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District financial update: fund balances stable, Title funding delays noted
Summary
Business officials reported November financials showing the district's unassigned fund balance at 10.86% and total general fund balance at 12.37%. Officials said federal Title funds were delayed because of MDE SERVES reporting, and reminded the board of a large bond principal and interest payment due at month end.
The Prior Lake‑Savage Area Schools business office told the board on Jan. 13 that November financial reports show the district's unassigned general fund balance at 10.86% and total general fund balance at 12.37%.
Tammy Frederickson, who spoke for the district business office, said the district remains within board policy targets for fund balance. She told the board that all federal COVID relief funds required to be spent by Sept. 30 have been obligated and that a small amount (about $6,000) was returned because some planned summer programming could not be carried out.
Frederickson noted a decline in federal budget totals compared with the previous year: the federal budget last year was about $3.9 million; this year it is budgeted at $1.8 million because COVID funds have ended. She said year‑to‑date spending percentages will look different from last year for that reason.
The district's PMA (pooled money) investment balance was reported at about $49 million; Frederickson reminded the board that principal and interest for the district's bonds are due at the end of January and that the PMA balance will fall after that payment.
On enrollment, Frederickson reported preliminary kindergarten counts at about 350 students as of that morning — compared with 332 at the same point last year, 386 the year before and 358 the year before that. She said final kindergarten numbers typically continue to increase in coming months.
The business office also described a delay receiving Title program dollars because the district cannot report expenditures in the Minnesota Department of Education's SERVES system until MDE has approved the district budget in SERVES; MDE and the district are working to resolve the issue.
Frederickson corrected an earlier public note about an audit overspend: the district did not overspend by $7 million; the overage was about $4.3 million, of which $1.4 million had been board‑authorized, leaving a net overspend of roughly $3 million (largely in special education and transportation).
The board will receive more detailed 2025‑26 budget materials at upcoming study sessions and a finance town hall scheduled for Jan. 29.
