Introduced Version
House Bill 2360 History
OTHER VERSIONS -
Committee Substitute
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H. B. 2360
(By Delegate M. Poling)
[Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to repeal §11-1C-5b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended; to repeal §18-9A-2a of said code; and to amend and
reenact §18-9A-2 and §18-9A-11 of said code, all relating to
public school support computation of local share; removing
provisions for using assumed assessed values for the purpose
of computation; removing certain provisions for increasing
counties' local share responsibility; revising a definition;
making legislative findings on the effect that under assessed
property values has on school funding; setting forth the duty
of county assessors to accurately assess property taxes; and
setting forth the duty of the Tax Commissioner to ensure a
thorough and efficient education of the state's children is
not to be diminished by the under assessment of property
taxes.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-1C-5b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be repealed; that §18-9A-2a of said code be repealed; and that
§18-9A-2 and §18-9A-11 of said code be amended and reenacted, all
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.
§18-9A-2. Definitions.
For the purpose of this article:
(a) "State board" means the West Virginia Board of Education.
(b) "County board" or "board" means a county board of
education.
(c) "Professional salaries" means the state legally mandated
salaries of the professional educators as provided in article four,
chapter eighteen-a of this code.
(d) "Professional educator" shall be synonymous with and shall
have the same meaning as "teacher" as defined in section one,
article one of this chapter, and includes technology integration
specialists.
(e) "Professional instructional personnel" means a
professional educator whose regular duty is as that of a classroom
teacher, librarian, attendance director or school psychologist. A
professional educator having both instructional and administrative
or other duties shall be included as professional instructional
personnel for that ratio of the school day for which he or she is
assigned and serves on a regular full-time basis in appropriate instruction, library, attendance, or psychologist duties.
(f) "Professional student support personnel" means a "teacher"
as defined in section one, article one of this chapter who is
assigned and serves on a regular full-time basis as a counselor or
as a school nurse with a bachelor's degree and who is licensed by
the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional
Nurses. For all purposes except for the determination of the
allowance for professional educators pursuant to section four of
this article, professional student support personnel are
professional educators.
(g) "Service personnel salaries" means the state legally
mandated salaries for service personnel as provided in section
eight-a, article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code.
(h) "Service personnel" means all personnel as provided in
section eight, article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code. For
the purpose of computations under this article of ratios of service
personnel to net enrollment, a service employee shall be counted as
that number found by dividing his or her number of employment days
in a fiscal year by two hundred: Provided, That the computation
for any service person employed for three and one-half hours or
less per day as provided in section eight-a, article four, chapter
eighteen-a of this code shall be calculated as one-half an
employment day.
(i) "Net enrollment" means the number of pupils enrolled in special education programs, kindergarten programs and grades one to
twelve, inclusive, of the public schools of the county. Net
enrollment further shall include:
(1) Adults enrolled in regular secondary vocational programs
existing as of the effective date of this section, subject to the
following:
(A) Net enrollment includes no more than one thousand of those
adults counted on the basis of full-time equivalency and
apportioned annually to each county in proportion to the adults
participating in regular secondary vocational programs in the prior
year counted on the basis of full-time equivalency; and
(B) Net enrollment does not include any adult charged tuition
or special fees beyond that required of the regular secondary
vocational student;
(2) Students enrolled in early childhood education programs as
provided in section forty-four, article five of this chapter,
counted on the basis of full-time equivalency;
(3) No pupil shall be counted more than once by reason of
transfer within the county or from another county within the state,
and no pupil shall be counted who attends school in this state from
another state;
(4) The enrollment shall be modified to the equivalent of the
instructional term and in accordance with the eligibility
requirements and rules established by the state board; and
(5) For the purposes of determining the county's basic
foundation program, only for any county whose net enrollment as
determined under all other provisions of this definition is less
than one thousand four hundred, the net enrollment of the county
shall be increased by an amount to be determined in accordance with
the following:
(A) Divide the state's lowest county student population
density by the county's actual student population density;
(B) Multiply the amount derived from the calculation in
paragraph (A) of this subdivision by the difference between one
thousand four hundred and the county's actual net enrollment;
(C) If the increase in net enrollment as determined under this
subdivision plus the county's net enrollment as determined under
all other provisions of this subsection is greater than one
thousand four hundred, the increase in net enrollment shall be
reduced so that the total does not exceed one thousand four
hundred; and
(D) During the 2008-2009 interim period and every three
interim periods thereafter, the Legislative Oversight Commission on
Education Accountability shall review the provisions of this
subdivision to determine whether or not they properly address the
needs of counties with low enrollment and a sparse population
density.
