Sec. D-1. 20-A MRSA §15602, sub-§12 is enacted to read:
12. Hardship cushion. The following hardship cushion is established for fiscal year 1998-99.
A. A subsidy change from fiscal year 1997-98 to fiscal year 1998-99 is calculated for each school administrative unit as the amount in subparagraph (1) less the amount in subparagraph (2).
(1) The amount is the state share for fiscal year 1998-99 for the allocation of the per pupil guarantee as determined under chapter 606-A, plus the state share for program costs and minimum subsidy allocation as determined under this chapter, less subsidies provided for bus purchases.
(2) The amount is the state share for fiscal year 1997-98 for the allocation of the per pupil guarantee as determined under chapter 606-A, plus the state share for program costs and minimum subsidy allocation as determined under this chapter and the fiscal year 1997-98 hardship cushion, less subsidies provided for bus purchases.
B. The hardship cushion targets funds to school administrative units according to a 50-50 weighting of 2 distribution strategies described in subparagraphs (1) and (2).
(1) If the subsidy change calculated in paragraph A represents an increase from fiscal year 1997-98 to fiscal year 1998-99 that is less than 0.575% and the school administrative unit had a fiscal year 1997-98 local tax effort for education excluding debt service of 7.17 mills or higher, a hardship cushion is provided to ensure that the cushion adjusted gain as calculated in paragraph A does not exceed 0.575%.
(2) If the subsidy change calculated in paragraph A represents an increase from fiscal year 1997-98 to fiscal year 1998-99 that is less than 1.932%, the school administrative unit had a fiscal year 1997-98 local tax effort for education excluding debt service of 7.17 mills or higher and the school administrative unit's per pupil fiscal capacity, as defined in section 15603, subsection 11-A, is below the state average, a hardship cushion is provided to ensure that the cushion adjusted gain as calculated in paragraph A does not exceed 1.932%.
Sec. D-2. 20-A MRSA §15605, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1993, c. 410, Pt. KKK, §1, is further amended to read:
1. Annual certification. Prior to December 15th of each year, the commissioner, with the approval of the state board, shall certify to the Governor and the Bureau of the Budget the funding levels that the commissioner recommends for sections 15604 and 15612. Commencing with the certification in December of 1994 1998 and each December thereafter, the commissioner's recommended funded level may not exceed 105% of the funding level in effect for the fiscal year then in progress. The certification for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 1994 must be consistent with the level of funding provided in the fiscal year 1994-95 biennial budget.
Sec. D-3. 20-A MRSA §15652, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 368, Pt. Z, §1 and affected by §2, is amended to read:
4. Normalized regional cost adjustment. "Normalized regional cost adjustment" means a factor that is used to adjust a median household income value up or down to reflect variations in regional costs. The statewide normalized regional cost adjustment is one. The department shall contract for the acquisition of annual normalized regional cost adjustment data, based on the National Chamber of Commerce model, except as follows. Beginning in fiscal year 1998-99, the weight of the housing component of the market basket is 14%, instead of 28% and the weights of the other market basket components are increased proportionately. In addition, for any municipality whose regional cost adjustment is less than 1.0, that adjustment is increased to 1.0.
Sec. D-4. 20-A MRSA §15653, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 368, Pt. Z, §1 and affected by §2, is amended to read:
3. Legislature's contribution. The commissioner's recommendation for an appropriation for the Legislature's contribution to the per pupil guarantee for all subsidizable pupils in all school administrative units must be at least may not exceed the amount of the corresponding appropriation for the prior current fiscal year, unless a lesser amount is necessary to ensure compliance with section 15607, subsection 1. The appropriation for chapter 606 and this chapter may not exceed 105% 100% of the corresponding appropriation for the prior current fiscal year. Additional appropriations for general purpose aid for local schools under chapter 606 and this chapter for the Legislature's contribution may be requested in a supplemental appropriations budget bill.
Sec. D-5. 20-A MRSA §15657, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 368, Pt. Z, §1 and affected by §2, is amended to read:
2. Local median household income. The most recent local median household income is divided by the statewide average median household income. That amount is divided by the normalized regional cost adjustment as defined in section 15652, subsection 4. The final result is multiplied by an income weight of 0.15. The department shall use local median household income data, updated annually from the Federal Decennial Census. The department shall contract for the acquisition of annual normalized regional cost adjustment data, based on the National Chamber of Commerce model.
Sec. D-6. PL 1997, c. 24, Pt. XX, §1 is amended to read:
Sec. XX-1. Education in the Unorganized Territory; lapsed balances. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, $400,000 $644,951 of available balances in fiscal year 1996-97 in the Personal Services line category and $300,000 $1,131,698 of available balances in the All Other line category from fiscal year 1996-97 in the Education in the Unorganized Territory account in the Department of Education lapse to the General Fund revenue in fiscal year 1997-98.
Sec. D-7. Basic elementary and secondary per pupil operating rates, per pupil guarantee and statewide factor. The basic elementary per pupil operating rate for 1998-99 is $3,107 and the basic secondary per pupil operating rate for 1998-99 is $3,862. The foundation per pupil operating rate for 1998-99 is $3,328. The per pupil guarantee for 1998-99 is $3,675. The statewide factor for 1998-99 is 0.53790.
