The money won’t come until July 2017, but public schools are in line for a boost in money from the state’s public lands endowment.
On Tuesday, the Idaho Land Board a $47 million payout to public schools for 2017-18. That’s a record, and a 28 percent increase from the current year’s $36.7 million payment.
Overall, 2017-18 endowment payments will come in at close to $73.5 million, with public schools receiving the entire increase. The board voted to hold the line on payments to other endowment beneficiaries — which includes universities, state hospitals, the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind and the state Capitol.
The endowment dollars come largely from timber sales and other economic activity on state endowment trust lands, as well as investment earnings.
The Land Board is made up of five statewide elected officials: Gov. Butch Otter; Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra; Attorney General Lawrence Wasden; Secretary of State Lawerence Denney; and Controller Brandon Woolf.
