What's happening
This bill limits school district contingency budgets so they cannot exceed the lowest proposed, defeated budget or prior year's tax levy.
Why it matters
Restricts school districts from adopting a contingency budget higher than either the previous year’s tax levy or the lowest budget proposal rejected by voters. This could limit districts’ flexibility to fund unexpected expenses after a failed budget vote.
Ensures consistency in accounting by requiring that any exclusions (such as state-mandated costs) used in proposed budgets must also be applied when calculating the contingency budget. This aims to prevent manipulation of spending limits by shifting what is counted within the budget.
May increase pressure on school districts to gain voter approval for their preferred budgets, knowing that fallback options are now capped more strictly. This could impact planning for programs, staffing, and facilities if initial budgets are not approved.
Could create challenges for districts facing sudden or unforeseen costs (like emergency repairs), since the contingency budget cannot exceed the lowest proposed, defeated budget or previous tax levy, potentially restricting the ability to respond to new needs.
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Limit School Contingency Budgets
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History
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5567
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 10, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. ENGLEBRIGHT -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to limiting the contingency budget of a school district
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 4 of section 2023 of the education law, as amended by section 3 of part A of chapter 97 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
a. The contingency budget shall not result in the lesser of (i) a tax levy greater than the tax levied for the prior school year; or (ii) the dollar amount of the lowest, proposed, defeated budget for the applicable school year. For the purposes of this paragraph, the same types of expenditures excluded from the calculation of total spending for the proposed budget shall be excluded when calculating the total spending in the contingency budget.
§ 2. Paragraph a of subdivision 4 of section 2023 of the education law, as amended by section 24 of part A of chapter 436 of the laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows:
a. The contingency budget shall not result in a percentage increase in total spending over the district's total spending under the school district budget for the prior school year that exceeds the lesser of: (i) the result obtained when one hundred twenty percent is multiplied by the percentage increase in the consumer price index, with the result rounded to two decimal places; [or] (ii) four percent; or (iii) the dollar amount of the lowest, proposed, defeated budget for the applicable school year. For the purposes of this paragraph, the same types of expenditures excluded from the calculation of total spending for the proposed budget shall be excluded when calculating the total spending in the contingency budget.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03248-01-7
A. 5567 2
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the first of May next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law; provided that the amendments to section 2023 of the education law, made by section one of this act, shall not affect the expiration of such section and shall expire therewith, when upon such date the provisions of section two of this act shall take effect.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.