Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Property Tax Levies topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee hears levy-tracking briefing; staff explains 'zero levy target' and unemployment insurance treatment for districts
Summary
House Fiscal walked the committee through the property-tax levy tracking worksheet, major levy categories and how the Legislature uses a 'zero levy target' to neutralize levy impacts; staff also explained school district unemployment insurance reimbursements and the treatment of summer hourly workers.
Nonpartisan staff reviewed the Education Finance Committee’s property-tax levy tracking spreadsheet and explained the largest levy categories and the mechanics members need to understand when drafting levy or aid changes.
Ms. Beckel presented the worksheet titled "Education Finance 2024 November Forecast Property Tax Levy Tracking," described the difference between entitlement (calculated district amounts) and appropriation (90%/10% payment practice), and walked members through headline levies such as local optional revenue, operating capital, referendum levies and debt service components. She said the total certified levies for fiscal year 2025 (pay 2024) on the worksheet totaled about $3.9 billion.
When members asked what a "zero levy target" means in practice, staff explained that both the House and Senate have long used an informal 0 change target. If proposed policy or formula changes would increase district levies, the Legislature must offset ("buy down") those levy impacts using appropriation authority so the statewide levy total remains neutral. "If the levy had an impact of $5,000,000...the Committee would use the appropriation target...to buy down the levy," Beckel said.
The committee also received an explanation of how unemployment insurance interacts with school budgets. Tim Strom explained that school districts are generally "reimbursable employers," meaning districts do not pay regular employer UI tax rates but instead reimburse the fund for eligible charges they incur. Staff said a long-standing state mechanism reimburses districts for certain unemployment costs, and recent changes have added a fund to reimburse summer hourly workers (paras, bus drivers) in some circumstances; that summer reimbursement was set up as fund-based reimbursements rather than shifting to a district tax rate.
Members asked follow-up questions about whether specific levy lines are paid on request or formula-driven; staff replied that most large levies are formula-driven (per-pupil or cost-based) while some smaller grants or targeted levies operate on a reimbursement basis and prorating when total requests exceed appropriations. Staff offered to provide more detailed district-level levy printouts at future hearings.