(j) "Sparse-density county" means a county whose ratio of net enrollment, excluding any increase in the net enrollment of
counties pursuant to subdivision (5) of the definition of net
enrollment, to the square miles of the county is less than five.
(k) "Low-density county" means a county whose ratio of net
enrollment, excluding any increase in the net enrollment of
counties pursuant to subdivision (5) of the definition of net
enrollment, to the square miles of the county is equal to or
greater than five but less than ten.
(l) "Medium-density county" means a county whose ratio of net
enrollment, excluding any increase in the net enrollment of
counties pursuant to subdivision (5) of the definition of net
enrollment, to the square miles of the county is equal to or
greater than ten but less than twenty.
(m) "High-density county" means a county whose ratio of net
enrollment, excluding any increase in the net enrollment of
counties pursuant to subdivision (5) of the definition of net
enrollment, to the square miles of the county is equal to or
greater than twenty.
(n) "Levies for general current expense purposes" means
ninety-four ninety percent of the levy rate for county boards of
education calculated or set by the Legislature pursuant to the
provisions of section six-f, article eight, chapter eleven of this
code. Provided, That beginning July 1, 2008, "levies for general
current expense purposes" means ninety percent of the levy rate for county boards of education calculated or set by the Legislature
pursuant to the provisions of section six-f, article eight, chapter
eleven of this code: Provided, however, That effective July 1,
2010, the definitions set forth in this subsection are subject to
the provisions of section two-a of this article.
(o) "Technology integration specialist" means a professional
educator who has expertise in the technology field and is assigned
as a resource teacher to provide information and guidance to
classroom teachers on the integration of technology into the
curriculum.
(p) "State aid eligible personnel" means all professional
educators and service personnel employed by a county board in
positions that are eligible to be funded under this article and
whose salaries are not funded by a specific funding source such as
a federal or state grant, donation, contribution or other specific
funding source not listed.
§18-9A-11. Computation of local share; appraisal and assessment
of property; modifications for tax increment
financing county school facilities; public library
support.
(a) On the basis of each county's certificates of valuation as
to all classes of property as determined and published by the
assessors pursuant to section six, article three, chapter eleven of this code for the next ensuing fiscal year in reliance upon the
assessed values annually developed by each county assessor pursuant
to the provisions of articles one-c and three of said that chapter,
the state board shall for each county compute by application of the
levies for general current expense purposes, as defined in section
two of this article, the amount of revenue which the levies would
produce if levied upon one hundred percent of the assessed value of
each of the several classes of property contained in the report or
revised report of the value, made to it by the Tax Commissioner as
follows:
(1) The state board shall first take ninety-five percent of
the amount ascertained by applying these rates to the total
assessed public utility valuation in each classification of
property in the county; and
(2) The state board shall then apply these rates to the
assessed taxable value of other property in each classification in
the county as determined by the Tax Commissioner and shall deduct
therefrom five percent as an allowance for the usual losses in
collections due to discounts, exonerations, delinquencies and the
like. All of the amount so determined shall be added to the
ninety-five percent of public utility taxes computed as provided in
subdivision (1) of this subsection and this total shall be further
reduced by the amount due each county assessor's office pursuant to
the provisions of section eight, article one-c, chapter eleven of this code and this amount shall be the local share of the
particular county.
As to any estimations or preliminary computations of local
share required prior to the report to the Legislature by the Tax
Commissioner, the state shall use the most recent projections or
estimations that may be available from the Tax Department for that
purpose.
