Current Year Adjustments To School Finance

The general assembly recognizes that, relative to the projections made during the 2015 legislative session, the funded pupil count and the at-risk pupil counts were lower than anticipated. In addition, local property tax and specific ownership taxes were greater than expected, thereby reducing the state share of total program funding. The reduction in the funded pupil count and at-risk pupil counts enabled the general assembly to reduce the dollar amount of the negative factor. Due to variations in the amounts of state aid distributed to school districts, the act decreases the minimum amount of total program funding for the 2015-16 budget year to $6,233,835,044.

The act: (1) reduces the state's share of total program funding by $133,542,173, including $93,542,173 of general fund and $40,000,000 cash funds from the State Public School Fund; (2) increases the appropriation for hold-harmless full-day kindergarten funding by $49,947 cash funds from the State Education Fund; and (3) adjusts the Long Bill footnote detailing funding for the ASCENT program in FY 2015-16 to increase ASCENT per pupil funding by $23 and increase total funding dedicated to the program by $12,826 based on the increased per pupil funding.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)