HB2784 - 572R

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

Section 1. Section 15-991, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-991. County school superintendents; annual estimate; monies for ensuing year; property tax calculations; property tax oversight commission review

A. The county school superintendent shall recompute the equalization assistance for education for each school district pursuant to section 15-971, subsection A and compute the additional amount to be levied pursuant to section 15-992, subsection B using the property values provided by the county assessor under section 42-17052. The county school superintendent must certify in writing to the property tax oversight commission on or before July 25 of each year the amount of equalization assistance for education and the amount to be levied for each school district from the primary property tax pursuant to section 15-992.

B. The county school superintendent must prepare and file with the governing board of each school district in the county and the property tax oversight commission on or before July 25 of each year a written estimate of the amount of monies required by each school district for the ensuing school year based on the proposed budget adopted by each school district governing board. The estimate shall contain:

1. A statement of the student count of each school district.

2. The additional amounts needed for each school district from the primary property tax and the secondary property tax, as estimated by the county school superintendent. The county school superintendent shall certify those amounts to the board of supervisors and the property tax oversight commission in writing at the time of filing the estimate.

3. The amount determined pursuant to section 15-992, subsection H.

3. 4. The calculation of the amount to be levied as prescribed by section 15-992 using the values provided by the county assessor under section 42-17052.

C. The property tax oversight commission must review the primary property tax calculations filed under subsection B, paragraph 3 4 of this section.

D. The county school superintendent must file in writing with the county board of supervisors and the property tax oversight commission on or before the third Monday in August of each year the amount that is required to be levied for each school district from both the primary property tax prescribed by section 15-992 and the secondary property tax.

E. On or before September 1 of each year, the governing board of a school district shall file with the county school superintendent an estimate of the amount of title VIII of the elementary and secondary education act of 1965 monies it is eligible to receive during the current year. On or before June 1 of each year, the governing board shall file with the county school superintendent and the superintendent of public instruction a statement of the actual amount of title VIII of the elementary and secondary education act of 1965 monies it received during the current year. This subsection does not apply to accommodation schools.

F. The department may collect any other similar or related information from school districts that the department may determine is necessary to carry out the purposes of this section. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 15-992, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-992. School district tax levy; additional tax in districts ineligible for equalization assistance; primary property tax levy reduction; definition

A. The board of supervisors of each county, at the time of levying other taxes, shall annually levy school district taxes on the property in any school district in which additional amounts are required, which shall be at rates prescribed in this section. A delinquency factor for estimated uncollected taxes may not be included in the computation of the primary tax rate for school district taxes. Local property taxes may not be levied for any deficit in the classroom site fund. The taxes shall be added to and collected in the same manner as other county taxes on the property within the school district. The amount of the school district taxes levied on the property in a particular school district shall be paid into the school fund of that school district.

B. At the same time of levying taxes as provided in subsection A of this section, the county board of supervisors shall annually levy an additional tax in each school district that is not eligible for equalization assistance as provided in section 15-971 in an amount determined as follows:

1. Determine the levy that would be produced by fifty percent of the applicable qualifying tax rate, prescribed in section 15-971, subsection B, per $100 assessed valuation.

2. Subtract the amounts determined in section 15-971, subsection A and subsection F of this section from the levy determined in paragraph 1 of this subsection. This difference is the additional amount levied or collected as voluntary contributions pursuant to title 48, chapter 1, article 8, except that if the difference is zero or is a negative number, there shall be no levy.

C. Monies collected pursuant to subsections B and F of this section shall be transmitted to the state treasurer for deposit in the state general fund to aid in school financial assistance.

D. The additional tax prescribed in subsection B of this section is considered to be primary property tax for purposes of section 15-972, subsection B, except that this state is not required to make the payments prescribed in section 15-972, subsection H for these reductions in taxes.

E. The tax levy prescribed in subsection A of this section shall be a rate equal to the applicable qualifying tax rate or rates as prescribed in section 15-971, subsection B or a rate that would result in a levy that equals the school district equalization assistance base prescribed in section 15-971 subtracted by any amount received pursuant to section 15-905, subsections K, O and P per $100 of assessed valuation used for primary property taxes, whichever is less.

