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Senate Bill 962 |
Senate Author: Shapleigh |
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Effective: 9-1-07 |
House Sponsor: Haggerty |
The state's public school finance system includes an instructional facilities allotment (IFA) to help school districts finance new capital projects and an existing debt allotment (EDA) to help districts pay off existing debt. While a district's IFA funding is determined in part by formula, subject to a cap on the guaranteed amount, it also is subject to limitations based on the total amount appropriated for all new projects in a given year. If the total amount appropriated is less than the amount to which districts applying for state aid are entitled for that year, IFA funding is prioritized by a ranking of the districts that have applied for aid on the basis of their relative property wealth per student, with the commissioner ranking the districts from the poorest to the wealthiest after making certain adjustments to those wealth levels. Senate Bill 962 amends the Education Code to reduce a district's wealth per student by 25 percent for IFA distribution purposes if it demonstrates to the commissioner's satisfaction that it must construct, acquire, or improve one or more instructional facilities to serve the children of military personnel transferred to a military base in or near the district under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990. The reduction is in addition to any other reduction and is computed before the district's wealth per student is reduced under those provisions, if applicable. The bill also entitles a district that demonstrates the need to construct or renovate facilities to serve children of military personnel to EDA funding based on the district's current year tax rate instead of the rate from the final year of the preceding biennium.