South Dakota Finance Update
Lawmakers, working in the shadow of a current school funding lawsuit in South Dakota, were unable to reach agreement to change the index factor in the state funding formula. The proposed change, from 3% to 4.3%, would have raised the required increase in state aid to schools each year. That measure failed and the net increase to schools will be even less than 3% because the small school factor was frozen at this year’s level, and some one-time pots of money were not renewed. The package does include positive changes for schools with declining enrollments.