Ninety-Fifth Legislature - Second Session - 1998
Introducer's Statement of Intent
LB 1134
Education Committee
CHAIRPERSON
Arydce L. Bohlke
The following constitutes the reasons for this bill and the purposes which are sought to be accomplished thereby:
LB 1134 addresses a number of issues regarding incentives to reorganized school districts. First, it adjusts when payment of reorganization incentives provided in ¤79-1010 are paid. Currently, payments are not made until at least the second fiscal year following the reorganization. LB 1134 requires that payments be made the first year in which the district offers educational services beginning with reorganizations that occur during the 1997-98 school year. LB 1134 adjusts the timing of these payments by changing the definition of "base fiscal year" in ¤79-1003 and changing the timeline for when incentives are determined. The "base fiscal year" is the first year that reorganization incentives are paid to the district. Second, LB 1134 doubles the reorganization incentives paid when the reorganization involves Class VI(s) and Class I(s) school districts.
Third, the bill provides that for fiscal year 1998-99 and thereafter, school districts which form a reorganized district will receive during the first year that they operate as a reorganized district at least 100% of the state aid that the individual districts received in the previous year. Payments required by this provision will be funded by the Reorganized School Assistance Fund which this bill establishes.
The final change that LB 1134 makes is creating the Reorganized School Assistance Fund. This Fund is established to insure adequate payment for the reorganization incentives and to fund any reduction in state aid during the first year that the school provides educational services. This Fund will contain the 1% of the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Fund that is currently in statute as being used for reorganization incentives. Currently, if the 1% is not entirely used for incentives, the excess is used for equalization aid. Therefore, the 1% has already been appropriated for the 1998-99 school year, and LB 1134 calls for a one time appropriation of one million dollars to be made to this new Fund. The Reorganized School Assistance Fund will sunset in 2004.
DATE OF HEARING
January 27, 1998
Senator Ray Janssen
Principal Introducer