The state of North Dakota continues to have “money in the bank.”
State Office of Management and Budget director Susan Sisk told the Legislature’s interim Government Finance Committee the 2021-2023 biennium spending authority was $5 billion. But she said state agencies did turn back some of that money.
"The General Fund turnback was $282 million," Sisk said. "That was compared to what we expected with the forecast, of about $170 million."
Sisk said the biennium spending came in at $4.8 billion, because of that.
"That left an ending fund balance of $1.7 billion," Sisk said. "That compared to the Legislative forecast of $1.2 billion."
Sisk said of that, $176 million was transferred into the Budget Stabilization Fund, one of the state’s “rainy day” funds. That fund is capped at 15 percent of the general fund appropriations. And she said there were some other small adjustments.
The final ending fund balance: $1.5 billion.
"It was up about $290 million over the forecast," Sisk said. "That was because of increased revenue, and increased turnback."
The $1.5 billion will be a starting point for the 2025-2027 biennium budget.