Bill Text: NY A00500 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Phases in over five years full state funding of school district costs for school age children receiving special education programs and services; requires school districts to reduce their real property tax levy in an amount equal to the increase in state assistance.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - referred to education [A00500 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A00500-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 500 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 9, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ABINANTI -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. KEARNS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to state assistance to school districts for each school age child receiving special education programs and services The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative findings and purpose. The legislature finds 2 that the costs to school districts and, indirectly, to real property tax 3 payers for providing special education programs and services is increas- 4 ingly a burden making the essential educational mission more difficult 5 to carry out. The legislature further finds that special education is a 6 health based service and should more appropriately be borne by the state 7 government. Therefore, it is the purpose of this act to phase-in over 8 five years the assumption by the state of the costs to school districts 9 for each child receiving special education programs and services and to 10 provide that school property taxes be reduced accordingly. 11 § 2. Section 3602 of the education law is amended by adding a new 12 subdivision 21 to read as follows: 13 21. Special supplemental apportionment for school age children receiv- 14 ing special education programs and services. a. Notwithstanding any 15 other provision of law to the contrary, each school district shall 16 receive a special supplemental apportionment for school age children 17 receiving special education programs and services beginning July first, 18 two thousand eighteen and thereafter as provided herein. As used in this 19 subdivision, the base year apportionment shall be the amount payable for 20 each school district's claims for school age children receiving special 21 education programs and services for the school year beginning July 22 first, two thousand seventeen. For the school year beginning July first, 23 two thousand eighteen, each school district shall receive their base 24 year apportionment plus not less than twenty percent of the difference EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD03320-01-7A. 500 2 1 between such apportionment and its total cost for special education 2 programs. For the school year beginning July first, two thousand nine- 3 teen, each school district shall receive their base year apportionment 4 plus not less than forty percent of the difference between such appor- 5 tionment and its total cost for special education programs. For the 6 school year beginning July first, two thousand twenty, each school 7 district shall receive their base year apportionment plus not less than 8 sixty percent of the difference between such apportionment and its total 9 cost for special education programs. For the school year beginning July 10 first, two thousand twenty-one, each school district shall receive their 11 base year apportionment plus not less than eighty percent of the differ- 12 ence between such apportionment and its total cost for special education 13 programs. For the school year beginning July first, two thousand twen- 14 ty-two and thereafter, each school district receives an apportionment 15 equal to its total cost for special education programs. 16 b. School districts shall apply the increments in apportionment 17 received pursuant to this subdivision to reducing their tax levy from 18 real property taxes. For each taxable year after the special apportion- 19 ments commence, each school district shall certify to the commissioner 20 that it has made the reduction to its real property tax levy as required 21 by this paragraph. 22 c. The legislature shall annually appropriate an amount within the 23 appropriation for general support for public schools sufficient to 24 support all aid payments incurred pursuant to paragraph a of this subdi- 25 vision. 26 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
