SENATE BILL 253
54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019
INTRODUCED BY
William P. Soules
FOR THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE
AN ACT
RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL FINANCE; ADJUSTING THE METHOD FOR CALCULATING THE PROGRAM UNITS OF CERTAIN SCHOOL DISTRICTS OR CHARTER SCHOOLS WITH A YEAR-OVER-YEAR REDUCTION IN STUDENT POPULATION FOR PURPOSES OF DETERMINING THE STATE EQUALIZATION GUARANTEE DISTRIBUTION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 6-23-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993, Chapter 231, Section 7, as amended) is amended to read:
"6-23-7. PUBLIC SCHOOL UTILITY CONSERVATION FUND CREATED--USE.--
A. The "public school utility conservation fund" is created as a special fund in the state treasury. The fund shall consist of money transferred to the fund, from year to year, from the distribution of the permanent fund and land income of which the common schools are the beneficiary. No other money from any school district or state source shall be deposited or paid into the public school utility conservation fund.
B. Annually, after the calculation of the state equalization guarantee distribution has been made, the [superintendent of] public [instruction] education department shall determine the sum of the deductions made in the state equalization guarantee distribution of school districts pursuant to Paragraph [(7)] (8) of Subsection D of Section 22-8-25 NMSA 1978 and shall certify that amount to the secretary of finance and administration. Distributions from the permanent fund and land income of which the common schools are the beneficiary equal to that amount shall be transferred from the common school current fund to the public school utility conservation fund.
C. Money in the public school utility conservation fund is appropriated to the [state department of] public education department solely for the purpose of disbursing money to school districts to make payments pursuant to any guaranteed utility savings contract between the school district and a qualified provider or any installment contract or lease-purchase agreement for the purchase and installation of energy or water conservation measures pursuant to that guaranteed utility savings contract.
D. Disbursements from the public school utility conservation fund shall be made only to school districts and only upon certification by the [superintendent] secretary of public [instruction] education that the disbursement is for a payment authorized by the Public Facility Energy Efficiency and Water Conservation Act.
E. The [superintendent of] public [instruction] education department shall submit to the legislative finance committee prior to each regular legislative session a list of school districts proposing to enter into approved guaranteed utility savings contracts in the succeeding fiscal year. The list shall include information on the amount of the school district's proposed annual payments and specific amounts that utility and operational budget items are guaranteed to be reduced to achieve the savings to make the payments.
F. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining in the public school utility conservation fund at the end of any fiscal year shall be transferred to the public school fund."
SECTION 2. Section 22-8-25 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1981, Chapter 176, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:
"22-8-25. STATE EQUALIZATION GUARANTEE DISTRIBUTION--
DEFINITIONS--DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT.--
A. The state equalization guarantee distribution is that amount of money distributed to each school district to ensure that its operating revenue, including its local
and federal revenues as defined in this section, is at least equal to the school district's program cost. For state-chartered charter schools, the state equalization guarantee distribution is the difference between the state-chartered charter school's program cost and the two percent withheld by the department for administrative services.
B. "Local revenue", as used in this section, means seventy-five percent of receipts to the school district derived from that amount produced by a school district property tax applied at the rate of fifty cents ($.50) to each one thousand dollars ($1,000) of net taxable value of property allocated to the school district and to the assessed value of products severed and sold in the school district as determined under the Oil and Gas Ad Valorem Production Tax Act and upon the assessed value of equipment in the school district as determined under the Oil and Gas Production Equipment Ad Valorem Tax Act.
C. "Federal revenue", as used in this section, means receipts to the school district or state-chartered charter school, excluding amounts that, if taken into account in the computation of the state equalization guarantee distribution, result, under federal law or regulations, in a reduction in or elimination of federal school funding otherwise receivable by the school district, derived from the following:
(1) seventy-five percent of the school district's share of forest reserve funds distributed in accordance with Section 22-8-33 NMSA 1978; and
(2) seventy-five percent of grants from the federal government as assistance to those areas affected by federal activity authorized in accordance with Title 20 of the United States Code, commonly known as "PL 874 funds" or "impact aid".
D. To determine the amount of the state equalization guarantee distribution, the department shall:
(1) calculate the number of program units to which each school district or charter school is entitled using an average of the MEM on the second and third reporting dates of the prior year; or
(2) calculate the number of program units to which a school district or charter school operating under an approved year-round school calendar is entitled using an average of the MEM on appropriate dates established by the department; or
(3) calculate the number of program units to which a school district or charter school with a MEM of two hundred or less is entitled by using an average of the MEM on the second and third reporting dates of the prior year or [the fortieth day] first reporting date of the current year, whichever is greater; [and] or
(4) calculate the number of program units to which a school district or charter school not receiving a supplemental distribution pursuant to Paragraph (2) of Subsection A of Section 22-8-30 NMSA 1978 and with a reduction in MEM of twenty-five percent or more from the first reporting date of the prior year to the first reporting date of the current year is entitled by using the MEM on the first reporting date of the current year; and
[(4)] (5) using the results of the calculations in Paragraph (1), (2), [or] (3) or (4) of this subsection and the staffing cost multiplier from the October report of the prior school year, establish a total program cost of the school district or charter school;
[(5)] (6) for school districts and state-chartered charter schools, calculate the local and federal revenues as defined in this section;
[(6)] (7) deduct the sum of the calculations made in Paragraph [(5)] (6) of this subsection from the program cost established in Paragraph [(4)] (5) of this subsection;
[(7)] (8) deduct the total amount of guaranteed energy savings contract payments that the department determines will be made to the school district from the public school utility conservation fund during the fiscal year for which the state equalization guarantee distribution is being computed; and
[(8)] (9) deduct ninety percent of the amount certified for the school district by the department pursuant to the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Bonding Act.
E. Reduction of a school district's state equalization guarantee distribution shall cease when the school district's cumulative reductions equal its proportional share of the cumulative debt service payments necessary to service the bonds issued pursuant to the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Bonding Act.
F. The amount of the state equalization guarantee distribution to which a school district is entitled is the balance remaining after the deductions made in Paragraphs [(6)] (7) through [(8)] (9) of Subsection D of this section.
G. The state equalization guarantee distribution shall be distributed prior to June 30 of each fiscal year. The calculation shall be based on the local and federal revenues specified in this section received from June 1 of the previous fiscal year through May 31 of the fiscal year for which the state equalization guarantee distribution is being computed. In the event that a school district or charter school has received more state equalization guarantee funds than its entitlement, a refund shall be made by the school district or charter school to the state general fund."
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