The Kansas House is considering House Bill 2739 that would greatly harm schools and significantly raise property taxes. It would have dire consequences for Buhler USD 313 and all of the Reno County schools. The bottom line for Buhler USD 313, is that this bill would further reduce funding in the General Fund and LOB by $882,454 for next fiscal year! In addition, it would raise our local mill rate by 7.23 mills! Here is a summary of the bill as described by the Kansas Association of School Boards.
March 22, 2010
Information Released on School Finance Impact; Contact Your Legislators!
The Kansas State Department of Education has released a summary of HB 2739 , the school finance bill recommended by the House Education Budget committee, and computer print-outs showing the impact of that bill and the $172 million reduction in the school finance bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee.
The House may be debating these two measures tomorrow or Wednesday. It is vital for school leaders to understand the impact of these proposals on their district and contact their Representatives immediately.
The KSDE information is available as follows. Computer printout SF0145 provides detailed effects of this bill and computer printout SF0146 is a summary of SF0145. The detailed summary and the two printouts can be accessed on the School Finance Web site under “Recent Updates.” The Web site is: www.ksde.org/default.aspx?tabid=119
While the final version of HB 2739 was being drafted this weekend, KASB opposes the following provisions of the bill.
It cuts all districts by $85.9 million, equal to approximately $131 base budget per pupil, or 3.2 percent. This will lead to further reductions in staff and services to students at a time when educational standards and expectations continue to increase.
It cuts a further $85.9 million from local option budget state aid, which will impact some districts far more severely than others, based solely on the property wealth of the districts. Districts will either have to cut their budgets MORE than the $131, or raise local property taxes.
Although House leaders say taxes should not be increased, this bill would result in an $85.9 million property tax increase if districts seek to replace lost state LOB aid, with local increases varying from under one mill to nearly 50 districts with double-digit mill levy increases.
Although school districts have been criticized for not directing more dollars to the classroom, the bill creates a new fund to allow districts to spend more on local activities and sports, while cutting the general fund that supports instruction.
The bill authorizes two new property tax-based funds, the Local Activities Budget and the Equity Budget, neither of which receives state equalization aid. The result will likely be both higher property taxes in certain districts and further disparity in mill levies for districts seeking to use them.
The bill eliminates high enrollment weighting and reduces other school finance weightings.
HB 2739 will require all districts have at least a 10 percent local option budget as a “local foundation budget,” in addition to the 20-mill statewide levy and general state aid. The result will be different mill levies to fund the “foundation” requirement of the state.
KASB will continue to provide information on the impact of these measures.
Mark Tallman
Assistant Executive Director/Advocacy
mtallman@kasb.org
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment