S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2684
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 22, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  BROOKS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
 
 AN ACT to establish the residential real property tax relief for  public
   education task force
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1.  Legislative  findings.  The  legislature  finds  that  the
 current  primary  and secondary education funding system, which is based
 largely upon real property taxation, is antiquated and  creates  serious
 disparities  in  educational  opportunity  and inequities with regard to
 distribution of the system's financial burden. The quality of  education
 that  children  receive  varies widely by geographic region, as does the
 opportunity for children to participate in  extracurricular  activities.
 In  addition,  taxpayers  throughout the state receive real property tax
 bills from their local school districts based  on  the  value  of  their
 homes, which is subject to multiple factors beyond their control, rather
 than   their   financial  ability  to  pay,  creating  serious  regional
 distortions in the relative cost of living. The legislature  finds  that
 these distortions are greatly exacerbated by the recent enactment of the
 federal tax cuts and jobs act of 2017, which will limit the deductibili-
 ty  of  state  and  local  taxes to 10,000 dollars beginning in the next
 fiscal year, effectively eliminating one of the few  mitigating  factors
 against  high  property  taxes  for homeowners in certain regions of the
 state, and creating undue hardship for families  throughout  the  state.
 The  legislature further finds that our children should not be penalized
 based upon the geographic location of their home, nor  should  financial
 support  for  the  educational system fall more heavily on those who are
 less able to bear the burden. The legislature therefore  orders  that  a
 task  force  be  created  to  conduct a comprehensive examination of the
 current funding system, and to make  recommendations  for  a  long-term,
 statewide  solution  that  will  shift  the base resource of primary and
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD03522-01-1

 S. 2684                             2
 
 secondary education funding  from  real  property  taxes  to  the  state
 personal  income  tax.  Such  new  funding  methodology must be flexible
 enough to ensure efficient responsiveness  to  certain  dynamic  factors
 with  regard to school aid from the state of New York, including but not
 limited to the changing demographic profile of the student body of indi-
 vidual schools; technology advancements and requirements; school  safety
 and security; mandated educational programs; staff development; programs
 regarding drugs, bullying, social media, gang violence and other similar
 programs that emerge in response to salient issues; and changing federal
 policies that directly impact all New Yorkers.
   §  2.  Residential  real property tax relief for public education task
 force. There is hereby created the residential real property tax  relief
 for  public  education  task  force  that  shall  consist of 43 members.
 Members serving in ex-officio capacity shall include:  the  commissioner
 of  the  education  department  or his or her designee; the chair of the
 state board of regents, or his or her designee; the commissioner of  the
 department  of  taxation and finance or his or her designee; the commis-
 sioner of the department of homeland security and emergency services  or
 his  or her designee; and the director of budget or his or her designee.
 Appointed members shall be appointed as follows: ten  members  appointed
 by  the governor; six members shall be appointed by the temporary presi-
 dent of the senate; six members shall be appointed by the speaker of the
 assembly; four members shall be appointed by the minority leader of  the
 senate;  four  members  shall be appointed by the minority leader of the
 assembly; two members shall be appointed by New York state united teach-
 ers; two members shall be appointed by the New York state school  boards
 association; two members shall be appointed by the association of school
 superintendents;  and  two  members  shall  be appointed by the business
 council of New York state.
   § 3. Qualifications of appointed  members.  (1)  Of  the  ten  members
 appointed by the governor, four shall have been certified by the depart-
 ment  of  education  and  have  at least ten years of classroom teaching
 experience at the primary or secondary levels, one of  whom  shall  have
 such  experience  in  a small city school system; one of whom shall have
 such experience in a school system located  within  a  county  having  a
 population  between  1,300,000 and 1,650,000 as determined by the latest
 available census estimate by the United States bureau of the census that
 is not wholly within a city; one of whom shall have such experience in a
 school district that is not a small city school district, located  in  a
 county  not  wholly  contained  within  a city with a population between
 300,000 and 1,000,000 as determined by the latest available census esti-
 mate by the United States bureau of the census; and one  of  whom  shall
 have  such  experience  in  a school district located in a county with a
 population of less than two  hundred  thousand,  as  determined  by  the
 latest  available  census  estimate  by  the United States bureau of the
 census; four shall have at least ten years experience in a school fiscal
 or budgetary capacity, one of whom shall have such experience in a small
 city school system, one of whom shall have such experience in  a  school
 system located within a county having a population between 1,300,000 and
 1,650,000  as  determined by the latest available census estimate by the
 United States bureau of the census that is not wholly within a city; one
 of whom shall have such experience in a school district that  is  not  a
 small  city  school  district,  located in a county not wholly contained
 within a city with a population between 300,000 and 1,000,000, as deter-
 mined by the latest available  census  estimate  by  the  United  States
 bureau  of  the  census, and one of whom shall have such experience in a

