Idaho officials have chosen to boost endowment payouts for public schools and other institutions.
Idaho Governor Butch Otter and other members of the Idaho Land Board Tuesday approved a 3.5 percent year-over-year increase in the fiscal year 2020 payout from the eight endowment funds that support Idaho’s public school system, universities, and other beneficiaries. The $80.9 million total distribution to all endowment beneficiaries sets a new record. The money comes from timber sales and leases on endowment lands and earnings from invested funds.
Idaho’s public school system will receive $51.2 million in 2020, up 1.9 percent over Fiscal Year 2019.
Other endowment trusts provide long-term support to higher education, state hospitals for the mentally ill, state veterans homes, the Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind, Idaho’s juvenile corrections system, and Idaho’s prison system. The endowment fund that supports State Hospital South saw the largest year-over-year increase at 18.5 percent, totaling $5.9 million.
The endowment fund that supports Lewis-Clark State College and Idaho State University also saw a large bump in payouts with a 12.2 percent increase in distributions, for a total of $4.9 million. (Idaho Department of Lands)
