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JBC keeps current-law CSI mill-levy equalization funding, declines statutory ballot-language change
Summary
The Joint Budget Committee approved staff recalculation to fully fund Charter School Institute mill-levy equalization for FY26 (about $1 million) but chose not to adopt a governor-proposed statutory change on ballot transparency, citing local-control concerns.
Amanda Bickel, JBC staff, presented a recalculation of the Charter School Institute (CSI) mill-levy equalization under current law and recommended including the updated FY26 equalization amount in the midyear supplemental. Staff told the committee the recalculation — driven by changes in assessed value and enrollment — increases state education fund obligations by about $1,000,000 for FY26 and projects further growth in FY27.
The governor's office proposed a statutory change to require ballot language to disclose whether local mill-levy override revenue would apply to CSI schools. Staff described that proposal as a transparency change; some members described it as a reasonable improvement to ballot clarity but noted strong opposition from local school districts and legal services' advice that the state cannot compel local ballot language. Law staff said the change is a policy decision rather than a JBC funding item.
The committee voted to adopt staff recommendations to include the current-law equalization funding in the supplemental but not to carry the governor's statutory change at this time. "Historically the state would just say this is the amount we're appropriating for CSI mill levy equalization," Bickel said; members discussed options such as capping the state's share or changing the formula, but deferred substantive policy redesign to the School Finance Act and longer-term policymaking.
Why it matters: CSI mill-levy equalization shifts local override revenues into additional state expenditures as CSI schools sit within districts with different levy bases; changes in enrollment and assessed values have increased the state's cost. The committee's decision preserves current-law funding for FY26 while deferring broader structural or ballot-language reforms.
