District reports higher-than-expected investment earnings, pending reimbursements and benefit cost shifts in budget workshop
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Summary
Superintendent and finance staff told the board the district earned far more interest on invested funds than budgeted, expects several grant reimbursements, receives broadband rental payments and must plan for a January legislative change raising the district’s per-employee premium contribution.
Siloam Springs School District staff told the board the district’s fiscal picture included revenue swings and grant changes that affected how staff built the proposed 2025–26 budget.
Investment earnings and delinquent taxes: Staff said interest income on investments outperformed the budgeted amount significantly. The district budgeted about $114,000 for interest on investments but reported earning roughly $328,000. The superintendent also noted delinquent property taxes were unusually high (more than $2 million) and that late payments and associated interest helped close part of the prior-year revenue shortfall.
Pending reimbursements and grants: The superintendent said the district expects roughly $165,000 in reimbursement related to playground equipment purchases that had been delayed in federal/state processing; the superintendent cautioned no written commitment has been received yet. Other grants discussed included a school safety grant (about $182,572 to spend by the end of the month) and a school-based health center grant that funded additional mental-health staff. District staff also discussed federal forest-reserve payments the district receives (small amounts tied to acreage in the district) and previous ESSER funding used for earlier bonuses.
Broadband rental and other revenue: The district receives broadband rental revenue (noted as about $35,000 on the front page of the materials) and discussed a court ruling that might increase that amount but with no confirmed figure yet.
Special education, Medicaid and merit pay: The superintendent described the early-childhood Medicaid match and catastrophe special-education reimbursements as largely pass-through or variable funds, and reminded the board that the merit teacher incentive and other state-directed programs are pass-through funding or fixed allocations that may not change until the state announces amounts.
Benefit-cost legislative change: Staff told the board a legislative change effective Jan. 1 will require districts to change how the state pays a portion of employee health insurance premiums. For the current partial-year period, the district expects to increase its monthly contribution per insured employee from about $234.50 to $350 for the remainder of the year, after which the state intends to change the funding mechanism so the state pays the premium portion directly.
Concurrent credit and tuition costs: The district also budgeted a new line item for concurrent credit tuition costs required by state law; staff called the number an estimate this first year and said they are pursuing alternative university vendors to reduce net costs to the district.
What happens next: Business staff will finalize the budget, list pending reimbursements as contingent, and return to the board with a formal budget resolution and any necessary accounting documentation.
