Rural schools funding in limbo

WALLACE — Each year, Shoshone County receives a chunk of money from the Federal Government in the form of Secure Rural Schools (SRS) funds.

These funds have been vital to the existence of rural schools (such as our schools) and roads over the past 16 years.

The Secure Rural Schools Act was initiated in 2000 and has provided consistent funding for more than 775 rural counties and 4,400 schools located near national forests across the U.S.

The Act also helps pay for restoration and stewardship projects on our public lands and forests.

Idaho currently boasts more than 20 million acres of National Forest (second only to California) and received $23,470,051.88 (or about $1.15 per acre) in SRS money.

Prior to the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) Act being introduced, rural counties and schools received 25 percent of the revenues generated from timber sales from our national forests.

This system prior to SRS was slowly having a negative effect on communities, such as Shoshone County, that depended on the forests for various jobs, resources, and recreational uses.

Timber production was declining as logging efforts could not keep up with demand while still allowing the other uses of the forest (IE recreational use) to continue.

Congress changed the funding system for counties and schools with the passage of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act which replaced revenue sharing with a guaranteed level of payments that was no longer tied to the amount of timber produced from the National Forests.

The SRS act was reauthorized for two more years in April of 2015.

While 62 percent of counties nationally contain federal public lands, counties cannot collect property tax on this land, and must still provide essential services for residents and visitors.

At the county level, forest revenue is critical to maintaining and servicing county roads.

“An item that is not commonly known by our county residents is that Shoshone County, unlike most counties, does not levy its residents for its roads,” county commissioner Mike Fitzgerald said.

“Shoshone County relies on revenue sources such as highway user taxes, forest revenue, PILT, grants, and county contracted services,” he added.

Here is a quick look at what SRS means for Shoshone County on an annual basis.

During 2016, the forest revenue (in the form of SRS) received by Shoshone County and applied to county roads was approximately $1.8 million.

As of Sept. 30, 2016, approximately $275,000 of forest revenue (in the form of 25% of forest receipts) was received by the County and applied to roads.

What does all of this mean?

In a year where both SRS and forest receipts are available, the county can choose the largest of the two funding sources.

In 2016, SRS was the largest and $1.8 million was received by the county. However for 2017, it appears that SRS funds for the nation are in jeopardy.

Fitzgerald explained that as of now, the national budget has no money allocated to SRS.

“Without congregational/federal action, nothing will be reauthorized.”

A large number of congressman are currently pushing for SRS to be included into the budget, but finding a source for the money has become a challenge.

For the last two years, SRS was funded by proceeds from the US selling off a potion of it helium reserves.

Should it not be re-authorized, only a percentage of forest funds would be available.

The county's anticipated forest revenue for roads would be approximately $275,000, an approximate loss of $1.5 million.

Fitzgerald also discussed how important it would be for the SRS funding to be dispersed retroactively if reauthorization occurs.

“Reauthorization of SRS funding needs to be retroactive. The last SRS payment received was for 2016 in April of 2016, and the last percent of forest receipts payment, approximately $240,000 for roads, was received in 2017,” Fitzgerald said.

“In short, if SRS is not re-authorized, the county is going to have to drastically modify how it does business across all departments.”

Shoshone County falls into the highest category of PILT and SRS and according the Shoshone Board of County Commissioners the money received is split 70/30, with 70 percent going to the county for roads and the 30 percent being divided up between the three school districts.

“If we lost those SRS funds it would be very difficult for us,” Kellogg School District (KSD) Superintendent Woody Woodford said during a previous interview. “For us, the money drives our tech department and our facility maintenance funds. If we lost the SRS money we would be forced to make cuts to things and pull money for our tech department and facilities from our general fund.”

The KSD, which has the highest enrollment of the three districts, received $406,375 during the 2015 fiscal year, which left just over $300,000 to be divide between the Mullan and Wallace School Districts.

Enrollment however, is not the only part of the equation on how much money the schools get though, attendance is key as well.

“Part of the equation is our average daily attendance,” Woodford said. “You can’t just have high enrollment, you need to have kids in the seats.”

Over the last ten years SRS has declined significantly declined after consistently growing.

“During the 2006/2007 school year Kellogg received a high of $725,507 in SRS money,” Woodford said. “Over the last eight reported fiscal years the number has declined, with the exception of a small increase from the 2013-14 school year to 2014-15 school year.”