Budget Overview (2025 Fiscal Year)
This simplified breakdown helps you understand the district's total budget and how much flexibility exists in allocating funds. The actual budget document contains 165 pages of detailed line items - this viewer shows you the big picture.
Total Budget
🟢 Flexible Funds
🟡 Partially Restricted
🔴 Fully Restricted
🟢 General Fund - Operations
Day-to-day operations with local control
✓ Local Control - Board Has Discretion
The school board and district administration have significant flexibility in allocating these funds to meet local needs and priorities. This includes teacher salaries, supplies, utilities, and general operational costs. While still subject to state salary schedules and basic requirements, these funds offer the most local decision-making power.
🟡 Special Education Programs
Federal & state requirements with some flexibility
⚠ Partial Restrictions Apply
- Must serve students with identified disabilities per IEPs
- Federal IDEA funds have specific spending requirements
- District has some flexibility in staffing and service delivery methods
- Can choose between in-house staff or contracted services
🔴 Capital Projects Fund
Bond money - restricted to approved projects
🚫 Strictly Restricted
- Voter-approved bonds can ONLY be used for projects listed in ballot measure
- Cannot be redirected to operations, salaries, or other expenses
- Must be spent on capital improvements (buildings, major repairs)
- Requires detailed tracking and public reporting
- Misuse would violate voter trust and legal requirements
🔴 Debt Service Fund
Bond payment obligations - no discretion
🚫 Strictly Restricted
- Must pay scheduled bond principal and interest
- Funded by voter-approved property tax levy
- No discretion - payments are contractual obligations
- Failure to pay would damage district credit rating
🔴 Associated Student Body Fund
Student activities - dedicated funds
🚫 Strictly Restricted
- ASB funds belong to student activities and clubs
- Generated by student events, fundraisers, and activities
- Cannot be transferred to general operations
- Each activity maintains separate accounting
- Student government has input on spending priorities
Key Takeaways
- Not all dollars are equal: Different funding sources come with different restrictions that limit how they can be spent.
- Voter-approved bonds: Can only be used for the specific projects listed on the ballot - they cannot be redirected to operations or salaries.
- Federal programs: Come with strict compliance requirements and can only serve specific student populations or purposes.
- Special education: Partially flexible - must serve identified students but districts can choose delivery methods.
- General fund: Offers the most flexibility but is still subject to state salary schedules and basic education requirements.
- Understanding restrictions: Helps explain why districts can't simply "move money around" to solve budget challenges.
⚠️ Important Disclaimer
This is NOT an official Moses Lake School District website. This interactive guide is created by private citizens as a community service to help residents understand school finance.
This site is not authorized, endorsed, or affiliated with Moses Lake School District No. 161. All data is compiled from the official FY 2024-2025 Budget document (September 13, 2024) and other publicly available sources.
Our Mission: Replace rumors with facts. Support civil dialogue. Help our community understand complex budget information.
Working Together: Regardless of different viewpoints, we all share the goal of supporting our children's education. Let's keep conversations respectful, fact-based, and focused on solutions that benefit our entire community.
About This Guide
This interactive guide is designed to help community members understand the complexity of school district budgets. The full 165-page budget document contains extensive detail required by law, but can be overwhelming. This simplified version focuses on the key question most people have: "What can the district actually control?"
Data Source: All figures are from the Moses Lake School District No. 161 FY 2024-2025 Budget, adopted September 13, 2024. Some federal program amounts are estimates as they are embedded within the General Fund reporting structure.