SB541 HFIN AM
The Committee on Finance moves to amend the bill on page
three, following the enacting clause, by striking out the remainder
of the bill and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
"That §18-9A-2, §18-9A-11 and §18-9A-15 of the code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.
18-9A-2. Definitions.
For the purpose of this article:
(a) "State board" means the West Virginia Board of Education.
(b) "County board" or "board" means a county board of
education.
(c) "Professional salaries" means the state legally mandated
salaries of the professional educators as provided in article four,
chapter eighteen-a of this code.
(d) "Professional educator" shall be synonymous with and shall
have the same meaning as "teacher" as defined in section one,
article one, chapter eighteen of this code.
(e) "Professional instructional personnel" means a
professional educator whose regular duty is as that of a classroom
teacher, librarian, counselor, attendance director, school
psychologist or school nurse with a bachelors degree and who is
licensed by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered
Professional Nurses. A professional educator having both
instructional and administrative or other duties shall be included as professional instructional personnel for that ratio of the
school day for which he or she is assigned and serves on a regular
full-time basis in appropriate instruction, library, counseling,
attendance, psychologist or nursing duties.
(f) "Service personnel salaries" shall mean means the state
legally mandated salaries for service personnel as provided in
section eight-a, article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code.
(g) "Service personnel" shall mean means all personnel as
provided for in section eight, article four, chapter eighteen-a of
this code. For the purpose of computations under this article of
ratios of service personnel to adjusted enrollment, a service
employee shall be counted as that number found by dividing his or
her number of employment days in a fiscal year by two hundred:
Provided, That the computation for any such service person employed
for three and one-half hours or less per day as provided in section
eight-a, article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code shall be
calculated as one half an employment day.
(h) "Net enrollment" means the number of pupils enrolled in
special education programs, kindergarten programs and grades one to
twelve, inclusive, of the public schools of the county. Commencing
with the school year beginning on the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, Net enrollment further shall
include adults enrolled in regular secondary vocational programs
existing as of the effective date of this section subject to the
following: Provided, That
(1) Net enrollment shall include includes no more than one thousand such of those adults counted on the basis of full-time
equivalency and apportioned annually to each county in proportion
to the adults participating in regular secondary vocational
programs in the prior year counted on the basis of full-time
equivalency; and Provided, however, That No
(2) Net enrollment does not include any adult charged tuition
or special fees beyond that required of the regular secondary
vocational student. is charged for such adult students.
(l) "Adjusted enrollment" means the net enrollment plus twice
the number of pupils enrolled for special education. Commencing
with the school year beginning on the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred ninety, adjusted enrollment means the net
enrollment plus twice the number of pupils enrolled for special
education, including exceptional gifted plus the number of pupils
in grades nine through twelve enrolled for honors and advanced
placement programs, plus the number of pupils enrolled on the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, in the gifted
program in grades nine through twelve: Provided, That commencing
with the school year beginning on the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred ninety, no more than four percent of net
enrollment of grades one through eight may be counted as enrolled
in gifted education and no more than six percent of net enrollment
of grades nine through twelve may be counted as enrolled in gifted
education, exceptional gifted education (subject to the limitation
set forth in section one, article twenty of this chapter) and
honors and advanced placement programs for the purpose of determining adjusted enrollment within a county: Provided, however,
That nothing herein shall be construed to limit the number of
students who may actually enroll in gifted, honors or advanced
placement education programs in any county: Provided further, That
until the school year beginning on the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-two, the preceding percentage
limitations shall not restrict the adjusted enrollment definition
for a county to the extent that those limitations are exceeded by
students enrolled in gifted education programs on the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine: And provided further,
That no pupil may be counted more than three times for the purpose
of determining adjusted enrollment. Such enrollment shall be
adjusted to the equivalent of the instructional term and in
accordance with such eligibility requirements and rules as
established by the state board. No pupil shall be counted more than
once by reason of transfer within the county or from another county
within the state, and no pupil shall be counted who attends school
in this state from another state.
(j) "Levies for general current expense purposes" means
ninety-eight ninety-four percent of the levy rate for county boards
of education calculated or set by the Legislature pursuant to the
provisions of section six-f, article eight, chapter eleven of this
code.
"Basic resources per pupil" for the state and the several
counties means the total of (a) ninety-five percent of the property
tax revenues computed at the levy rate for county boards of education calculated or set by the Legislature pursuant to the
provisions of section six-f, article eight, chapter eleven of this
code, but excluding revenues from increased levies as provided in
section ten, article X of the Constitution of West Virginia, and
(b) basic state aid as provided in sections twelve and thirteen of
this article, but excluding the foundation allowance to improve
instructional programs as provided in section ten of this article,
and excluding any funds appropriated for the purpose of achieving
salary equity among county board employees, this total divided by
the number of students in adjusted enrollment: Provided, That
beginning with the school year commencing on the first day of July,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, and thereafter, the
foundation allowance for transportation costs as provided in
section seven of this article shall also be excluded and the total
shall be divided by the number of students in net enrollment:
Provided, however, That any year's allocations to the counties of
the eighty percent portion of the foundation allowance to improve
instructional programs, as provided in section ten of this article,
shall be determined on the basis of the immediately preceding
school year's basic resources per pupil.
§18-9A-11. Computation of local share; appraisal and assessment
of property.
(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 one hundred percent 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 ninety-five percent of
the amount ascertained by applying these rates to the total
assessed public utility valuation in each classification of
property in the county.
