By Grusendorf H.B. No. 3418
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the financing of public school facilities.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 42.301, Education Code, is amended to read
1-5 as follows:
1-6 Sec. 42.301. PURPOSE. The purpose of the guaranteed yield
1-7 component of the Foundation School Program is to provide each
1-8 school district with the opportunity to provide the basic program
1-9 and to supplement that program at a level of its own choice and
1-10 with access to additional funds for facilities. An allotment under
1-11 this subchapter may be used for any legal purpose including [other
1-12 than] capital outlay and [or] debt service. A school district may
1-13 not receive an allotment under this subchapter for any tax effort
1-14 that receives an allotment under Chapter 46 of this code.
1-15 SECTION 2. Section 46.005, Education Code, is amended to
1-16 read as follows:
1-17 Sec. 46.005. LIMITATIONS ON GUARANTEED AMOUNT. The
1-18 guaranteed amount of state and local funds for a new project that a
1-19 district may be awarded in any state fiscal biennium under Section
1-20 46.003 for a school district may not exceed the lesser of:
1-21 (1) the amount the actual debt service payments the
1-22 district makes in each year of the biennium [in which the bonds are
1-23 issued]; or
2-1 (2) the greater of:
2-2 (A) $100,000; or
2-3 (B) the product of the number of students in
2-4 average daily attendance in the district multiplied by $250.
2-5 SECTION 3. Section 46.033, Education Code, is amended to
2-6 read as follows:
2-7 Sec. 46.033. ELIGIBLE BONDS. Bonds, including bonds issued
2-8 under Section 45.006, are eligible to be paid with state and local
2-9 funds under this subchapter if:
2-10 (1) the district certifies to the commissioner prior
2-11 to January 1 of the second year of the state fiscal biennium the
2-12 amount of payments due on the bonds in each year of the state's
2-13 next fiscal biennium; [taxes levied to pay the principal of and
2-14 interest on the bonds were included in the district's audited debt
2-15 service collections for the 1998-99 school year] and
2-16 (2) the district does not receive state assistance
2-17 under Subchapter A for payment of the principal and interest on the
2-18 bonds.
2-19 SECTION 4. Section 46.034, Education Code, is amended to
2-20 read as follows:
2-21 Sec. 46.034. LIMITS ON ASSISTANCE. (a) The existing debt
2-22 tax rate ("EDTR") under Section 46.032 may not exceed $0.29 [$0.12]
2-23 per $100 of valuation, or a greater amount for any year provided by
2-24 appropriation.
2-25 (b) The amount of state assistance to which a district is
2-26 entitled under this subchapter may not exceed the amount to which
3-1 the district would be entitled at the district's tax rate for the
3-2 payment of eligible bonds in the amount certified under Section
3-3 46.033(1) [for the final year of the preceding state fiscal
3-4 biennium.]
3-5 (c) If the amount required to pay the principal of and
3-6 interest on eligible bonds in a school year is less than the amount
3-7 certified under Section 46.033(1), [district's audited debt service
3-8 collections for the 1998-1999 school year,] the district may not
3-9 receive aid in excess of the amount that, when added to the
3-10 district's local revenue for the school year, equals the amount
3-11 required to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds.
3-12 (d) To the extent funds are available under Chapter 42 or
3-13 this chapter in excess of the amount to which school districts are
3-14 entitled for a school year, the commissioner, before providing
3-15 additional assistance under Section 42.2522, may provide assistance
3-16 under this subchapter to a district that would be entitled to the
3-17 assistance but for the limit on the existing debt tax rate under
3-18 Subsection (a).
3-19 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.