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Senate Bill 1658 |
Senate Author: Paxton |
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Effective: 9-1-13 |
House Sponsor: Huberty |
Senate Bill 1658 amends the Education Code to require the commissioner of education, when the commissioner initially identifies a school district as having a wealth per student for a school year that exceeds the equalized wealth level, to estimate the amount of state revenue to which the district is entitled in general under the Foundation School Program (FSP) for that school year, rather than the additional state aid to which the district is entitled specifically to offset the loss of local property tax revenue resulting from a previously enacted reduction in school district tax rates, as well as the cost to the district to purchase attendance credits in an amount sufficient to reduce the district's wealth per student to the equalized wealth level for that school year. The bill authorizes such a district's board of trustees to authorize the commissioner to withhold an amount equal to the cost of purchasing those attendance credits from the state FSP funding to which it is entitled rather than from the additional state aid to which it is entitled for the tax rate reduction.
Senate Bill 1658 requires the commissioner, if the cost of purchasing such attendance credits exceeds the amount of state FSP funding to which the district is entitled for that year and the district has authorized the withholding of such costs from the district's state FSP funding and, as a result, the commissioner has withheld the entire amount of state FSP funding for that year, either to withhold the additional amount from the state FSP funding to which the district is entitled for a subsequent school year or, if the additional amount exceeds the amount of state revenue to which the district is entitled, to add the difference to the cost of the attendance credits that the district is required to purchase in the subsequent year.