H. B. 4690
(By Delegates Faircloth, Douglas and Trump)
[Introduced February 25, 2000; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend article nine-d, chapter eighteen of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
nineteen, relating to mandating the school building
authority to request an appropriation for school
construction and improvements in growth counties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article nine-d, chapter eighteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
nineteen, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9D. SCHOOL BUILDING AUTHORITY.
§18-9D-19. Appropriation request for growth counties.
(a) The Legislature finds:
(1) That growth counties have special needs regarding school construction and improvements;
(2) That requiring full day, every day kindergarten has been
especially expensive for growth counties;
(3) That the use of enrollment figures from the previous
year for calculating an allocation in accordance with the state
aid formula also adds to the financial problems that growth
counties experience; and
(4) That although the allowance for increased enrollment
helps growth counties, it is intended for the operation of the
schools and is not sufficient for the school construction and
improvement needs of growth counties.
(b) Each year, the school building authority shall determine
which counties have experienced growth in net enrollment, as
defined in section two, article nine-a of this chapter, of one
and a half percent or more over the previous year. For the
purposes of this section, these counties shall be classified as
"growth counties."
(c) The school building authority also shall determine the
amount that the regular school levy grew over the past fiscal
year in all of the growth counties as determined in subsection
(b) of this section.
(d) The school building authority shall request of the
governor and of the Legislature an appropriation in the amount
calculated in subsection (c) of this section.
(e) The school building authority shall promulgate rules
pursuant to article three-a, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
that implement this section and that include at least the
following:
(1) The school building authority may use the funds
appropriated pursuant to this section only for school
construction or improvements in counties classified as growth
counties for either the current or previous two fiscal years, as
determined in subsection (b) of this section; and
(2) The school building authority may use the funds
appropriated pursuant to this section only for school
construction or improvements in counties that the school building
authority determines need additional building space as a result
of the increase in net enrollment.
(f) Nothing in this section may be interpreted as requiring
any appropriation by the Legislature.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the school
building authority to request an appropriation for school
construction and improvements in growth counties.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.