BILL NUMBER:S4313

TITLE  OF  BILL:    An  act to amend the education law, in relation to
actual valuation for state education aid purposes

PURPOSE:

Provides that actual valuation, for state school aid  purposes,  shall
be based on the calendar in which the base year commenced.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section one amends paragraph c of subdivision 1 of section 3602 of the
Education  law  to require that the valuation of taxable real property
in a school district obtained by  taking  the  assessed  valuation  of
taxable  real  property  within  such  district as it appears upon the
assessment roll of the town, city, village, or county  in  which  such
property  is  located, for the calendar year immediately preceding the
calendar year in which the base year commenced be used.

Section 2 states the enactment date.

JUSTIFICATION:

Technology has progressed significantly in the past twenty years. With
these advances has come the ability to compile and use data almost  in
              

real time.

Unfortunately,  the current school aid formula is inconsistent in that
it relies upon stale data. Local tax levy changes from  year  to  year
are  based on the changes in local property values. Yet, the state aid
formula  to  determine  state  school  aid,  including  the  GEA,  the
foundation  aid formula, and cost-driven aids, use property value data
that is over three years old in calculating aid that is then  used  by
schools four to five years later.

For  example,  the  enacted  state  school aid formula for the 2012-13
school year uses a GEA based on the  year  2000  federal  census,  and
projected  operating and foundation aid formulas fox schools are based
on 2009 calendar year property  value  data.  Therefore,  schools  are
being  funded  based on their school need and demographics as measured
in 2000 and 2009 which, by January 2013, is a gap of 13  years  and  5
years, respectively.

This  significant lag in data causes a disconnect between state school
aid, which uses outdated property values and the funding  schools  are
authorized to raise from a local share of aid. This makes it difficult
for  schools  to accurately determine both their funding needs and the
amount of aid they can expect to receive, especially in the face of  a
fluctuating and weak economy.

In  this  age  where  real-time  data  sharing is simple to do through
Internet and other electronic means, the formula  to  determine  state
school aid funding should use data from the same base year as the year
school districts use to determine the local share of funding.


By  implementing  this  legislation, schools will receive state school
aid consistent with the most current property data available. It  will
enable  schools  to  meet  their fiscal obligations and needs based on
school aid driven by data from the most recent preceding year  instead
of from three or more years prior.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Undetermined.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect on July 1, 2013