 S. 2684                             3
 
 school district located in a county  with  a  population  of  less  than
 200,000,  as  determined  by the latest available census estimate by the
 United States bureau of the census; and two shall be parents of students
 in  the state's public education system, one of whom shall be the parent
 of a student at the primary school level at the time of appointment, and
 one of whom shall be the parent of a student  at  the  secondary  school
 level at the time of appointment;
   (2)  Of  the  six  members appointed by the temporary president of the
 senate, three shall have been certified by the department  of  education
 and  have  at  least  ten  years of classroom teaching experience in the
 state's public school system, at least one of whom shall have such expe-
 rience at the primary level, one of whom shall have such  experience  at
 the  secondary level, and one of whom shall have gained such experience,
 or be currently teaching in a small city public school system, one shall
 have at least ten years experience  in  a  school  fiscal  or  budgetary
 capacity,  one  shall  have  at  least  ten years experience in a school
 administrative capacity, and one shall be the parent of a student in the
 public primary or secondary school system;
   (3) Of the six members appointed by the speaker of the assembly, three
 shall have been certified by the department of  education  and  have  at
 least  ten  years of classroom teaching experience in the state's public
 school system, at least one of whom shall have such  experience  at  the
 primary  level,  one of whom shall have such experience at the secondary
 level, and one of whom shall have gained such experience, or be current-
 ly teaching in a small city public school system, one shall have experi-
 ence in a school fiscal or budgetary capacity, one shall have  at  least
 ten  years experience in a school administrative capacity, and one shall
 be the parent of a student in the primary  or  secondary  public  school
 system at the time of appointment;
   (4)  Of  the  four  members  appointed  by  the minority leader of the
 senate, two shall have been certified by the department of education and
 have at least ten years of classroom teaching experience at the  primary
 or  secondary  level, one shall be the parent of a student in the public
 school system, and one shall have at least ten  years  experience  in  a
 school fiscal or budgetary capacity; and
   (5)  Of  the  four  members  appointed  by  the minority leader of the
 senate, two shall have been certified by the department of education and
 have at least ten years of classroom teaching experience at the  primary
 or  secondary  level, one shall be the parent of a student in the public
 school system, and one shall have at least ten  years  experience  in  a
 school fiscal or budgetary capacity.
   §  4.  Powers and duties. (1) The residential real property tax relief
 for public education task force shall, over  the  course  of  the  three
 years  subsequent to this section having become law, conduct an in-depth
 analysis of the funding system for primary and secondary education  that
 will  make  recommendations  on  the implementation of a new methodology
 that will change the current system paradigm from one  highly  dependent
 on  local  property  taxes  to  one that is largely state-funded through
 personal income taxes. Such analysis shall include, but not  be  limited
 to (i) a historical examination of the current system, demonstrating the
 etymology of the current funding system; (ii) an examination of regional
 cost factors and their relation to regional student opportunity dispari-
 ties; (iii) the establishment of educational economic development zones,
 as  defined  in  section  five  of  this  act; (iv) the development of a
 revised school funding program for all special needs and special  educa-
 tion  students  based  on  the  regional  cost factors within respective

 S. 2684                             4
 
 educational economic development zones; (v) the  establishment  of  best
 practices programs purchasing, budget and fiscal plan development, bene-
 fits  management  and  the  management  of reserves for each educational
 economic zone; (vi) the development of a new methodology that will shift
 the  fundamental funding source for primary and secondary education from
 real property taxation to the state personal income tax, such  methodol-
 ogy  shall  take  the conditional variables of each educational economic
 zone into account in its determination  of  the  distribution  of  state
 funds; (vii) the development of best practice objectives in aid distrib-
 ution  to  ensure  that  funding in all districts is put to the best and
 most efficient use; and (viii) the provision of an implementation strat-
 egy for the new methodology that will limit as much as feasibly possible
 any disruption during the transition.
   (2) The commissioner of education shall serve as the chair of the task
 force. The task force is authorized to consult with education and  taxa-
 tion  and  academic  professionals  in  addition  to its members, and to
 compensate such expert participation for actual incurred  expenses.  The
 task  force  may utilize agency staff, space and equipment as necessary.
 Task force members shall  receive  no  compensation  for  their  partic-
 ipation, other than for actual incurred expenses.
   (3)  The  task  force  shall meet in its entirety in July and December
 each year at a single physical location, and the chair  shall  have  the
 power  to  call  additional  meetings  as  he or she deems necessary and
 appropriate. Electronic  participation  shall  be  permitted  for  those
 members  who  are unable to attend in person. An agenda for each meeting
 shall be made public at least two days prior to the meeting date;  meet-
 ings shall be visually recorded; and meeting minutes shall be kept.
   (4)  The  task  force  shall  publish a report containing all research
 findings and recommendations, three years after the date on  which  this
 act  shall  have become law. Such report shall outline and provide crit-
 ical detail of each task force recommendation, and a comprehensive tran-
 sition and implementation strategy. The task force  shall  transmit  the
 report  to  the  governor,  the  temporary  president of the senate, the
 speaker of the assembly, the minority  leader  of  the  senate  and  the
 minority leader of the assembly no later than three years after the date
 that this act shall have become a law.
   (5) The task force shall establish a website on the internet, on which
 it  shall save and make available all documentation, provide a venue for
 public comment, provide visual access to its meetings, meeting  agendas,
 minutes, and provide a copy of its report.
   § 5. Educational economic zones. Educational economic zones shall mean
 geographical  regions  determined by unique variables including, but not
 limited to (i) individual and cumulative personal income; (ii) the level
 of employment as determined by the United States department of commerce,
 bureau of labor statistics for the twelve-month period prior to  January
 first  of  the  calendar  year  in which the school budget begins; (iii)
 local industry, as identified by the United States bureau of the  census
 through  the North American industry classification system; (iv) infras-
 tructure construction and maintenance  costs;  (v)  educational  support
 services;  and  (vi)  student  demographics, including special education
 students and those with special needs.
   § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.