| (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.
(2) A district's wealth per student is next reduced
if a district has had substantial student enrollment growth in the
preceding five-year period. For this purpose, the district's wealth
per student is reduced:
(A) by 5.0%, if the district has an enrollment growth
rate in that period that is 10% or more but less than 15%;
(B) by 10%, if the district has an enrollment growth
rate in that period that is 15% or more but less than 30%; or
(C) by 15%, if the district has an enrollment growth
rate in that period that is 30% or more.
(3) If a district has submitted an application with
eligible debt and has not previously received any assistance due to
a lack of appropriated funds, its property wealth for prioritization
shall be reduced by 10% for each biennium in which assistance was
not provided. The reduction is calculated after reductions for outstanding
debt and enrollment are completed, if applicable. This reduction in
property wealth for prioritization purposes is only effective if the
district actually entered the proposed debt without state assistance
before the deadline for a subsequent cycle for which funds are available.
(n) Bond taxes. A school district that receives state
assistance must levy and collect sufficient eligible taxes to meet
its local share of the debt service requirement for which state assistance
is granted. Failure to levy and collect sufficient eligible taxes
shall result in pro rata reduction of state assistance. The requirement
to levy and collect eligible taxes specified in this subsection may
be waived at the discretion of the commissioner for a school district
that must maintain local maintenance tax effort in order to continue
receiving federal impact aid.
(o) Exclusion from taxes. The taxes collected for bonded
debt service for which funding under TEC, Chapter 46, is granted shall
be excluded from the tax collections used to determine the amount
of state aid under TEC, Chapter 48. For a district operating with
a waiver as described in subsection (n) of this section, the amount
of the local share of the allotment shall be subtracted from the total
tax collections used to determine state aid under TEC, Chapter 48.
(p) Calculation of bond tax rate (BTR) for lease-purchase
agreements. The value of BTR in the formula for state assistance for
a lease-purchase agreement shall be calculated based on the lease-purchase
payment requirement, not to exceed the relevant limitations described
in this section. The lease-purchase payment shall be divided by the
guaranteed level (FYL), then by ADA, and then by 100. The value of
BTR shall be subtracted from the value of district tax rate (DTR)
as computed in TEC, §48.202, before limitation imposed by TEC, §48.203.
(q) Continued treatment of taxes and lease-purchase
payments. Taxes associated with bonded debt may not be considered
for state aid under TEC, Chapter 48. Bonded debt service or lease-purchase
payments that were excluded from consideration for state assistance
due to prioritization or due to the limitation on assistance may be
considered for state assistance in subsequent biennia through additional
applications. A modified application may be provided for previously
rejected debt service or lease-purchase payments.
(r) Variable rate bonds. Variable rate bonds are eligible
for state assistance under the IFA. For purposes of calculating the
biennial limitation on access to the allotment, the payment requirement
for a variable rate bond shall be valued at the minimum amount a district
must budget for payment of interest cost and the scheduled minimum
mandatory redemption amount, if applicable. For purposes of calculating
state assistance under TEC, Chapter 46, the lesser of the actual payment
or the limitation on the allotment shall be used. A district may exercise
its ability to make payments in amounts in excess of the minimum,
but the excess amount shall not be used in determining the value of
BTR or in the calculation of state assistance under TEC, Chapter 46,
in that year.
Cont'd... |
