Education fund outlook: districts report modest budget increases; governor’s $77.2M buy-down would cut average property bill change to 1.1%

During a joint hearing of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, state education and fiscal officials gave lawmakers an updated outlook on school budgets for the next fiscal year and modeled the effect of proposed state funding that would reduce property tax increases.

"I'm Sean Cousin, the interim CFO at the Agency of Education," said Sean Cousin, reporting on preliminary budget collections from districts and the department's early estimates. Cousin told committees that 105 school districts had submitted preliminary budget figures in the December and January collections and that those submissions accounted for most of the state’s long-term weighted average daily membership (ADM). For the remaining districts that had not submitted budgets, the Agency imputed a 6.41% increase and included a 1% cushion in that estimate.

Julia Richter of the Joint Fiscal Office, presenting an updated Education Fund Outlook, said the JFO had incorporated those local budget data and other recent changes into its yield modeling. "Column D and E then reflect one policy change or policy consideration in the modeling," Richter said, explaining…