(b) Effective the first day of July, two thousand thirteen,
subsection (a) of this section is void and local share shall be
calculated in accordance with the following:
(1) The state board shall for each county compute by
application of the levies for general current expense purposes, as
defined in sections two and two-a of this article, the amount of
revenue which the levies would produce if levied upon one hundred
percent of the assessed value calculated pursuant to section
five-b, article one-c, chapter eleven of this code;
(2) Five percent shall be deducted from the revenue calculated
pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection as an allowance for
the usual losses in collections due to discounts, exonerations,
delinquencies and the like; and
(3) The amount calculated in subdivision (2) of this
subsection shall further be reduced by the sum of money due each
assessor's office pursuant to the provisions of section eight,
article one-c, chapter eleven of this code and this reduced amount shall be the local share of the particular county.
(c) (b) (1) The Legislature finds that when property taxes for
public school purposes are under assessed in a county, the local
share obligation of the county for funding its basic foundation
program is undervalued, resulting in added cost to the state's
general revenue to compensate for the under assessment and fully
fund the county's basic foundation. The Legislature further finds
that the amount of property tax revenues available for support of
the county's school system above its basic foundation obligation
are also less than would be the case if the property taxes of the
county were assessed at the Constitutionally required uniform
percentage. Therefore, the Legislature finds that it is the duty
of county assessors to assess property taxes as required by law and
it is the duty of the Tax Commissioner to oversee them to ensure
that the obligations for providing a thorough and efficient
education for the children of the county are not diminished by the
under assessment of property taxes.
_____(2) Whenever in any year a county assessor or a county
commission fails or refuses to comply with the provisions of this
section in setting the valuations of property for assessment
purposes in any class or classes of property in the county, the
State Tax Commissioner shall review the valuations for assessment
purposes made by the county assessor and the county commission and
shall direct the county assessor and the county commission to make corrections in the valuations as necessary so that they comply with
the requirements of chapter eleven of this code and this section
and the Tax Commissioner shall enter the county and fix the
assessments at the required ratios. Refusal of the assessor or the
county commission to make the corrections constitutes grounds for
removal from office.
(d) (c) For the purposes of any computation made in accordance
with the provisions of this section, in any taxing unit in which
tax increment financing is in effect pursuant to the provisions of
article eleven-b, chapter seven of this code, the assessed value of
a related private project shall be the base-assessed value as
defined in section two of said article.
(e) (d) For purposes of any computation made in accordance
with the provisions of this section, in any county where the county
board of education has adopted a resolution choosing to use the
provisions of the Growth County School Facilities Act set forth in
section six-f, article eight, chapter eleven of this code,
estimated school board revenues generated from application of the
regular school board levy rate to new property values, as that term
is designated in said section, may not be considered local share
funds and shall be subtracted before the computations in
subdivisions (1) and (2), subsection (a) of this section or in
subdivisions (2) and (3), subsection (b) of this section, as
applicable are made.
(f) (e) The Legislature finds that public school systems
throughout the state provide support in varying degrees to public
libraries through a variety of means including budgeted
allocations, excess levy funds and portions of their regular school
board levies as may be provided by special act. A number of public
libraries are situated on the campuses of public schools and
several are within public school buildings serving both the
students and public patrons. To the extent that public schools
recognize and choose to avail the resources of public libraries
toward developing within their students such legally recognized
elements of a thorough and efficient education as literacy,
interests in literature, knowledge of government and the world
around them and preparation for advanced academic training, work
and citizenship, public libraries serve a legitimate school purpose
and may do so economically. For the purposes of any computation
made in accordance with the provisions of this section, the library
funding obligation on the regular school board levies which is
created by a special act and is due and payable from the levy
revenues to a library shall be paid from the county school board's
discretionary retainage, which is hereby defined as the amount by
which the regular school board levies exceeds the local share as
determined hereunder. If the library funding obligation which is
created by a special act and is due and payable to a library is
greater than the county school board's discretionary retainage, the library funding obligation created by the special act is amended
and is reduced to the amount of the discretionary retainage,
notwithstanding any provisions of the special act to the contrary.
