| (4) For purposes of prioritization, enrollment increases
over the previous five years shall be determined using Texas Student
Data System Public Education Information Management System (TSDS PEIMS)
submission data available at the time of application.
(5) For purposes of prioritization, outstanding debt
is defined as voter-approved bonded debt or lease-purchase debt outstanding
at the time of the application deadline.
(6) All final calculations of assistance earned shall
be based on property values as certified by the comptroller for the
current school year under TEC, §48.256, and the final ADA for
the current school year. A district must request any adjustment to
state assistance based on changes in the final ADA, property values,
or debt service or based on any other reason no later than three years
following August 31 of the state fiscal year for which the adjustment
is sought.
(7) For the TEA to determine eligible debt service
applicable to eligible bonded debt or the underlying bonds of an eligible
lease-purchase agreement, the debt service schedule a district submits
on the application must reflect the debt service schedule the district
reported in the FOS or, if no FOS is prepared, in the final bond order
or other official document describing the relevant financing activity,
including a final debt service schedule. Failure to submit the required
amended application packet to the TEA following any refinancing transaction
as required by subsection (d)(7) of this section will result in the
disqualification of debt service as prescribed in subsection (d)(8)
of this section. IFA state aid for debt service payments that are
later determined to be disqualified may be recovered through the reduction
of future IFA state aid payments for the affected debt issuance.
(i) Allocation of debt service between qualified and
nonqualified projects. Debt service shall be allocated between qualified
and nonqualified purposes and between eligible and ineligible categories
of debt. The method used for allocation between qualified and nonqualified
purposes shall be on the basis of pro rata value of the instructional
facility versus the noninstructional purposes over the life of the
debt service. The method of allocation of debt service between eligible
and ineligible categories shall be on the basis of the pro rata value
of the refinanced portion of the bond issue versus the new money portion
of the bond issue. The method used for the allocation of debt service
between qualified and nonqualified projects and between eligible and
ineligible debt will be applied to the debt service schedule for the
original bond issuance and for the revised debt service schedule that
results from the refinancing of IFA-eligible bonds. This allocation
method will also be applied to determine the eligible and qualified
portions of the debt service on the bonds that are issued to refinance
IFA-supported debt. Total IFA-eligible debt service for refinanced
bonds is determined by the following method.
(1) The amount of remaining debt service on the original
IFA-funded debt service must be reflected in the revised debt service
schedule reported in the FOS, or (if no FOS is prepared) in a schedule
submitted to the TEA, for that bond issue. The amount of IFA-related
debt service for this bond series will be determined using the same
pro rata allocation that was used to allocate the debt service for
the original IFA allotment award as described in this subsection.
(2) The portion of the IFA-eligible debt service on
the bond issue that refunds the IFA-supported debt is determined by:
(A) multiplying the debt service on the refunding bonds
by the ratio that results from dividing the principal of refunding
bonds by the total issue amount to determine the amount of IFA-related
debt service associated with the refunding bonds; and
(B) then allocating the IFA-related debt service associated
with the refunding bonds using the same pro rata allocation that was
used to allocate the debt service for the original IFA allotment award
as described in this subsection.
(3) The total amount of qualified, eligible IFA-related
debt service is determined by the sum of IFA-related debt service
as determined in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection.
(j) Payments and deposits.
(1) Payment of state assistance shall be made as soon
as practicable after September 1 of each year. No payments shall be
made until the execution of the bond order or the authorization of
the lease-purchase agreement, whichever is applicable, has occurred.
Requests for payments and/or adjustments submitted to the TEA after
December 15 may be processed with the payments due for the following
fiscal year in accordance with TEC, §46.009(d). Debt service
for IFA-supported debt that is subject to the provisions of subsection
(d)(7) of this section because of a refinancing or other transaction
as described in subsection (d) of this section is not eligible for
IFA state aid until a complete amended application packet has been
submitted to the TEA, subject to the provisions of subsection (d)(8)
of this section.
(2) Funds received from the state for bonded debt must
be deposited to the I&S fund of the school district and must be
considered in setting the tax rate necessary to service the debt.
(3) Funds received from the state for lease-purchase
agreements must be deposited to the general fund of the district and
used for lease-purchase payments.
(4) A final determination of state assistance for a
school year will be made using final attendance data and property
value information as may be affected by TEC, §48.271. Additional
amounts owed to districts shall be paid along with assistance in the
subsequent school year, and any reductions in payments shall be subtracted
from payments in the subsequent school year.
(5) As an alternative method of adjustment of payments,
the commissioner may increase or decrease allocations of state aid
under TEC, Chapter 48, to reflect appropriate increases or decreases
in assistance under TEC, Chapter 46.
(6) Adjustments to state assistance based on changes
in the final counts of ADA, changes to a district's property value,
changes in the debt service schedule, or changes for any other reason
must be requested no later than three years following the close of
the school year for which the adjustment is sought. Changes to the
debt service schedule will be subject to the provisions of subsection
(d)(8) of this section, including the disqualification of debt service
associated with a refinancing transaction as described in subsection
(d)(7) of this section, if deadlines for reporting the refinancing
transaction have not been met.
(k) Approval of attorney general required. All bond
issues and all lease-purchase agreements must receive approval from
the attorney general before a deposit of state funds will be made
in the accounts of the school district.
(l) Deadlines.
(1) The commissioner of education shall conduct an
annual application cycle with a deadline of June 15 or the next working
day after June 15 every year based on the availability of appropriations
for the purpose of awarding new allotments. If no funding is available,
the commissioner shall cancel the June 15 deadline.
(2) The commissioner shall establish the relevant limit
on the date of first debt service payment from property taxes for
eligible bonded debt that will be considered for funding in the announced
application cycle.
(3) An application received after the deadline shall
be considered a valid application for the subsequent period unless
withdrawn by the submitting district before the end of the subsequent
period.
(4) If the bond order or the lease-purchase agreement
has not been approved by the attorney general within 180 days of the
deadline for the current application cycle, the TEA shall consider
the application withdrawn.
(5) The school district may not submit an application
for bonded debt before the successful passage of an authorizing proposition.
The election to authorize the debt must be held before the close of
the application cycle. An application for a lease-purchase agreement
may not be submitted before the end of the 60-day waiting period in
which voters may petition for a referendum, or until the results of
the referendum, if called, approve the agreement.
(m) Prioritization and notice of award. Upon close
of the application cycle, all eligible applications shall be ranked
in order of property wealth per student in ADA. State assistance will
be awarded beginning with the district with the lowest property wealth
and continue until all available funds have been used. Each district
shall be notified of the amount of assistance awarded and its position
in the rank order for the application cycle. A district's wealth per
student may be reduced if any or all of the following criteria are
met.
(1) A district's wealth per student is first reduced
by 10% if the district does not have any outstanding debt at the time
the district applies for assistance.
Cont'd... |
