Authorizes certain school districts to establish excess tuition reserve funds; applies only to school districts with an enrollment of fifteen hundred students or less where the total cost of tuition payments to other school districts is one million dollars or more.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A2930
SPONSOR: Thiele TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing certain
school districts to establish excess tuition reserve funds
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To authorize certain school districts to establish excess tuition
reserve funds.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Amends Section 3651 of the Education Law by adding a new subdivision 1-c
to authorize any school district that contracts with another school
district for education of some of their students for general education
or special education services to establish a reserve for excess tuition
payments to stabilize the school district property tax levy without the
approval of the qualified voters of the school district. The amount of
the reserve shall not exceed the average annual amount expended for such
purposes over the three previous completed fiscal years. This subdivi-
sion shall only apply to school districts with an enrollment of 1500
students or less where the total cost of tuition payments to other
school districts is $1 million or more.
JUSTIFICATION:
School districts without a middle school and/or high school must pay
tuition for their secondary students to attend school in another school
district. As a result of annual variations in enrollment in general
education and special education tuition students and tuition rates,
school districts are incurring substantial budgetary increases districts
in just tuition payments alone. In many cases, tuition increases alone
are placing school districts significantly over the tax levy limit.
This legislation is necessary to authorize a school district that
contracts with another school district for education of some of their
students for general education or special education services to estab-
lish a reserve for excess tuition payments to stabilize the school
district property tax levy. The amount of the reserve shall not exceed
the average annual amount expended for such purposes over the three
previous completed fiscal years. The establishment of a reserve fund for
this volatile expenditure will assist school districts in stabilizing
annual property tax levies and preventing tax bills from spiking for
local taxpayers in any given year. This would apply only to school
districts with an enrollment of 1500 students or less where the total
cost of tuition payments to other school districts is $1 million or
more.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: A.9078-A
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2930
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 1, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing certain
school districts to establish excess tuition reserve funds
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 3651 of the education law is amended by adding a
2 new subdivision 1-c to read as follows:
3 1-c. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of this
4 section, in any school district that contracts with another school
5 district for the education of some of their students for general educa-
6 tion or special education purposes, the board of education of such
7 school district may establish a reserve for excess tuition payments
8 caused by: (a) increases in number of tuition paying students from the
9 previous fiscal year; or (b) increases in the amount of tuition payments
10 charged per student from the previous fiscal year, in order to stabilize
11 the school district property tax levy, without approval of the qualified
12 voters of the school district. The amount of such reserve shall not
13 exceed the average annual amount expended for such purposes over the
14 three previous completed fiscal years. This subdivision shall only
15 apply to school districts with an enrollment of fifteen hundred students
16 or less where the total cost of tuition payments to other school
17 districts is one million dollars or more.
18 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05677-01-3
