Bill Text: NY A08708 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Requires any state aid owed to a school district from a prior year adjustment be paid as part of the first state aid payment of the following school year following the notification of such payments.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2026-03-19 - print number 8708b [A08708 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A08708-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8708

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      June 2, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. McDONALD -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Education

        AN  ACT  to amend the education law, in relation to prior year state aid
          adjustments

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

     1    Section  1.  Subdivision  5  of  section 3604 of the education law, as
     2  amended by chapter 82 of the laws of 1995, paragraph  a  as  amended  by
     3  chapter  161  of the laws of 2005, and paragraph b as amended by section
     4  59 of part A of chapter 436  of the laws of 1997, is amended to read  as
     5  follows:
     6    5. a. (i) State aid adjustments. All errors or omissions in the appor-
     7  tionment  shall  be  corrected  by  the  commissioner. Whenever a school
     8  district has been apportioned less money than that to which it is  enti-
     9  tled,  the  commissioner may allot to such district the balance to which
    10  it is entitled. Whenever a school district  has  been  apportioned  more
    11  money  than  that  to  which it is entitled, the commissioner may, by an
    12  order, direct such moneys to be paid back to the state to be credited to
    13  the general fund local assistance account for state aid to the  schools,
    14  or may deduct such amount from the [next] first apportionment to be made
    15  in the subsequent school year to said district[, provided].
    16    (ii)  Provided, however, that, upon notification of excess payments of
    17  aid for which a recovery must be made by the state through deduction  of
    18  future  aid  payments,  where  the    total amount to be recovered is in
    19  excess of one percent of the district's total general fund  expenditures
    20  for the preceding school year, a school district may request  that  such
    21  excess  payments be recovered by deducting such excess payments from the
    22  payments due to such school district and payable in the [month  of  June
    23  in  (i)] first available apportionment  of the school year following the
    24  school year in which such notification was received and [(ii)]  the  two
    25  succeeding  school years, provided further that there shall be no inter-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13063-01-5
        A. 8708                             2

     1  est penalty assessed against such district or collected  by  the  state.
     2  Such  request  shall  be  made  to  the commissioner in such form as the
     3  commissioner shall prescribe[, and shall be based on documentation  that
     4  the  total  amount  to  be  recovered is in excess of one percent of the
     5  district's total general fund  expenditures  for  the  preceding  school
     6  year].  The amount to be deducted in the first year shall be the greater
     7  of [(i)] (A) the sum of the amount  of  such  excess  payments  that  is
     8  recognized  as  a liability due to other governments by the district for
     9  the preceding school year and the positive remainder of  the  district's
    10  unreserved  fund  balance at the close of the preceding school year less
    11  the product of the district's total general fund  expenditures  for  the
    12  preceding  school  year  multiplied  by five percent, or [(ii)] (B) one-
    13  third of such excess payments. The amount to be recovered in the  second
    14  year  shall  equal  the  lesser  of  the remaining amount of such excess
    15  payments to be recovered or one-third of such excess payments,  and  the
    16  remaining amount of such excess payments shall be recovered in the third
    17  year.  [Provided  further  that, notwithstanding any other provisions of
    18  this subdivision, any pending payment of moneys due to such district  as
    19  a prior year adjustment payable pursuant to paragraph c of this subdivi-
    20  sion  for  aid  claims that had been previously paid as current year aid
    21  payments in excess of the amount to which the district is  entitled  and
    22  for  which  recovery  of  excess payments is to be made pursuant to this
    23  paragraph, shall be reduced at the time of actual payment by any remain-
    24  ing unrecovered balance of such excess payments, and the remaining sche-
    25  duled deductions of such excess  payments  pursuant  to  this  paragraph
    26  shall  be  reduced  by  the commissioner to reflect the amount so recov-
    27  ered.]
    28    (iii) The commissioner shall certify no payment to a  school  district
    29  based on a claim submitted later than three years after the close of the
    30  school  year in which such payment was first to be made.  For claims for
    31  which payment is first to be made in the nineteen  hundred  ninety-six--
    32  ninety-seven school year, the commissioner shall certify no payment to a
    33  school  district  based  on a claim submitted later than two years after
    34  the close of such school year. For claims for which payment is first  to
    35  be  made  in the nineteen hundred ninety-seven--ninety-eight school year
    36  and thereafter, the commissioner shall certify no payment  to  a  school
    37  district  based on a claim submitted later than one year after the close
    38  of such school year. Provided, however, no payments shall be  barred  or
    39  reduced  where  such payment is required as a result of a final audit of
    40  the state. It is further provided that, until June  thirtieth,  nineteen
    41  hundred  ninety-six,  the  commissioner  may  grant  a  waiver  from the
    42  provisions of this section for any school district if it is in the  best
    43  educational  interests  of the district pursuant to guidelines developed
    44  by the commissioner and approved by the director of the budget.
    45    b. Claims resulting from court orders or judgments. Any payment  which
    46  would  be  due  as  the result of a court order or judgment shall not be
    47  barred, provided that, commencing January first, nineteen hundred  nine-
    48  ty-six,  such  court order or judgment and any other data required shall
    49  be filed with the comptroller within one year from the date of the court
    50  order or judgment, and provided  further  that  the  commissioner  shall
    51  certify  no payment to a school district for a specific school year that
    52  is based on a claim that results from a  court  order  or  judgement  so
    53  filed  with  the  comptroller  unless  the total value of such claim, as
    54  determined by the commissioner, is  greater  than  one  percent  of  the
    55  school  district's  total  revenues  from  state  sources  as previously
        A. 8708                             3

     1  recorded in the general fund and reported  to  the  comptroller  in  the
     2  annual financial report of the school district for such school year.
     3    c.  Payment  of moneys due for prior years. State aid payments due for
     4  prior years in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision  shall
     5  be  paid  [within  the  limit  of  the appropriation designated therefor
     6  provided, however, that each eligible claim  shall  be  payable  in  the
     7  order  that it has been approved for payment by the commissioner, but in
     8  no case shall a single claim draw down more than forty  percent  of  the
     9  appropriation so designated for a single year, and provided further that
    10  no  claim  shall  be  set  aside  for  insufficiency  of funds to make a
    11  complete payment, but shall be eligible for a  partial  payment  in  one
    12  year and shall retain its priority date status for appropriations desig-
    13  nated  for  such purposes in future years] to the school district in the
    14  first apportionment of the school year  following  the  notification  of
    15  such  payments.  For  payment of eligible claims approved by the commis-
    16  sioner as of June thirtieth, two thousand twenty-five, the  state  shall
    17  annually  appropriate and pay the lesser of fifty million dollars or the
    18  total sum  then due and owing to school districts  as  eligible  claims,
    19  whenever approved by the  commissioner.
    20    §  2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to school
    21  years commencing on and after July 1, 2026.