H. B. 2147
(By Delegates Duke, J. Miller, Romine, Ireland and Blair)
[Introduced February 11, 2009; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-9A-11 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to reforming the school aid formula
by reducing from 98% by an amount equal to 50% of growth in
each county's local share as compared to five years' earlier
amount of the regular levy deducted from county boards of
education for general current expense purposes.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-9A-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.
§18-9A-11. Computation of local share; appraisal and assessment
of property; public library support.
(a) On the basis of each county's certificates of valuation as
to all classes of property as determined and published by the
assessors pursuant to section six, article three, chapter eleven of this code for the next ensuing fiscal year in reliance upon the
assessed values annually developed by each county assessor pursuant
to the provisions of articles one-c and three of said chapter, the
state board shall for each county compute by application of the
levies for general current expense purposes, as defined in section
two of this article, the amount of revenue which the levies would
produce if levied upon 100% of the assessed value of each of the
several classes of property contained in the report or revised
report of the value, made to it by the Tax Commissioner as follows:
(1) The state board shall first take 95% of the amount
ascertained by applying these rates to the total assessed public
utility valuation in each classification of property in the county;
and
(2) The state board shall then apply these rates to the
assessed taxable value of other property in each classification in
the county as determined by the Tax Commissioner and shall deduct
therefrom five percent as an allowance for the usual losses in
collections due to discounts, exonerations, delinquencies and the
like. All of the amount so determined shall be added to the 95% of
public utility taxes computed as provided in subdivision (1) of
this subsection and this total shall be further reduced by the
amount due each county assessor's office pursuant to the provisions
of section eight, article one-c, chapter eleven of this code and
this amount shall be the local share of the particular county.
As to any estimations or preliminary computations of local
share required prior to the report to the Legislature by the Tax
Commissioner, the state shall use the most recent projections or
estimations that may be available from the Tax Department for that
purpose.
(b) Effective July 1, 2013, subsection (a) of this section is
void and local share shall be calculated in accordance with the
following:
(1) The state board shall for each county compute by
application of the levies for general current expense purposes, as
defined in sections two and two-a of this article, the amount of
revenue which the levies would produce if levied upon 100% of the
assessed value calculated pursuant to section five-b, article
one-c, chapter eleven of this code;
(2) Five percent shall be deducted from the revenue calculated
pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection as an allowance for
the usual losses in collections due to discounts, exonerations,
delinquencies and the like; and
(3) The amount calculated in subdivision (2) of this
subsection shall further be reduced by the sum of money due each
assessor's office pursuant to the provisions of section eight,
article one-c, chapter eleven of this code and this reduced amount
shall be the local share of the particular county.
(c) Whenever in any year a county assessor or a county commission fails or refuses to comply with the provisions of this
section in setting the valuations of property for assessment
purposes in any class or classes of property in the county, the
State Tax Commissioner shall review the valuations for assessment
purposes made by the county assessor and the county commission and
shall direct the county assessor and the county commission to make
corrections in the valuations as necessary so that they comply with
the requirements of chapter eleven of this code and this section
and the Tax Commissioner shall enter the county and fix the
assessments at the required ratios. Refusal of the assessor or the
county commission to make the corrections constitutes grounds for
removal from office.
(d) For the purposes of any computation made in accordance
with the provisions of this section, in any taxing unit in which
tax increment financing is in effect pursuant to the provisions of
article eleven-b, chapter seven of this code, the assessed value of
a related private project shall be the base-assessed value as
defined in section two of said article.
(e) An additional reduction in local share is taken in an
amount equal to 50% of the total growth in local property tax
collection during the previous five years.
(e) (f) For purposes of any computation made in accordance
with the provisions of this section, in any county where the county
board of education has adopted a resolution choosing to use the provisions of the Growth County School Facilities Act set forth in
section six-f, article eight, chapter eleven of this code,
estimated school board revenues generated from application of the
regular school board levy rate to new property values, as that term
is designated in said section, may not be considered local share
funds and shall be subtracted before the computations in
subdivisions (1) and (2), subsection (a) of this section or in
subdivisions (2) and (3), subsection (b) of this section, as
applicable, are made.
