projections, BFM and LRC projected shortfalls to the revised FY15 projections presented in December. BFM’s projected shortfall is approximately $6 million and LRC’s is approximately $4 million.

 

Revenue projections will be adopted by appropriators on Wednesday morning, which will signal the start of the budget adoption process for FY16.

 

For updates on the revenue and budget adoption, check the ASBSD Blog and Twitter feed.