BISMARCK -- The continuing flow of North Dakota oil money will likely double the expected balance of the state's permanent oil tax trust fund.
Office of Management and Budget Director Pam Sharp presented the latest economic indicators and budget numbers to lawmakers during Tuesday's Budget Section meeting.
The estimated June 30, 2011, ending balance of the oil trust fund is now $255 million.
But if production and prices stay at least where they are right now, Sharp said the projected ending balance would be closer to $475 million or $500 million.
The state is making monthly deposits into the fund, with $43 million in May and more than $46 million in June, Sharp said.
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"Oil collections are just significantly, unbelievably strong right now," she said.
The legislative forecast for the biennium was based on oil production increasing to 225,000 barrels per day with a price increase to $55 per barrel.
Production is now 285,000 barrels of oil per day, with the price of North Dakota crude about $65 per barrel. The rig count is now 129, compared to 41 operating in the state one year ago, Sharp said.
In other business, the Budget Section approved two new Centers of Excellence projects at North Dakota State University.
The Center for Sensors, Communications and Control will provide expertise in core areas of JAVA programming, sensor integration and systems engineering. The center will receive $2.8 million in state funding and is projected to create 70 to 80 jobs.
The Center for Advanced Technology Development and Commercialization will assist in commercializing new inventions, technologies and other intellectual property discovered or created by NDSU and/or private-sector partners.
The center will receive $3.9 million in state funding and is projected to create six jobs.
Lawmakers also received an update Tuesday on the state's stimulus funding. North Dakota has been awarded about $486 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to be distributed through state agencies, said Sheila Peterson, director of Fiscal Management.
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Most of the funding will be channeled through the Department of Public Instruction, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Transportation.
About 2,000 North Dakota jobs were funded with stimulus money during the quarter ending March 31, Peterson said. Many of the jobs are not new positions.
Rep. Bob Skarphol, R-Tioga, asked if the state is expected to sustain these positions when stimulus funds are gone.
The positions will go back to original funding sources or be eliminated, Peterson said.
In the case of public schools, $85 million of stimulus money was designated for the foundation aid program.
This freed up $85 million in general funds for one-time spending by school districts, she said. When the stimulus money is gone, districts will revert back to the usual source of foundation aid: the general fund.
If any state agencies want to continue positions created with stimulus money, they would need to ask for continued funding in their upcoming budgets, Peterson said.
Skarphol said he would like to know which agencies ask for continued funding for stimulus-created positions.
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Finneman is a multimedia reporter for Forum Communications Co., which owns the Herald.
