CHAPTER 23
H.P. 1189 - L.D. 1684
An Act Regarding Transition Provisions for the Sharing of Costs in Certain School Districts
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts of the Legislature do not become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, Public Law 2005, chapter 2 directs the Department of Education to conduct a review and analysis of the implications of the proposed cost-sharing mechanism established pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15688, subsection 2 on the member municipalities of school administrative districts and community school districts whose cost-sharing formulas were established in accordance with Title 20-A, sections 1301 and 1704, respectively; and
Whereas, it is necessary to establish transition provisions for certain school districts whose cost-sharing formulas may result in adverse fiscal impacts for member municipalities within those school districts in fiscal year 2005-06; and
Whereas, it is necessary to allow the Department of Education additional time to assist certain school districts in developing transition plans that include a phase-in to achieve the new method of determining member municipalities' local contribution to the total cost of education in accordance with Title 20-A, section 15688, subsection 2; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. Transition adjustments. The following transition adjustments apply to eligible school administrative districts and community school districts.
1. For fiscal year 2005-06, eligible school administrative districts and community school districts must receive transition adjustments to the member municipalities' local contributions and the districts' state contributions.
A. A school administrative district or community school district is eligible for these adjustments if it meets the following eligibility criteria.
(1) One or more member municipalities, but not all the district's member municipalities, have a local contribution that is below the 8.26 mill expectation.
(2) A member municipality's local contribution pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15688 is 5% greater than that municipality's local share would have been under its existing local cost-sharing formula.
B. A school administrative district or community school district that meets the eligibility criteria in paragraph A must receive a transition adjustment to the state contribution equal to the following.
(1) For each municipality in the district that meets the eligibility criteria in paragraph A, the sum of each municipality's special education allocation as determined in paragraph D multiplied by 0.25.
C. A school administrative district or community school district that meets the eligibility criteria in paragraph A must have its local contribution adjusted as follows.
(1) For each municipality in the district that meets the eligibility criteria in paragraph A, the municipality's local contribution as determined pursuant to Title 20-A, section 15688 must be reduced by an amount equal to the municipality's special education allocation as determined in paragraph D multiplied by 0.25.
D. Each member municipality's special education allocation is the special education allocation pursuant to Title 20-A, section 15681-A, subsection 2 for the district multiplied by the percentage of calendar year resident pupils in each municipality.
This section is repealed June 30, 2006.
Sec. 2. Method of sharing total costs in School Administrative District No. 71; transition provision. Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15688, subsection 3-A, the local contribution to the total cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12 for each member municipality in School Administrative District No. 71 is subject to the following transition provisions for fiscal year 2005-06 to fiscal year 2008-09 and future years. For each of these fiscal years, School Administrative District No. 71 shall calculate the local contribution for each member municipality in the school district as follows.
1. For fiscal year 2005-06, 50% of the local contribution for each municipality must be based on property fiscal capacity as defined in Title 20-A, section 15672, subsection 23, and 50% must be based on pupil counts pursuant to Title 20-A, section 15674, subsection 1, paragraph C.
2. For fiscal year 2006-07, 40% of the local contribution for each municipality must be based on property fiscal capacity as defined in Title 20-A, section 15672, subsection 23, and 60% must be based on pupil counts pursuant to Title 20-A, section 15674, subsection 1, paragraph C.
3. For fiscal year 2007-08, 30% of the local contribution for each municipality must be based on property fiscal capacity as defined in Title 20-A, section 15672, subsection 23, and 70% must be based on pupil counts pursuant to Title 20-A, section 15674, subsection 1, paragraph C.
4. For fiscal year 2008-09 and subsequent fiscal years, the local contribution for each municipality must be determined pursuant to Title 20-A, section 15688.
Sec. 3. Method of sharing total costs in Manchester, Mount Vernon, Readfield and Wayne Community School District; transition provision. Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15688, subsections 2 and 3, and to ensure that none of the member municipalities in the Manchester, Mount Vernon, Readfield and Wayne Community School District, referred to in this section as "the school district," experiences significant adverse effects as a result of the cost-sharing mechanism established pursuant to Title 20-A, section 15688, subsections 2 and 3, the school district's contribution to the total cost of funding public education from grade 6 to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act must be contributed to by the school district's member municipalities in accordance with the transition provisions set forth in this section for fiscal year 2005-06 to fiscal year 2008-09. For each of these 4 fiscal years, the school district shall determine each member municipality's percentage share of the school district's contribution to the total cost of funding public education from grade 6 to grade 12 in accordance with Title 20-A, section 15688 and in accordance with the school district's prior cost-sharing formula.
