Other Legislation Amending TEEOSA in 2006

LB 795 would allow school districts and NDE to agree to a shorter repayment period when school districts have to pay back reorganization incentives due to withdrawal from or the dissolution of a unified school system.

Current law requires such repayments to be made through reductions in state aid over five years. ;nbsp;The total to be repaid would include interest calculated from the date of the original incentive payment to the date of the estimated repayment.

The legislation requires NDE, upon entering into any agreement with a school district for the repayment of incentives, to take into consideration the ability of the school district to repay the incentives in the fewest number of years and meet the educational needs of the students that are enrolled in the school district while repaying the incentives.

LB 1208 - Distance Education

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In 2005, the Legislature enacted LB 689, which created the Distance Education Enhancement Task Force. ;nbsp;Generally, the task force's charge was to develop an improvement plan to upgrade and coordinate distance education in Nebraska. ;nbsp;LB 1208 is the result of the task force's efforts.

As enacted, LB 1208 transfers the responsibility for providing distance education services from distance education consortia (created by cooperative agreements between area educational institutions) to educational service units (ESUs). ;nbsp;The bill also establishes Network Nebraska-a series of service contracts coordinated by the state's chief information officer-to enable access for schools and government to a reliable, high-speed telecommunications network.

The Distance Education Council is created in LB 1208. ;nbsp;The council, composed of one representative from each ESU, is to coordinate course offerings through the distance education network.

Enhanced funding is the key to an enhanced distance education program, and LB 1208 provides funding for distance education improvements via state lottery proceeds. ;nbsp;Pursuant to the bill, 19.75 percent of lottery proceeds (approximately $3.8 million) will be dedicated to the Education Innovation Fund. ;nbsp;(Currently the fund receives 22.25 percent. ;nbsp;The difference resulting from the decrease will be used for the Nebraska State Fair.)

Beginning in fiscal year 2006-2007, the Education Innovation Fund will be divided between distance education, school reorganization, and a teacher loan forgiveness program as follows:

• In fiscal year 2006-2007, $250,000 for the loan forgiveness program, $1 million for an existing school district reorganization incentive program, and the remainder for distance education;
• In fiscal year 2007-2008, $500,000 for the loan forgiveness program and the remainder for distance education;
• In fiscal year 2008-2009, $750,000 for the loan forgiveness program and the remainder for distance education;
• In fiscal years 2009-2010 through 2015-2016, $1 million for the loan forgiveness program and the remainder for distance education; and
• In fiscal years 2016-2017 and thereafter, for education purposes as determined by the Legislature.

LB 1208 also makes necessary changes in the state aid formula to account for the cost differences between school systems for telecommunications and data transmission. ;nbsp;Receipts for courses provided by the Distance Education Council are excluded from budget limits.

In addition to distance education, LB 1208, as enacted, includes provisions of LB 969 and LB 1049.

Beginning in the 2009-2010 school year, LB 1208 prohibits schools from establishing alternating courses offered every other year toward accreditation in mathematics, science, social science, and reading and writing (subject areas for which the State Department of Education has developed content standards).

Finally, LB 1208 allows Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET) to enter contracts, which will generate revenue from excess transponder capacity and excess transmission spectrum and transmission and production facilities. ;nbsp;However, the bill prohibits NET from using its facilities for the production of commercials and for the distribution or retransmission of commercials to subscription-based television.

LB 1208 passed 40-2 and was approved by the Governor on April 11, 2006.

LB 808 - Revenue Issues

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LB 808 represented an omnibus revenue law cleanup bill and made changes to various provisions of existing law, including sections related to property tax and assessment.

LB 808 amended one section in the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act (TEEOSA) relating to clerical errors. ;nbsp;The existing law, provides that, on or before November 10, any local system or county official may file with the Property Tax Administrator a written request for a nonappealable correction of the adjusted valuation due to clerical error for agricultural and horticultural land, assessed value changes by reason of land qualified, or disqualified for special use valuation (greenbelt). ;nbsp;The existing section of TEEOSA (79-1016) defined clerical error as transposition of numbers, allocation of value to the wrong school district, mathematical error, and omitted value.

LB 808 strikes the independent definition of clerical error that would justify a change and adopt the general definition in section 77-128 instead. ;nbsp;This section of law currently defines "clerical error" as transposition of numbers, mathematical error, computer malfunction causing programming and printing errors, data entry error, items of real property other than land identified on the wrong parcel, incorrect ownership, or certification of an incorrect valuation to political subdivisions.