Any excess of the discretionary retainage over the library funding
obligation shall be available for expenditure by the county board
in its discretion for its properly budgeted purposes.
(g) (f) It is the intent of the Legislature that whenever a
provision of subsection (f) (e) of this section is contrary to any
special act of the Legislature which has been or may in the future
be enacted by the Legislature that creates a library funding
obligation on the regular school board levy of a county, subsection
(f) (e) of this section controls over the special act.
Specifically, the special acts which are subject to said subsection
upon the enactment of this section during the 2007 regular session
of the Legislature include:
(1) Enrolled Senate Bill No. 11, passed on February 12, 1970,
applicable to the Berkeley County Board of Education;
(2) Enrolled House Bill No. 1352, passed on April 7, 1981,
applicable to the Hardy County Board of Education;
(3) Enrolled Committee Substitute for House Bill No. 2833,
passed on March 14, 1987, applicable to the Harrison County Board
of Education;
(4) Enrolled House Bill No. 161, passed on March 6, 1957,
applicable to the Kanawha County Board of Education;
(5) Enrolled Senate Bill No. 313, passed on March 12, 1937, as
amended by Enrolled House Bill No. 1074, passed on March 8, 1967,
and as amended by Enrolled House Bill No. 1195, passed on January
18, 1982, applicable to the Ohio County Board of Education;
(6) Enrolled House Bill No. 938, passed on February 28, 1969,
applicable to the Raleigh County Board of Education;
(7) Enrolled House Bill No. 398, passed on March 1, 1935,
applicable to the Tyler County Board of Education;
(8) Enrolled Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 450,
passed on March 11, 1994, applicable to the Upshur County Board of
Education; and
(9) Enrolled House Bill No. 2994, passed on March 13, 1987,
applicable to the Wood County Board of Education.
(h) (g) Notwithstanding any provision of any special act set
forth in subsection (g) (f) of this section to the contrary, the
county board of any county with a special act creating a library
obligation out of the county's regular school levy revenues may
transfer that library obligation so that it becomes a continuing
obligation of its excess levy revenues instead of an obligation of
its regular school levy revenues, subject to the following:
(1) If a county board chooses to transfer the library
obligation pursuant to this subsection, the library funding
obligation shall remain an obligation of the regular school levy
revenues until the fiscal year in which the excess levy is effective or would have been effective if it had been passed by the
voters;
(2) If a county board chooses to transfer the library
obligation pursuant to this subsection, the county board shall
include the funding of the public library obligation in the same
amount as its library funding obligation which exists or had
existed on its regular levy revenues as one of the purposes for the
excess levy to be voted on as a specifically described line item of
the excess levy: Provided, That if the county board has
transferred the library obligation to the excess levy and the
excess levy fails to be passed by the voters or the excess levy
passes and thereafter expires upon the time limit for continuation
as set forth in section sixteen, article eight, chapter eleven of
this code, then in any subsequent excess levy which the county
board thereafter submits to the voters the library funding
obligation again shall be included as one of the purposes of the
subsequent excess levy as a specifically described line item of the
excess levy;
(3) If a county board chooses to transfer the library
obligation pursuant to this subsection, regardless of whether or
not the excess levy passes, effective the fiscal year in which the
excess levy is effective or would have been effective if it had
been passed by the voters, a county's library obligation on its
regular levy revenues is void notwithstanding any provision of the special acts set forth in subsection (g) (f) of this section to the
contrary; and
(4) Nothing in subdivision (3) of this subsection prohibits a
county board from funding its public library obligation
voluntarily.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill concerns
public school support
computation of local share. The bill removes provisions for using
assumed assessed values for the purpose of computation. The bill
removes provisions for increasing counties' local share
responsibility for funding basic foundation education formula. The
bill revises a definition. The bill makes legislative findings on
the effect that under assessed property values has on school
funding. The bill sets forth that it is the duty of county
assessors to accurately assess property taxes. The bill establishes
the duty of the Tax Commissioner to ensure a thorough and efficient
education of the state's children is not diminished by the under
assessment of property taxes.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
The bill repeals §11-1C-5b and §18-9A-2a.
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