(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
ninety-five percent 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 that may be required prior to the report to the Legislature
by the tax commissioner, the state board of education shall use the
most recent projections or estimations that may be available from
the tax department for that purpose.
(b) Whenever in any year a county assessor or a county
commission shall fail or refuse 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 shall
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.
(c) 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.
(d) 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 are made.
(e) 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 created by a
Special Act shall be paid from that portion of the levies which exceeds the proportion determined to be local share. If the
library funding obligation is greater than the amount available in
excess of the county's local share, the obligation created by the
Special Act is reduced to the amount which is available, not
withstanding any provisions of the Special Act to the contrary.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that whenever a
provision of subsection (e) of this section is contrary to any
Special Act of the Legislature which has been or 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
(e) of this section controls over the Special Act. Specifically,
the Special Acts which are subject to subsection (e) of this
section upon the enactment of this section during the two thousand
seven regular session of the Legislature include:
(1) Enrolled Senate Bill No. 11, passed on the twelfth day of
February, one thousand nine hundred seventy, applicable to the
Berkeley County Board of Education;
(2) Enrolled House Bill No. 1352, passed on seventh day of
April, one thousand nine hundred eighty-one, applicable to the
Hardy County Board of Education;
(3) Enrolled Committee Substitute for House Bill No. 2833,
passed on the fourteenth day of March, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-seven, applicable to the Harrison County Board of Education;
(4) Enrolled House Bill No. 161, passed on the sixth day of
March, one thousand nine hundred fifty-seven, applicable to the
Kanawha County Board of Education;
(5) Enrolled Senate Bill No. 313, passed on the twelfth day
of March, one thousand nine hundred thirty-seven, as amended by
Enrolled House Bill No. 1074, passed on the eighth day of March,
one thousand nine hundred sixty-seven, and as amended by Enrolled
House Bill No. 1195, passed on the eighteenth day of January, one
thousand nine hundred eighty-two, applicable to the Ohio County
Board of Education;
(6) Enrolled House Bill No. 938, passed on the twenty-eighth
day of February, one thousand nine hundred sixty-nine, applicable
to the Raleigh County Board of Education;
(7) Enrolled House Bill No. 398, passed on the first day of
March, one thousand nine hundred thirty-five, applicable to the
Tyler County Board of Education;
(8) Enrolled Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 450,
passed on the eleventh day of March, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-four, applicable to the Upshur County Board of Education;
and
(9) Enrolled House Bill No. 2994, passed on the thirteenth day
of March, one thousand nine hundred eighty-seven, applicable to the
Wood County Board of Education.
§18-9A-15. Allowance for increased enrollment
; extraordinary
sustained increased enrollment impact supplement.
(a) To provide for the support of increased net enrollments
in the counties in a school year over the net enrollments used in
the computation of total state aid for that year, there shall be
appropriated for that purpose from the general revenue fund an amount to be determined in accordance with this section as
follows:.
(b) On or before the first day of September, two thousand
five, (1) The State Board shall promulgate a rule pursuant to
article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code that
establishes an objective method for projecting the increase in net
enrollment for each school district. The State Superintendent
shall use the method prescribed by the rule to project the increase
in net enrollment for each school district.
(c) (2) The State Superintendent shall multiply the average
total state aid per net pupil by the sum of the projected increases
in net enrollment for all school districts and report this amount
to the Governor for inclusion in his or her proposed budget to the
Legislature. The Legislature shall appropriate to the West
Virginia Department of Education the amount calculated by the State
Superintendent and proposed by the Governor.
(d) (3) The State Superintendent shall calculate each school
district's share of the appropriation by multiplying the projected
increase in net enrollment for the school district by the average
total state aid per net pupil and shall distribute sixty percent of
each school district's share to the school district on or before
the first day of September of each year. The State Superintendent
shall make a second distribution of the remainder of the
appropriation in accordance with subsection (e) subdivision (4) of
this section.
(e) (4) After the first distribution pursuant to subsection (d) subdivision (3) of this section is made and after the actual
increase in net enrollment is available, the State Superintendent
shall compute the total actual amount to be allocated to each
school district for the year. The total actual amount to be
allocated to each school district for the year is the actual
increase in the school district's net enrollment multiplied by the
average total state aid per net pupil. The State Superintendent
shall make the second distribution to each school district in an
amount determined so that the total amount distributed to the
district for the year, in both the first and second distributions,
equals the actual increase in net enrollment multiplied by the
average total state aid per net pupil. The State Superintendent
shall make the second distribution on or before the thirty-first
day of December of each year: Provided, That if the amount
distributed to a school district during the first distribution is
greater than the total amount to which a district is entitled to
receive for the year, the district shall refund the difference to
the Department of Education prior to the thirtieth day of June of
the fiscal year in which the excess distribution is made.
(f) (5) If the amount of the appropriation for increased
enrollment is not sufficient to provide payment in full for the
total of these several allocations, each county allocation shall be
reduced to an amount which is proportionate to the appropriation
compared to the total of the several allocations and the
allocations as thus adjusted shall be distributed to the counties
as provided in this section: Provided, That the Governor shall request a supplemental appropriation at the next legislative
session for the reduced amount.
(b) To help offset the budgetary impact of extraordinary and
sustained increases in net enrollment in a county, there shall be
included in the basic state aid of any county whose most recent
three-year average growth in second month net enrollment is two
percent or more, an amount equal to one fourth of the state average
per pupil state aid multiplied by the increase in the county's
second month net enrollment in the latest year.
(g) (c) No provision of this section shall be construed to in
any way affect the allocation of moneys for educational purposes to
a county under other provisions of law."