Bill Text: NY A08076 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Creates a school budget tax cap exemption for expenditures resulting from settlements or jury awards for civil actions brought against school districts under the child victims act.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-2)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to education [A08076 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A08076-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8076

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                   September 27, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  CONRAD,  WALLACE,  McMAHON  -- read once and
          referred to the Committee on Education

        AN ACT to amend the education law, in  relation  to  creating  a  school
          budget  tax  cap  exemption for expenditures resulting from settlement
          awards in civil actions brought against  school  districts  under  the
          child victims act

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Paragraph i of subdivision  2  of  section  2023-a  of  the
     2  education law, as added by section 2 of part A of chapter 97 of the laws
     3  of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
     4    i.  "Tax  levy  limit"  means the amount of taxes a school district is
     5  authorized to levy pursuant to this section, provided, however, that the
     6  tax levy limit shall not include the following:
     7    (i) a tax levy necessary for expenditures resulting from court  orders
     8  or judgments against the school district arising out of tort actions for
     9  any  amount  that  exceeds  five  percent of the total tax levied in the
    10  prior school year;
    11    (ii) a tax levy necessary for expenditures resulting from court orders
    12  or judgments against the school district arising out of civil claims  or
    13  causes  of  action brought pursuant to section two hundred fourteen-g of
    14  the civil practice law and rules;
    15    (iii) in years in which the system average actuarial contribution rate
    16  of the New York state and local employees' retirement system, as defined
    17  by paragraph ten of subdivision a of section nineteen-a of  the  retire-
    18  ment  and  social  security  law,  increases by more than two percentage
    19  points from the previous year, a tax levy necessary for expenditures for
    20  the coming fiscal year for school district employer contributions to the
    21  New York state and local employees' retirement system caused  by  growth
    22  in  the  system average actuarial contribution rate minus two percentage
    23  points;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13257-01-3

        A. 8076                             2

     1    [(iii)] (iv) in years in which the normal contribution rate of the New
     2  York state teachers' retirement system, as defined  by  paragraph  a  of
     3  subdivision  two  of  section  five  hundred  seventeen of this chapter,
     4  increases by more than two percentage points from the previous  year,  a
     5  tax  levy  necessary  for  expenditures  for  the coming fiscal year for
     6  school district employer contributions to the New York  state  teachers'
     7  retirement system caused by growth in the normal contribution rate minus
     8  two percentage points; and
     9    [(iv)] (v) a capital tax levy.
    10    §  2.  Subdivision  1, subparagraph 4 of paragraph a of subdivision 3,
    11  paragraph (a) of subdivision 6, and subdivision 9 of section  2023-a  of
    12  the  education law, as added by section 2 of part A of chapter 97 of the
    13  laws of 2011, are amended to read as follows:
    14    1. Generally.  Unless otherwise provided by law, the amount  of  taxes
    15  that  may be levied by or on behalf of any school district, other than a
    16  city school district of a city with  one  hundred  twenty-five  thousand
    17  inhabitants  or  more,  shall  not exceed the tax levy limit established
    18  pursuant to this section,  not  including  any  tax  levy  necessary  to
    19  support  the  expenditures  pursuant to subparagraphs (i) through [(iv)]
    20  (v) of paragraph i of subdivision two of this section.
    21    (4) Subtract the tax levy necessary to support the expenditures pursu-
    22  ant to subparagraphs (i) and [(iv)] (v) of paragraph  i  of  subdivision
    23  two of this section for the prior school year, if any.
    24    (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, in the
    25  event  the  trustee, trustees or board of education of a school district
    26  that is subject to the provisions of this section proposes a budget that
    27  will require a tax levy that exceeds the tax levy limit for  the  corre-
    28  sponding  school  year,  not including any levy necessary to support the
    29  expenditures pursuant to subparagraphs (i) through [(iv)] (v)  of  para-
    30  graph  i  of  subdivision two of this section, then such budget shall be
    31  approved if sixty percent of the votes cast thereon are in the  affirma-
    32  tive.
    33    9.  Nothing  in  this section shall preclude the trustee, trustees, or
    34  board of education of a  school  district,  in  their  discretion,  from
    35  submitting  additional  items of expenditures to the voters for approval
    36  as separate propositions or  the  voters  from  submitting  propositions
    37  pursuant  to sections two thousand eight and two thousand thirty-five of
    38  this part; provided however, except in the case of a proposition submit-
    39  ted for any  expenditure  contained  within  subparagraphs  (i)  through
    40  [(iv)]  (v)  of  paragraph  i of subdivision two of this section, if any
    41  proposition, or propositions collectively that are subject to a vote  on
    42  the  same date, would require an expenditure of money that would require
    43  a tax levy and would result in the tax levy limit being exceeded for the
    44  corresponding school year then such proposition  shall  be  approved  if
    45  sixty percent of the votes cast thereon are in the affirmative.
    46    §  3.  Paragraph  a  of subdivision 7 of section 1608 of the education
    47  law, as amended by chapter 514 of the laws of 2016, is amended  to  read
    48  as follows:
    49    a.  Each  year,  commencing with the proposed budget for the two thou-
    50  sand--two thousand one school year, the trustee  or  board  of  trustees
    51  shall prepare a property tax report card, pursuant to regulations of the
    52  commissioner, and shall make it publicly available by transmitting it to
    53  local  newspapers  of general circulation, appending it to copies of the
    54  proposed budget made publicly available as required by  law,  making  it
    55  available  for distribution at the annual meeting, and otherwise dissem-
    56  inating it as required by  the  commissioner.  Such  report  card  shall

