LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
April 4, 2001
TO: Honorable Paul Sadler, Chair, House Committee on Public
Education
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: HB448 by Oliveira (Relating to reimbursement for the
costs of transportation of a student to a magnet
school.), As Introduced
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* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* HB448, As Introduced: negative impact of $(32,050,000) through *
* the biennium ending August 31, 2003. *
* *
* The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal *
* basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of *
* the bill. *
**************************************************************************
General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:
****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) *
* Impact to General Revenue Related *
* Funds *
* 2002 $(16,050,000) *
* 2003 (16,000,000) *
* 2004 (16,000,000) *
* 2005 (16,000,000) *
* 2006 (16,000,000) *
****************************************************
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
*****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Savings/(Cost) from *
* Foundation School Fund *
* 0193 *
* 2002 $(16,050,000) *
* 2003 (16,000,000) *
* 2004 (16,000,000) *
* 2005 (16,000,000) *
* 2006 (16,000,000) *
*****************************************************
Technology Impact
All magnet-related transportation would need to be separated into a
distinct category for funding purposes. This will likely have an impact
on the current data system supporting transportation funding
calculations. The cost to make the necessary system changes and provide
appropriate documentation is estimated at $50,000.
Fiscal Analysis
The bill amends the funding provisions for transportation in Chapter 42,
Texas Education Code. It establishes a rate for funding intra-district
and inter-district transportation of students to magnet schools on the
basis of the district's official extracurricular rate per mile. For
most school districts, this rate is the actual service cost per mile.
Methodology
With the variety of issues expressed below, the Texas Education Agency
(TEA) estimates that the additional cost to the state to authorize
transportation of students who voluntarily enroll in magnet schools not
related to desegregation, using the current state aid formulas, could
initially be between $2 million and $10 million per year. For the
purposes of this note, the midpoint value of $6 million is used for the
cost estimate. Furthermore, TEA estimates that an actual cost funding
rate would result in an increase of more than $10 million per year for
this category. Combining these two cost factors results in a total
estimate of $16 million per year.
TEA believes there are at least two significant factors to address in
developing this estimate. First, there is no statutory or rule-based
definition for a "magnet" school. Second, TEA no longer reviews and
approves routes, and does not have specific rule-making authority for
transportation services.
Under current funding guidelines, transportation of a student who
voluntarily transfer to a campus located in another attendance zone or
school district is not eligible for transportation allotment purposes.
TEA estimates that the additional state aid cost of transporting these
students to be approximately $6 million per year.
The bill would effectively make route mileage incurred in transporting
students to magnet schools fundable at the district's actual cost per
mile. This would change the funding of certain magnet school routes that
currently qualify for state funding, as well as permit the funding of
other routes that currently do not qualify. There is no specific category
for reporting of transportation services to take students to and from
magnet schools (other than desegregation and those services under the
career and technology classification), since the service has been
considered ineligible for reimbursement. Career and technology
transportation services, which generally move students during the day
from a regularly assigned campus to a separate campus or work site,
totaled 4.3 million miles in 1999-2000. This transportation category is
already funded at the actual cost per mile rate, so the law would have no
impact on the funding for this category. The desegregation component of
regular transportation had total annual miles of 10.4 million in
1999-2000, at a cost of about $10.7 million under the formulas. It is
estimated that an actual cost funding rate would result in an increase of
more than $10 million per year for this category.
Also, the initiation of state support for magnet transportation could
provide sufficient incentive for some school districts to start
transporting students to magnet schools. It appears that some districts
operate open-enrollment schools, or schools without attendance zones,
and do not provide transportation services to students enrolling at such
schools. It is unclear whether these schools might be classified as
magnet campuses and then begin transporting such students.
Local Government Impact
School districts should experience additional revenue from the state as a
result of the bill. According to the TEA, recent audits of school
district transportation claims have resulted in the recovery of several
hundred thousand dollars in funds erroneously claimed by school
districts for transportation of students to voluntary magnet programs
(not related to desegregation) or for transportation of students under
the career and technology category for an inter-district magnet school.
Source Agencies: 701 Texas Education Agency
LBB Staff: JK, CT, RN, PF