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House Education staff preview county-level equalization and STARS proposals ahead of bill hearings
Summary
Legislative staff briefed the House Education Committee on county-pooled school retirement, House Bill 156’s proposal to shift district base areas to countywide equalization, and aspects of the STARS Act (teacher-pay incentives), highlighting how guaranteed tax base aid and non-levy revenue would change local mill calculations.
Legislative staff told the House Education Committee that school retirement employer contributions (TRS/PERS) are pooled at the county level and funded primarily with county property taxes and some non-levy revenue, and used a live Power BI tool to show how that pooling affects counties differently.
The presentation, led by Pat McCracken of the Legislative Services Division and Julia Patton of the Legislative Fiscal Division, explained that employer contribution levels are set by statute and are roughly 9% of salary; districts remit that employer percentage to the retirement systems and the systems pay benefits. Staff used a role-play exercise and county examples (Fallon County and Madison County) to show how counties with large natural-resource or property wealth generate non-levy revenues that alter local levy needs.
Why it matters: staff said House Bill 156 would extend the countywide, pooled approach used for county retirement to the district-level base funding area. Under HB156 the district base area — currently filled with a blend of district property taxes, district non-levy revenue and state guaranteed tax…
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