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     1  include: (i) the amount of total spending and total estimated school tax
     2  levy  that  would  result  from  adoption of the proposed budget and the
     3  percentage increase or decrease in total spending and total  school  tax
     4  levy  from the school district budget for the preceding school year; and
     5  (ii) the district's tax levy limit determined pursuant  to  section  two
     6  thousand  twenty-three-a  of  this  title,  and the estimated school tax
     7  levy, excluding any levy necessary to support the expenditures  pursuant
     8  to  subparagraphs  (i)  through [(iv)] (v) of paragraph i of subdivision
     9  two of section two thousand twenty-three-a of  this  title,  that  would
    10  result  from  adoption  of  the proposed budget; and (iii) the projected
    11  enrollment growth for the school year for which the budget is  prepared,
    12  and the percentage change in enrollment from the previous year; and (iv)
    13  the percentage increase in the consumer price index, as defined in para-
    14  graph  c  of this subdivision; and (v) the projected amount of the unap-
    15  propriated unreserved fund balance that will be retained if the proposed
    16  budget is adopted, the projected amount of the  reserved  fund  balance,
    17  the projected amount of the appropriated fund balance, the percentage of
    18  the  proposed  budget  that  the  unappropriated unreserved fund balance
    19  represents, the actual unappropriated unreserved fund  balance  retained
    20  in  the  school  district  budget for the preceding school year, and the
    21  percentage of the school district budget for the preceding  school  year
    22  that the actual unappropriated unreserved fund balance represents, and a
    23  schedule  of reserve funds, setting forth the name of each reserve fund,
    24  a description of its purpose, the balance as of the close of  the  third
    25  quarter of the current school district fiscal year and a brief statement
    26  explaining any plans for the use of each such reserve fund for the ensu-
    27  ing fiscal year.
    28    §  4.  Paragraph  a  of subdivision 7 of section 1716 of the education
    29  law, as amended by chapter 514 of the laws of 2016, is amended  to  read
    30  as follows:
    31    a.  Each  year,  commencing with the proposed budget for the two thou-
    32  sand--two thousand one school year, the board of education shall prepare
    33  a property tax report card, pursuant to regulations of the commissioner,
    34  and shall make it publicly available by transmitting it to local newspa-
    35  pers of general circulation, appending it  to  copies  of  the  proposed
    36  budget  made  publicly available as required by law, making it available
    37  for distribution at the annual meeting, and otherwise  disseminating  it
    38  as required by the commissioner. Such report card shall include: (i) the
    39  amount  of total spending and total estimated school tax levy that would
    40  result from adoption of the proposed budget and the percentage  increase
    41  or  decrease in total spending and total school tax levy from the school
    42  district budget for the preceding school year; and (ii)  the  district's
    43  tax   levy   limit   determined   pursuant   to   section  two  thousand
    44  twenty-three-a of this title, and the estimated school tax levy, exclud-
    45  ing any levy necessary to support the expenditures pursuant to  subpara-
    46  graphs  (i)  through  [(iv)]  (v)  of  paragraph i of subdivision two of
    47  section two thousand twenty-three-a of this  title,  that  would  result
    48  from adoption of the proposed budget; and (iii) the projected enrollment
    49  growth  for  the  school  year for which the budget is prepared, and the
    50  percentage change in enrollment from the previous  year;  and  (iv)  the
    51  percentage increase in the consumer price index, as defined in paragraph
    52  c  of  this subdivision; and (v) the projected amount of the unappropri-
    53  ated unreserved fund balance that will be retained if the proposed budg-
    54  et is adopted, the projected amount of the reserved  fund  balance,  the
    55  projected amount of the appropriated fund balance, the percentage of the
    56  proposed  budget that the unappropriated unreserved fund balance repres-