F. At the same time of levying taxes as provided in subsection A of this section, the county board of supervisors shall annually levy an additional tax in each common school district not within a high school district that is equal to the lesser of:

1. A rate that is equal to the applicable qualifying tax rate or rates as prescribed in section 15-971, subsection B.

2. A rate that would result in a levy that equals the statewide average per pupil funding for high school pupils multiplied by the student count as defined in section 15-901 of resident high school pupils in the common school district not within a high school district during the prior school year. On or before July 1 of each year, the department of education shall provide each common school district not within a high school district with the student count as defined in section 15-901 of resident high school pupils in the district during the prior school year. On or before July 1 of each year, the department of education shall provide each county board of supervisors with the statewide average per pupil funding for high school pupils, the student count as defined in section 15-901 of resident high school pupils in the common school district not within a high school district during the prior school year and any other information requested by the county board of supervisors for the purposes of levying the tax prescribed in this subsection. For the purposes of this paragraph, "per pupil funding" means the amount calculated pursuant to section 15-943, paragraph 2, subdivision (a) for grades nine through twelve multiplied by the sum of the following:

(a) District additional assistance pursuant to section 15-961, subsections A, B and C for a school district with a student count of six hundred or more in grades nine through twelve.

(b) The base level amount prescribed by section 15-901.

G. At the time of levying taxes as provided in subsection E of this section, the county school superintendent shall annually validate any additional primary school district tax levy amount requests from each school district and levy the sum of the following amounts:

1. A rate that would result in a levy that equals the difference between the transportation revenue control limit as determined in section 15-946 and the transportation support level as determined in section 15-945 or a lesser amount.

2. A rate that would result in a levy that equals any amount pursuant to section 15-910.

3. A rate that would result in a levy that equals any amount for tuition loss as determined in section 15-954.

4. A rate that would result in a levy that equals any amount for the small school adjustment as determined in section 15-949.

5. A rate that would result in a levy that equals any amount for liabilities in excess of the school district budget pursuant to section 15-907.

6. A rate that would result in a levy that equals any amount for adjacent ways pursuant to section 15-995.

7. A rate that would result in a levy that equals the amount not captured by the qualifying tax rate as a result of property subject to the government property lease excise tax pursuant to title 42, chapter 6, article 5 as calculated in section 15-971, subsection B, paragraph 2.

8. Following the recommendation of the county school superintendent and on approval by the county board of supervisors, for a school district that is not eligible for state aid, a rate that would result in a levy that equals any legal amount not levied in the current year as a result of underestimated average daily membership in the current year or as a result of a judgment in accordance with section 42-16213.

9. A rate that would result in a levy that equals any amount pursuant to a qualifying dropout prevention program that was originally established by law in 1987.

10. On the recommendation of the county school superintendent and on approval by the county board of supervisors before adoption of tax rates pursuant to section 42-17151, a rate that would result in a levy that equals any separately stated cash deficit from the prior fiscal year resulting from an anticipated or actual deviation in the property tax roll, including resolutions or judgments pursuant to title 42, chapter 16, articles 5 and 6.

H. At the time of levying taxes as provided in subsections E and G of this section, the county school superintendent shall annually reduce the primary school district tax levy amount requests from each school district by an amount determined as follows:

1. Determine the total ending cash balances from the school district's maintenance and operations fund and unrestricted capital outlay fund reported in the school district's annual financial report for the immediately preceding fiscal year pursuant to section 15-904.

2. Determine the amount that the school district governing BOARD budgeted from budget balances for the current year pursuant to section 15-947, subsection C, paragraph 2, subdivision (a), item (i) and subsection D, paragraph 4.

3. Subtract the amount determined in paragraph 2 of this subsection from the amount determined in paragraph 1 of this subsection.

4. Eighty-five percent of the amount calculated pursuant to paragraph 3 of this subsection is the amount of the reduction.

H. I. For the purposes of this section, "assessed valuation" includes the values used to determine voluntary contributions collected pursuant to title 9, chapter 4, article 3 and title 48, chapter 1, article 8.END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. School district property tax levy reductions; tax years 2027 through 2031; delayed repeal

A. Notwithstanding sections 15-991 and 15-992, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act, in each of tax years 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030 and 2031, the county school superintendent of each county shall reduce the primary school district tax levy amounts requested by each school district pursuant to section 15-992, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act, by an amount determined by the school district, except that the amount of the reduction for any tax year may not be less than twenty percent of the amount calculated pursuant to section 15-992, subsection H, paragraph 3, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act.

B. This section is repealed from and after July 1, 2032.