House Engrossed Senate Bill

 

schools; state aid; adjustment

 

 

 

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-fifth Legislature

First Regular Session

2021

 

 

 

CHAPTER 156

 

SENATE BILL 1449

 

 

AN ACT

 

amending section 15-915, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to school budgets.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 


Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 15-915, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-915. Correction of state aid or budget limit errors; definition

A. If the superintendent of public instruction determines that the calculation of state aid for a school district or charter school or the calculation of the school district's or charter school's budget limits within the previous three years did not conform with statutory requirements, the superintendent shall require correction of the errors as follows:

1. Corrections may be made in the current year or in the budget year, except that in case of hardship to the school district, the superintendent may approve corrections partly in one year and partly in the year after that year.

2. Errors in the calculation of state aid shall be corrected by increasing or decreasing the state aid to the school district or charter school in the year or years in which the correction is made.

3. Errors in the calculation of the school district's or charter school's budget limits shall be corrected at a public hearing by requiring the governing board to reduce or by allowing it to increase its budget by the amount of the correction to be made that year. Overbudgeting errors corrected as provided in this paragraph are exempt from section 15-905, subsections L and M.  Not later than three days after the hearing and correction, the budget as revised shall be submitted electronically to the superintendent of public instruction. This paragraph shall does not be construed to require a decrease in state aid that is not otherwise required by paragraph 2 of this subsection.

B. Subject to the review by the joint legislative budget committee, the superintendent of public instruction shall adjust state aid for a school district in the current year if the governing board of a school district requests the recalculation of state aid for a prior year due to a change in assessed valuation that occurred as the result of any of the following:

1. A court judgment in accordance with section 42-16213.

2. a decision by a county board of equalization in accordance with section 42-16108.

3. A decision by the state board of equalization in accordance with section 42-16162.

4. The correction of a property tax error pursuant to title 42, chapter 16, article 6.

C. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, a school district or charter school may not make upward revisions to its average daily membership counts for a particular school year after June 30 of the subsequent school year.

D. For the purposes of this section, "state aid":

1. For school districts, means state aid as determined in section 15-971 and additional state aid as determined in section 15-972.

2. For charter schools, means state aid as determined in section 15-185. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Retroactivity

This act applies retroactively to from and after June 30, 2019.


 

 

 

APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR MARCH 30, 2021.

 

FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE MARCH 30, 2021.