1. For fiscal year 2005-06, 60% of the school district's contribution to the total cost of funding public education from grade 6 to grade 12 must be allocated among the member municipalities based on the percentages determined in accordance with Title 20-A, section 15688, and 40% of the school district's contribution to the total cost of funding public education from grade 6 to grade 12 must be allocated among the member municipalities in accordance with the percentages determined in accordance with the school district's prior cost-sharing formula.
2. For fiscal year 2006-07, 75% of the school district's contribution to the total cost of funding public education from grade 6 to grade 12 must be allocated among the member municipalities based on the percentages determined in accordance with Title 20-A, section 15688, and 25% of the school district's contribution to the total cost of funding public education from grade 6 to grade 12 must be allocated among the member municipalities in accordance with the percentages determined in accordance with the school district's prior cost-sharing formula.
3. For fiscal year 2007-08, 90% of the school district's contribution to the total cost of funding public education from grade 6 to grade 12 must be allocated among the member municipalities based on the percentages determined in accordance with Title 20-A, section 15688, and 10% of the school district's contribution to the total cost of funding public education from grade 6 to grade 12 must be allocated among the member municipalities in accordance with the percentages determined in accordance with the school district's prior cost-sharing formula.
4. For fiscal year 2008-09, 100% of the school district's contribution to the total cost of funding public education from grade 6 to grade 12 must be allocated among the member municipalities based on the percentages determined in accordance with Title 20-A, section 15688.
This section does not take effect unless the following article is approved at a district meeting of the Manchester, Mount Vernon, Readfield and Wayne Community School District prior to June 30, 2005:
Article ___: Shall the Manchester, Mount Vernon, Readfield and Wayne Community School District approve a cost-sharing transition provision for fiscal years 2005-06 through 2008-09 under which the district's contribution to the total cost of funding public education from grade 6 to grade 12 under the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act is shared by the member municipalities of the district partially on the basis of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15688 and partially on the basis of the district's prior cost-sharing formula in accordance with the following percentages:
FISCAL YEAR |
PERCENTAGE SHARED UNDER |
PERCENTAGE SHARED UNDER DISTRICT'S COST-SHARING FORMULA |
2005-06 |
60% |
40% |
2006-07 |
75% |
25% |
2007-08 |
90% |
10% |
2008-09 |
100% |
0% |
The district meeting at which the article is considered must be conducted in accordance with the same procedures as a regular annual budget meeting conducted pursuant to Title 20-A, section 1701.
Sec. 4. Method of sharing costs in School Administrative District No. 74; transition provision. Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15688, subsections 2 and 3, and to ensure that the member municipalities in School Administrative District No. 74 do not experience significant adverse effects as a result of the cost-sharing mechanism established pursuant to Title 20-A, section 15688, subsections 2 and 3, the Department of Education shall continue to review and analyze the implications of this proposed cost-sharing mechanism on the member municipalities in School Administrative District No. 74. The Department of Education shall assist the member municipalities in School Administrative District No. 74 in developing a transition plan that includes a phase-in to achieve the new method of determining member municipalities' local cost of education in accordance with Title 20-A, section 15688, subsections 2 and 3 no later than fiscal year 2008-09. The Department of Education shall report the findings of this review, including any recommended legislation, to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs no later than February 1, 2006. The Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs is authorized to introduce a bill related to the Department of Education report to the Second Regular Session of the 122nd Legislature.
Sec. 5. State valuation for Town of Lincoln. Notwithstanding the filing deadline set forth in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, section 208-A, the Town of Lincoln may request a reduction in its state valuation under Title 36, section 208-A for the year 2004 based on the reduction in value of the Eastern Fine Paper plant in the town.
Sec. 6. General purpose aid for local schools; Town of Lincoln. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commissioner of Education shall adjust the payments to the Town of Lincoln for general purpose aid for local schools in accordance with the 2004 state valuation amount of $225,000,000 for fiscal year 2005-06. If any savings occur in fiscal year 2005-06 general purpose aid for local schools account, the appropriate amount of those savings must be applied to increase the general purpose aid for local schools allocation to School Administrative District No. 67 for fiscal year 2005-06. If insufficient savings occur in the fiscal year 2005-06 general purpose aid for local schools account, the appropriate increase in the general purpose aid for local schools allocation to School Administrative District No. 67 for 2005-06 must be applied as an audit adjustment to the general purpose aid for local schools allocation in fiscal year 2006-07.
Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this Act takes effect when approved.
Effective June 7, 2005.
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