BILL NUMBER: S893

SPONSOR: YOUNG
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to actual valuation for
state education aid purposes

 
PURPOSE:

Provides that actual valuation, for state school aid purposes, shall be
based on the calendar in which the base year commenced.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section one amends paragraph c of subdivision 1 of section 3602 of the
Education law to require that the valuation of taxable real property in
a school district obtained by taking the assessed valuation of taxable
real property within such district as it appears upon the assessment
roll of the town, city, village, or county in which such property is
located, for the calendar year immediately preceding the calendar year
              

in which the base year commenced be used.

Section 2 sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Technology has progressed significantly in the past twenty years. With
these advances has come the ability to compile and use data almost in
real time.

Unfortunately, the current school aid formula is inconsistent in that it
relies upon stale data. Local tax levy changes from year to year are
based on the changes in local property values. Yet, the state aid formu-
la to determine state school aid, including the GEA, the foundation aid
formula, and cost-driven aids, use property value data that is over
three years old in calculating aid that is then used by schools four to
five years later.

This significant lag in data causes a disconnect between state school
aid, which uses outdated property values and the funding schools are
authorized to raise from a local share of aid. This makes it difficult
for schools to accurately determine both their funding needs and the
amount of aid they can expect to receive, especially in the face of a
fluctuating and weak economy.

In this age where real-time data sharing is simple to do through inter-
net and other electronic means, the formula to determine state school
aid funding should use data from the same base year as the year school
districts use to determine the local share of funding.  By implementing
this legislation, schools will receive state school aid consistent with
the most current property data available. It will enable schools to meet
their fiscal obligations and needs based on school aid driven by data
from the most recent preceding year instead of from three or more years
prior.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2018: S.3953-A Referred to Education
2017: S.3953 Referred to Education
2015,2016: S.2072 Referred to Education
2014: S.4313-A Referred to Education
2013: S.4313 Referred to Education

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Undetermined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of July next following enact-
ment.