Factoid of the Month
FY 2005 General Fund Summary
Idaho closed out fiscal year 2005 on a very positive note as the table below shows. General Fund revenue totaled $2,267.7 million, $111.8 million above the March estimate. Instead of a projected 2.8% growth rate, General Fund revenue was up 8.1% over the previous year. And since expenditures were $1.9 million under the estimate, the FY 2005 General Fund ending balance turned out to be $214.4 million. This is $113.7 million over the Legislature’s March estimate.
| FY 2005 GENERAL FUND SUMMARY | ||
| REVENUES: | ||
| Beginning balance | $100,244,100 | |
| FY 2005 revenue (8.1% growth over FY 2004) | 2,267,691,600 | |
| Transfers to deficiency warrant funds (Note 1) | (1,675,100) | |
| Transfers to other funds (Note 2) | (42,771,000) | |
| Miscellaneous transfers to and from other funds and all other adjustments | (401,200) | |
| Cancellation of prior year encumbrances | 1,676,200 | |
| Total Funds Available | $2,324,764,600 | |
| EXPENDITURES: | ||
| FY 2005 original appropriation | $2,082,138,300 | |
| Surplus eliminator appropriation (HB 805) | 5,001,000 | |
| Prior year reappropriations (FY 2004 to FY 2005) | 1,820,700 | |
| Regular supplementals | 26,340,800 | |
| Negative supplementals | (861,700) | |
| Expenditure of receipts from capital asset sales and insurance settlements | 379,400 | |
| Reversions | (1,094,800) | |
| Next year reappropriations (FY 2005 to FY 2006) | (3,362,200) | |
| Total Expenditures | $2,110,361,500 | |
| Ending Balance (Note 3) | $214,403,100 | |
| Notes: | ||
| 1. | Transfers to deficiency warrant funds (HB 6) are: | |
| $1,274,200 to the Dept. of Lands Fire Suppression Fund; | ||
| $259,300 to the Dept. of Agriculture's Pest Eradication Fund; and | ||
| $141,600 to the Military Division's Hazardous Substances Emergency Response Fund. | ||
| 2. | Transfers to other funds are: | |
| HB 843 (2004 session) - $500,000 to the Revolving Development Fund; | ||
| HB 392 (2005 session) - $21,300,000 to the Revolving Development Fund; and | ||
| Idaho Code 57-814 - $20,971,000 to the Budget Stabilization Fund. | ||
| 3. | Since the FY 2005 General Fund ending balance exceeded $124,000,000 the FY 2006 appropriations | |
| contained in HB 395 and HB 396 to provide a one-time 1.0% salary increase for employees of the public | ||
| schools and state departments have been triggered. | ||
This is also good news for FY 2006. The Legislature’s FY 2006 General Fund budget used all of its projected FY 2005 balance to get within $5.6 million of being balanced. The additional $113.7 million more than offsets this projected deficit. Another $14.2 million of the extra money will be used to provide public school and state department employees with a one-time 1.0% salary increase. This is provided for in HB 395 and HB 396. The appropriations contained in these bills were contingent on the FY 2005 General Fund ending balance exceeding $124 million.
Since the two-year temporary sales tax increase, which generated an estimated $183 million in revenue in FY 2005, expired July 1, 2005, the next couple of year’s General Fund budgets were expected to be tight. The additional FY 2005 revenue will help rebalance the state’s budget at least in the short run.
The question on everybody’s mind, of course, is how much of the additional revenue the state received in FY 2005 will be ongoing? Whatever amount is treated as ongoing will increase the base General Fund revenue numbers for FY 2006 and beyond. It may also produce a different revenue growth rate than the one used in the FY 2006 budget development process. DFM will release its revised FY 2006 General Fund revenue estimate in August, so stay tuned.