Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Bonding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Analysts clarify bond-levy equalization closeout after change in school bonding law
Summary
Committee staff explained that House Bill 521 closed the older bond levy equalization program and that remaining cash from the old program is to revert to the general fund; staff said the statute created a new statewide bonding approach for school districts.
Committee members pressed Legislative Services Office staff for clarity on a line in the cash reconciliation labeled bond levy equalization closeout. Representative questions referenced a larger ongoing school-bonding program and asked whether returning $62.8 million to the general fund would interfere with planned school bond repayments.
LSO division manager Keith Bybee explained the distinction: House Bill 521 (H 5 21) struck the prior bond levy equalization program from the code, closed that specific fund and created a new statewide bonding structure under which the state bonds on behalf of school districts and distributes funds according to average daily attendance (ADA). The $62.8 million shown in the cash reconciliation represents remaining cash in the old bond-levy-equalization fund that the statute directed be transferred back to the general fund as the older program was eliminated.
Why it matters: committee members were concerned elapsed cash would create timing issues for ongoing bond payments. Bybee said the program change is largely a timing and structural change and that the new bonding approach established by the statute is separate from the residual dollars being closed out.
Follow-up: Bybee and staff committed to provide follow-up material explaining how the new billion‑dollar bonding program is funded and how the $62.8 million closeout interacts with bond payment timing, including whether the timing is a bookkeeping/timing issue rather than a reduction in funds available to repay bonds.
