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

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-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         8708--A

                               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  --  recommitted  to  the Committee on Education in
          accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged,  bill
          amended,  ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
          tee

        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

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13063-03-6
        A. 8708--A                          2

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

     1  determined  by  the  commissioner,  is  greater  than one percent of the
     2  school district's  total  revenues  from  state  sources  as  previously
     3  recorded  in  the  general  fund  and reported to the comptroller in the
     4  annual financial report of the school district for such school year.
     5    c.  Payment  of moneys due for prior years. State aid payments due for
     6  prior years in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision  prior
     7  to July first, two thousand twenty-six shall be paid within the limit of
     8  the  appropriation  designated  therefor  provided,  however,  that each
     9  eligible claim shall be payable in the order that it has  been  approved
    10  for  payment  by  the  commissioner, but in no case shall a single claim
    11  draw down more than forty percent of the appropriation so designated for
    12  a single year, and provided further that no claim shall be set aside for
    13  insufficiency of funds to make a complete payment, but shall be eligible
    14  for a partial payment in one year and shall  retain  its  priority  date
    15  status  for appropriations designated for such purposes in future years.
    16  Beginning July first, two thousand twenty-six  state  aid  payments  for
    17  prior  years in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision shall
    18  be paid to a school district in the first apportionment  of  the  school
    19  year following the notification of such payments.
    20    §  2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to school
    21  years commencing on and after July 1, 2026.