Assembly Bill A10671

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10671
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              August 28, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Brabenec) --
   read once and referred to the Committee on Education
 
 AN  ACT  in  relation  to  apportioning funds to the East Ramapo central
   school district for services and expenses
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.    Legislative  intent.  The  legislature hereby finds and
 declares that the East Ramapo central school district faces  a  substan-
 tial  budgetary  shortfall  and  absent  legislative  intervention,  the
 district is at risk of being unable  to  pay  its  staff,  and  students
 attending the public schools in the district will suffer. In recognition
 of  this crisis, the legislature hereby provides the East Ramapo central
 school district with an accelerated payment of  twenty  million  dollars
 ($20,000,000)  to  provide  the funds necessary for the district to meet
 its payroll obligations.
   § 2. The East Ramapo central school  district  shall  be  paid  on  an
 accelerated schedule as follows:
   (a)  (1)  Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, for aid payable
 in the school years 2024-2025 through 2053-2054 upon application to  the
 commissioner  of  education, submitted not sooner than the second Monday
 in July of the school year in which such aid is payable  and  not  later
 than the Friday following the third Monday in July of the school year in
 which  such aid is payable, or ten days after the effective date of this
 act, whichever shall be later, the East Ramapo central  school  district
 shall be eligible to receive an apportionment pursuant to this act in an
 amount  equal to the product of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) and
 the quotient of the positive difference of thirty minus  the  number  of
 school years elapsed since the 2024-2025 school year divided by thirty.
   (2)  Funds  apportioned pursuant to this subdivision shall be used for
 services and expenses of the East Ramapo  central  school  district  and
 shall  be applied in support of its educational programs and any liabil-
 ity incurred by such central school district in carrying out  its  func-
 tions and responsibilities under the education law.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD15912-01-4
              

 A. 10671                            2
 
   (b)  The  claim  for  an  apportionment  to be paid to the East Ramapo
 central school district pursuant to  subdivision  (a)  of  this  section
 shall be submitted to the commissioner of education on a form prescribed
 for  such  purpose,  and  shall  be  payable  upon determination by such
 commissioner that the form has been submitted as prescribed and that the
 school  district  has  complied  with the reporting requirements of this
 act. For each school year in  which  application  is  made  pursuant  to
 subdivision  (a)  of this section, such approved amount shall be payable
 on or before July thirty-first of such school year upon  the  audit  and
 warrant  of  the  state comptroller on vouchers certified or approved by
 the commissioner of education in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law  from
 moneys appropriated from the general fund for general support for public
 schools  due  such  school  district  pursuant  to section 3609-a of the
 education law.
   (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3609-a of the  education
 law,  an  amount  equal  to  the  amount paid to the East Ramapo central
 school district during the current year pursuant to subdivisions (a) and
 (b) of this section shall first be deducted from payments due during the
 current school year pursuant to subparagraphs 4 and 5 of paragraph a  of
 subdivision  1  of  section 3609-a of the education law in the following
 order: the fixed fall payments payable pursuant  to  subparagraph  4  of
 paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 3609-a of the education law, and
 any remainder to be deducted from the individualized payments due to the
 district  pursuant  to paragraph b of subdivision 1 of section 3609-a of
 the education law shall be deducted on a  chronological  basis  starting
 with the earliest payment due the district.
   (d)  Notwithstanding  any other provisions of law, the sum of payments
 made to the East Ramapo central school district  during  the  base  year
 pursuant  to subdivisions (a) and (b) of this section plus payments made
 to such school district during the  current  year  pursuant  to  section
 3609-a  of the education law shall be deemed to truly represent all aids
 paid to such school district during the current school year pursuant  to
 section  3609-a  of  the education law for the purposes of computing any
 adjustments to such aids that may occur in a subsequent school year.
   (e) (1) On or before the first day of each  month  beginning  in  July
 2024  and  ending  in June 2054, the chief fiscal officer and the super-
 intendent of schools of the district shall prepare  and  submit  to  the
 board  of  education  and monitors, so long as these roles are filled, a
 report of the fiscal condition of the school district, including but not
 limited to the most current available data on  fund  balances  on  funds
 maintained  by  the school district and the district's use of the appor-
 tionments provided pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) of this section.
   (2) Such monthly report shall be in a format prescribed by the commis-
 sioner of education. The board of education and  monitors  shall  either
 reject  and return the report to the chief fiscal officer and the super-
 intendent for appropriate revisions and resubmittal or shall approve the
 report and submit copies to the commissioner of education and the  state
 comptroller of such approved report as submitted or resubmitted.
   (3)  In the 2024-2025 through 2053-2054 school years, the chief fiscal
 officer of the district shall monitor all budgets and for  each  budget,
 prepare  a  quarterly report of summarized budget data depicting overall
 trends of actual revenues and budget expenditures for the entire  budget
 as  well  as  individual  line  items. Such report shall compare revenue
 estimates and appropriations as set forth in such budget with the actual
 revenues and expenditures made to date. All quarterly reports  shall  be
 accompanied  by a recommendation from the superintendent or chief fiscal
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 officer to the board of education setting  forth  any  remedial  actions
 necessary to resolve any unfavorable budget variance including the over-
 estimation  of  revenue and underestimation of appropriations. The chief
 fiscal  officer  shall also prepare, as part of such report, a quarterly
 trial balance of general ledger accounts in  accordance  with  generally
 accepted  accounting  principles as prescribed by the state comptroller.
 All reports shall be completed within sixty days after the end  of  each
 quarter and shall be submitted to the chief fiscal officer and the board
 of  education,  the  state  division  of budget, the office of the state
 comptroller, the commissioner of education, the chair  of  the  assembly
 ways and means committee, and the chair of the senate finance committee.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.