Sec. D-8. Basic education allocation. The basic allocation of state and local funds for 1998-99 for the purposes listed in this section are as follows:
Per Pupil Guarantee (Title 20-A, $797,339,690
section 15653)
Less amount shifted to (4,500,000)
Transportation Operating
_____________
ADJUSTED OPERATING 792,839,690
Early Childhood 557,218
Special Education (Local) 132,508,608
Special Education (Tuition and 12,887,552
Board)
Vocational Education 25,265,407
Transportation Operating 60,394,791
Bus Purchases 4,500,000
_____________
PROGRAM COST TOTAL 236,113,576
Less Percentage Reduction (Title
20-A, section 15603, subsection
26-A, paragraph F) (49,725,519)
Plus amount shifted to
Transportation Operating 4,500,000
ADJUSTED PROGRAM COSTS ___________
TOTAL 190,888,057
Principal and Interest 66,868,166
Approved Leases 6,049,979
Insured Value Factor 2,215,205
____________
DEBT SERVICE COSTS TOTAL 75,133,350
Less Percentage Reduction of
Insured Value Factor (Title 20-A,
section 15603, subsection 26-A,
paragraph F) (466,522)
ADJUSTED DEBT SERVICE ____________
COSTS TOTAL 74,666,828
COMBINED ALLOCATIONS 1,058,394,575
Minimum State Allocation 900,000
_____________
TOTAL ALLOCATION $1,059,294,575
Sec. D-9. Subsidy indexes. This section establishes mill rates as follows: Operating cost millage - 5.14 mills; program millage limit - 1.11 mills; debt service millage - 0.50 mills.
Sec. D-10. Appropriation. The appropriation provided for General Purpose Aid for Local Schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1998 and ending June 30, 1999 is calculated as follows.
Adjustment to Maintain State Share
of Operating Cost Allocation -0-
TOTAL ADJUSTED STATE ____________
ALLOCATION 562,382,911
ADJUSTMENTS AND MISCELLANEOUS
COSTS
Cost of Geographic Isolation 250,000
Adjustments
Cost of Quality Incentive Adjustments -0-
Audit Adjustments -0-
Cost of Reimbursement for Private
School Services 201,000
Special Education Hardship Grants -0-
Special Education Tuition and Board
for State Wards and Other Pupils
Placed Directly by the State 6,964,833
State Agency Clients 16,996,675
Out-of-district Placements 1,751,000
Long-term Drug Treatment Centers 58,000
Contract for Cost-of-living and
Income Data 28,309
Fiscal Year 1998-99 Hardship 2,999,599
Cushion
____________
TOTAL RECOMMENDED ____________
FUNDING LEVEL 591,632,327
Estimated Construction Audit Recoveries -0-
TOTAL APPROPRIATION FOR ____________
FISCAL YEAR 1998-99 $591,632,327
Sec. D-11. Limit of State obligation. If the State obligation for any individual program contained in sections D-8 and D-10 exceeds the level of funding provided for that program, any unexpended balances occurring in other programs may be applied to avoid proration of payments for any individual program. Any unexpended balances from section D-8 and D-10 may not lapse but must be carried forward to be for the same purposes.
Sec. D-12. Appropriation. Nothing in sections D-7 to D-11 may be construed to require the State to provide payments that exceed the appropriation of funds for General Purpose Aid for Local Schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1998 and ending June 30, 1999.
Sec. D-13. Education in the Unorganized Territory; lapsed balances. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, $250,000 of available balances in fiscal year 1997-98 in the Personal Services line category and $750,000 of available balances in the All Other line category from fiscal year 1997-98 in the Education in the Unorganized Territory account in the Department of Education lapse to the General Fund in fiscal year 1998-99.
Sec. D-14. Recommended funding level. Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15605, subsection 1, the funding level for General Purpose Aid for Local Schools for fiscal year 1998-99 that is used as the basis for calculating the recommended funding level for the 2000-2001 biennium, must be reduced by $16,660,478.
Sec. D-15. General Purpose Aid for Local Schools; lapsed balances. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, $1,978,864 in fiscal year 1997-98 in General Purpose Aid for Local Schools lapses to General Fund undedicated revenue as a result of construction aid recoveries.
Sec. D-16. Appropriation. The following funds are appropriated from the General Fund to carry out the purposes of this Part.
1997-98 1998-99
EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF
General Purpose Aid for Local Schools
All Other ($2,021,136)
Deappropriates funds to be used to offset appropriations for services for preschool handicapped children.
Learning Systems
All Other $72,210
Provides funds to increase the state subsidy for adult education by an additional 2% in fiscal year 1998-99.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ____________ ____________
TOTAL APPROPRIATION ($2,021,136) $72,210
Sec. D-17. Appropriation. The following funds are appropriated from the General Fund to carry out the purposes of this Part.
1998-99
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
State Board of Education
All Other $25,000
Provides funds to support the research and technical assistance needs of the Essential Programs and Services Study Committee.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION __________
TOTAL 25,000
EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF
General Purpose Aid for Local Schools
All Other (100,000)
Deappropriates funds to be used to offset appropriations for the State Board of Education and the Education Research Institute.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ____________
TOTAL (100,000)
LEGISLATURE
Education Research Institute
All Other 75,000
Provides one-time funds to support targeted research needs identified by the Legislature.
LEGISLATURE ____________
TOTAL 75,000
GENERAL FUND APPROPRIATION ____________
TOTAL $-0-
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