        A. 8076                             4

     1  ents, the actual unappropriated unreserved fund balance retained in  the
     2  school  district  budget  for  the  preceding school year, a schedule of
     3  reserve  funds,  setting  forth  the  name  of  each  reserve  fund,   a
     4  description  of  its  purpose,  the balance as of the close of the third
     5  quarter of the current school district fiscal year and a brief statement
     6  explaining any plans for the use of each such reserve fund for the ensu-
     7  ing fiscal year and the percentage of the school district budget for the
     8  preceding school year that the  actual  unappropriated  unreserved  fund
     9  balance represents.
    10    §  5.  The opening paragraph of subdivision 2-a of section 2022 of the
    11  education law, as amended by section 7 of part A of chapter  97  of  the
    12  laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
    13    Every  common,  union  free, central, central high school district and
    14  city school district to which this article applies shall mail  a  school
    15  budget  notice  to all qualified voters of the school district after the
    16  date of the budget hearing, but no later than  six  days  prior  to  the
    17  annual  meeting  and  election  or  special  district meeting at which a
    18  school budget vote will occur. The school budget  notice  shall  compare
    19  the percentage increase or decrease in total spending under the proposed
    20  budget  over total spending under the school district budget adopted for
    21  the current school year, with the percentage increase or decrease in the
    22  consumer price index, from January first of the  prior  school  year  to
    23  January  first  of  the  current school year, and shall also include the
    24  information required by paragraphs a and  b  of  this  subdivision.  The
    25  notice shall also set forth the date, time and place of the school budg-
    26  et  vote,  in  the  same  manner as in the notice of annual meeting, and
    27  shall also include the district's tax levy limit pursuant to section two
    28  thousand twenty-three-a of this part, and the estimated school tax levy,
    29  excluding any levy necessary to support  the  expenditures  pursuant  to
    30  subparagraphs  (i)  through [(iv)] (v) of paragraph i of subdivision two
    31  of section two thousand twenty-three-a of this part, that  would  result
    32  from  adoption  of  the  proposed budget. Such notice shall be in a form
    33  prescribed by the commissioner.
    34    § 6. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first  apply  to
    35  school district budgets and the budget adoption process or the 2024-2025
    36  school  year; and shall continue to apply to school district budgets and
    37  the budget adoption process for any school year beginning in any  calen-
    38  dar year during which this act is in effect.
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