ROCK SPRINGS — The Sweetwater County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees has approved a $73.2 million budget for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 with expectations of a $16.8 million cash carryover from last year.

District Chief Financial Officer Scot Duncan told the board last night that the carryover is a direct result of reduced spending from FY 2021-2022, specifically in unfilled employee positions and special education placement.

The new General Fund budget shows revenues of $73.2 million and expenditures of $82.4 million. The district will once again rely on the cash carryover to balance the budget, Duncan said.

The District’s Foundation Guarantee for FY23 is estimated to be $74.8 million. This amount will be reduced by excess taxes collected in FY22 in the amount of roughly $4.19 million. District funding for 2021-2022 was based on an average daily membership (ADM) of 5,201 students compared to the estimated ADM of 5,072 for 2022- 2023, according to Duncan’s budget message to the board.

The 2022 Wyoming State Legislature raised the cap from 15 percent to 30 percent on operating balances and cash reserves that can be held at the end of the fiscal year before any excess is counted against district funding as a local source. Duncan said the General Fund cash reserve accounts clearly show the SCSD No. 1 efforts to find its share of future expenditures and follow fiscal management goals.

Raising the cap was actually very beneficial to the District…because we don’t get our first Foundation check until midway through August. So we have to carry ourselves for six weeks until that other money starts coming in.

~ Scot Duncan, SCSD No. 1 Chief Financial Officer

Duncan added that the District will be required to keep track of how any excess over 15 percent is spent, but “if our cash holds up, even though we’re using some of the reserves for expenditures, they will be replenished at the end of the year.”

A review of the SCSD No.1 Budget Book can be found in the Board of Trustees agenda.