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Committee briefed on cash reconciliation; staff says bond‑levy equalization closeout returns $62.8 million to general fund
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Summary
Legislative budget staff walked JFAC through the general fund cash reconciliation and transfers. Staff identified executive carryforward and reappropriation mechanics and said House Bill 521 closed the old bond levy equalization program; remaining cash from that program — about $62.8 million — is being returned to the general fund.
Legislative staff explained the items that drive the general fund cash reconciliation and described several transfers and one‑time adjustments the governor proposes for FY2025 and FY2026.
"Reappropriation would be ... money that was appropriated in fiscal year 2024 that wasn't spent," Keith Bybee of the Legislative Services Office said, explaining that reappropriation preserves authorized spending authority for projects that cross fiscal years. He said executive carryforward performs a similar accounting role for the executive branch to obligate contracts that cross fiscal years; Bybee gave the example of a patrol car contract where delivery occurs after July 1.
Bybee walked members through the governor's recommended transfers: the governor proposes roughly $578.9 million in transfers out (a mix of spending and savings moves), including a $60 million transfer toward a wildfire suppression deficiency warrant and other transfers to transportation and savings accounts. Part of the offset to those transfers is an anticipated $62.8 million transfer back to the general fund from a closed program: "part of House Bill 521 ... ended the bond levy equalization program. There was a fund balance of $62,800,000 in there," Bybee said.
A committee member asked whether returning the $62.8 million would affect the state's obligations under the new school bonding program; Bybee and staff clarified that House Bill 521 created a new bonding structure in which the state bonds on behalf of school districts and distributes funds by average daily attendance (ADA). Bybee said the $62.8 million is cash left in the old bond‑levy equalization fund and that because the program was repealed the law directed the money to be returned to the general fund.
Context and why it matters: The cash reconciliation shows the sources and uses of general fund cash and underpins how much one‑time cash the governor proposes for transfers and supplemental needs. The mechanics of reappropriation and executive carryforward determine how much cash is simply being moved across fiscal years versus how much represents new spending capacity.
The committee will consider those reconciliations as it sets final appropriations and decides whether to adopt, modify, or reject the governor's proposed transfers.
