H. B. 2863


(By Delegates Trump, Faircloth, Manuel,
Overington, Blair, Duke and Tabb)
[Introduced February 4, 2003; referred to the
Committee on Education.]



A BILL to amend and reenact section twelve, article nine-a, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend article nine-a of said chapter, by adding thereto a new section, designated section twelve-a, all relating to projecting enrollment in growth counties.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twelve, article nine-a, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that article nine-a of said chapter be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section twelve-a, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.
§18-9A-12. County basic foundation; total basic state aid allowance.

(a) The basic foundation program for each county for the fiscal year shall be the sum of the amounts computed in accordance with the provisions of sections four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten of this article. On the first working day of July in each year, the state board shall determine the basic foundation program for each county for that fiscal year. Data used in the computations relating to net and adjusted enrollment, and the number of professional educators, shall be for the second month of the prior school term, except for "growth counties" as that term is defined in section twelve-a of this article, the data used in the computations relating to net and adjusted enrollment and the number of professional educators shall be a statistical projection of enrollment, as determined and calculated as set forth in section twelve-a of this article. Transportation expenditures used in these computations shall be for the most recent year in which data are available. The allocated state aid share of the county's basic foundation program shall be the difference between the cost of its basic foundation program and the county's local share as determined in section eleven of this article except as provided in subsection (b) of this section.
(b) The allocated state aid share shall be adjusted in the following circumstances in the following manner: Provided, That prior to such adjustment, the state tax commissioner shall provide the state board, by the fifteenth day of January of each year, a certified listing of those counties in which such adjustment shall be made pursuant to this subsection, together with the amount of revenue which will not be available to each county board in the ensuing fiscal year as a result of the circumstance:
(1) In those instances where the local share as computed under section eleven of this article is not reflective of local funds available because the county is under a final court order to refund or credit property taxes paid in prior years, the allocated state aid share shall be the county's basic foundation program, minus the local share as computed under section eleven of this article, plus the amount of property tax the county is unable to collect or must refund due to the final court order: Provided, That said adjustment shall not be made or shall only be made proportionately when the Legislature fails to fund or funds only in part the public school basic foundation support plan state share at a level sufficient to cover the reduction in state share: Provided, however, That nothing herein provided shall be construed to require or mandate any level of funding by the Legislature.
(2) In those instances where the local share as computed under section eleven of this article is not reflective of local funds available because the county is collecting tax based upon an assessed value which is less than that determined by the tax commissioner in the most recent published survey of property valuations in the state due to an error in the published survey, which error is certified to by the tax commissioner, the allocated state aid share shall be the county's basic foundation program, minus the local share as computed under section eleven of this article, plus the amount of property tax the county is unable to collect based on differences in the assessed valuation between those in the most recent published survey of valuation and the corrected assessed value actually levied upon by the county: Provided, That said adjustment shall not be made or shall only be made proportionately when the Legislature fails to fund or funds only in part the public school basic foundation support plan state share at a level sufficient to cover the reduction in state share: Provided, however, That nothing herein provided shall be construed to require or mandate any level of funding by the Legislature.
(3) In instances where a county is unable to collect property taxes from a taxpayer during the pendency of any court proceeding, the allocated state aid share shall be the county's basic foundation program minus the local share as computed under section eleven of this article, plus the amount the county is unable to collect as a result of the pending court proceedings as certified by the tax commissioner: Provided, That the county is required to reimburse the amount of allocated state aid share attributable to the amount of property tax it later receives upon completion of court proceedings, which shall be paid into the general revenue fund of the state: Provided, however, That said adjustment shall not be made or shall only be made proportionately when the Legislature fails to fund or funds only in part the public school basic foundation support plan state share at a level sufficient to cover the reduction in state share: Provided further, That nothing herein provided shall be construed to require or mandate any level of funding by the Legislature.
(c) The allocated state aid share shall be adjusted in any county receiving payments or contributions in lieu of property taxes. In instances where a county receives payments or contributions in lieu of property taxes, the allocated state aid share shall be the county's basic foundation program minus the local share as computed under section eleven of this article, plus any amounts added pursuant to subsection (b) of this section minus the payments or contributions in lieu of property taxes which are distributed by the sheriff to the county board of education. In determining the amount of such contribution or payment in lieu of taxes, each county commission shall provide to the state tax commissioner, by the first day of January of each year, the total amount of such payments or contributions paid to the county and the proportion of the total amount that has been or will be distributed to the county board of education. The state tax commissioner then shall provide the state board, by the fifteenth day of January of each year, a certified listing of those counties in which an adjustment pursuant to this section shall be made, together with the amount of revenue which will be available to each county board in the ensuing fiscal year as a result of contribution or payment in lieu of taxes.
(d) Total basic state aid to the county shall be the computed state share of basic foundation support. After such computation is completed, the state board shall immediately certify to each county board the amount of state aid allocated to the county for that fiscal year, subject to any qualifying provisions of this article.
 §18-9A-12a. Calculation of net enrollment for growth counties.
(a) "Growth counties" defined. For purposes of this section and the calculation of net and adjusted enrollment under this article, the term "growth county" shall mean a county where the net enrollment for the second month of the prior school term in grades K-12 is a greater number than the net enrollment for that county in grades K-12 for the school term exactly five years earlier.
(b) Statistical projection of net enrollment required for "growth counties." For all growth counties, as that term is defined above, beginning with fiscal year 2003-2004, the term "net enrollment," as used in section twelve and elsewhere within this article, shall be determined and calculated in accordance with this section. The state board shall make a statistical projection of the net enrollment for each county of the state that is a "growth county." This statistical projection shall project the net enrollment of each county for the school term of the fiscal year for which the foundation program is being paid.
(c) How "net enrollment" calculated for growth counties. The statistical projections of net enrollment required by this section shall be made by using the net enrollment figures for each growth county as follows:
(1) Calculation of "four-year growth in net enrollment." For each growth county, the "four-year growth in net enrollment" shall be calculated. To calculate the "four-year growth in net enrollment" the state board shall take the actual net enrollment for each growth county taken in the second month of the prior school term. From that number, the state board shall subtract the net enrollment for that county for the school term exactly five years earlier. The resulting number is the "four-year growth in net enrollment."
(2) Calculation of "average net enrollment growth." The four-year growth in net enrollment shall be divided by four. The resulting number is that county's "average net enrollment growth."
(3) Calculation of "net enrollment." For growth counties the average net enrollment growth shall be added to the actual net enrollment for that county taken in the second month of the prior school term. The resulting number shall be the net enrollment for that county and that number is to be used as "net enrollment" provided in section twelve and elsewhere in this article.
(d) Previous projection not to be used in subsequent years. In calculating net enrollment growth counties for subsequent fiscal years, the statistical projections of net enrollment made for previous years shall not be used. Rather, the projection of net enrollment for a growth county for the current year will always be calculated using the actual numbers for the "four-year growth in net enrollment," as opposed to prior statistical projections of net enrollment.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to formulate a process in which to project the net enrollment in growth counties.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

§18-9A-12a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.