(f) (g) The Legislature finds that public school systems
throughout the state provide support in varying degrees to public
libraries through a variety of means including budgeted
allocations, excess levy funds and portions of their regular school
board levies as may be provided by special act. A number of public
libraries are situated on the campuses of public schools and
several are within public school buildings serving both the
students and public patrons. To the extent that public schools
recognize and choose to avail the resources of public libraries
toward developing within their students such legally recognized
elements of a thorough and efficient education as literacy,
interests in literature, knowledge of government and the world
around them and preparation for advanced academic training, work
and citizenship, public libraries serve a legitimate school purpose
and may do so economically. For the purposes of any computation made in accordance with the provisions of this section, the library
funding obligation on the regular school board levies which is
created by a special act and is due and payable from the levy
revenues to a library shall be paid from the county school board's
discretionary retainage, which is hereby defined as the amount by
which the regular school board levies exceeds the local share as
determined hereunder. If the library funding obligation which is
created by a special act and is due and payable to a library is
greater than the county school board's discretionary retainage, the
library funding obligation created by the special act is amended
and is reduced to the amount of the discretionary retainage,
notwithstanding any provisions of the special act to the contrary.
Any excess of the discretionary retainage over the library funding
obligation shall be available for expenditure by the county board
in its discretion for its properly budgeted purposes.
(g) (h) It is the intent of the Legislature that whenever a
provision of subsection
(f) (g) of this section is contrary to any
special act of the Legislature which has been or may in the future
be enacted by the Legislature that creates a library funding
obligation on the regular school board levy of a county, subsection
(f) (g) of this section controls over the special act.
Specifically, the special acts which are subject to said subsection
upon the enactment of this section during the 2007 regular session
of the Legislature include:
(1) Enrolled Senate Bill No. 11, passed on February 12, 1970,
applicable to the Berkeley County Board of Education;
(2) Enrolled House Bill No. 1352, passed on April 7, 1981,
applicable to the Hardy County Board of Education;
(3) Enrolled Committee Substitute for House Bill No. 2833,
passed on March 14, 1987, applicable to the Harrison County Board
of Education;
(4) Enrolled House Bill No. 161, passed on March 6, 1957,
applicable to the Kanawha County Board of Education;
(5) Enrolled Senate Bill No. 313, passed on March 12, 1937, as
amended by Enrolled House Bill No. 1074, passed on March 8, 1967,
and as amended by Enrolled House Bill No. 1195, passed on January
18, 1982, applicable to the Ohio County Board of Education;
(6) Enrolled House Bill No. 938, passed on February 28, 1969,
applicable to the Raleigh County Board of Education;
(7) Enrolled House Bill No. 398, passed on March 1, 1935,
applicable to the Tyler County Board of Education;
(8) Enrolled Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 450,
passed on March 11, 1994, applicable to the Upshur County Board of
Education; and
(9) Enrolled House Bill No. 2994, passed on March 13, 1987,
applicable to the Wood County Board of Education.
(h) (i) Notwithstanding any provision of any special act set
forth in subsection
(g) (h) of this section to the contrary, the county board of any county with a special act creating a library
obligation out of the county's regular school levy revenues may
transfer that library obligation so that it becomes a continuing
obligation of its excess levy revenues instead of an obligation of
its regular school levy revenues, subject to the following:
(1) If a county board chooses to transfer the library
obligation pursuant to this subsection, the library funding
obligation shall remain an obligation of the regular school levy
revenues until the fiscal year in which the excess levy is
effective or would have been effective if it had been passed by the
voters;
(2) If a county board chooses to transfer the library
obligation pursuant to this subsection, the county board shall
include the funding of the public library obligation in the same
amount as its library funding obligation which exists or had
existed on its regular levy revenues as one of the purposes for the
excess levy to be voted on as a specifically described line item of
the excess levy:
Provided, That if the county board has
transferred the library obligation to the excess levy and the
excess levy fails to be passed by the voters or the excess levy
passes and thereafter expires upon the time limit for continuation
as set forth in section sixteen, article eight, chapter eleven of
this code, then in any subsequent excess levy which the county
board thereafter submits to the voters the library funding obligation again shall be included as one of the purposes of the
subsequent excess levy as a specifically described line item of the
excess levy;
(3) If a county board chooses to transfer the library
obligation pursuant to this subsection, regardless of whether or
not the excess levy passes, effective the fiscal year in which the
excess levy is effective or would have been effective if it had
been passed by the voters, a county's library obligation on its
regular levy revenues is void notwithstanding any provision of the
special acts set forth in subsection (g) of this section to the
contrary; and
(4) Nothing in subdivision (3) of this subsection prohibits a
county board from funding its public library obligation
voluntarily.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to reform the school aid
formula by reducing the regular levy deducted from county boards of
education for general current expense purposes by 50% of the growth
in local share from five years prior.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.