JFO outlines Act 73 foundation formula, modeling limits and December AIR study
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Summary
Joint Fiscal Office staff reviewed Act 73 mechanics — base amount times weighted pupil count, small/sparse grants, supplemental district spending and homestead exemption — and said the contracted AIR study (due in December) must model cost-savings and weights once district lines and outstanding policy choices are specified.
Julie Reicher, staff from the Joint Fiscal Office, briefed the House Education committee on Feb. 11 about the foundation formula created in Act 73 and what the JFO can and cannot model without additional policy decisions.
Reicher summarized the formula framework: a statutory base amount (adjusted by inflation) multiplied by a district's weighted student count produces an Education Opportunity Payment (EOP); small-school and sparse-school grants sit alongside that calculation. She said "the whole intuition of off the top of the education fund is gone" under the foundation approach and described how supplemental district spending and a supplemental district spending tax equalization mechanism would work.
Nut graf: JFO has contracted the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to study outstanding technical questions mandated by Act 73, including special-education weights, sparsity measures, CTE treatment and estimated cost savings from consolidated districts; Reicher said the contractor's report is due to the General Assembly in December and will include methods and assumptions.
Reicher told members modeling district-level funding impacts requires clarified policy choices and maps: "what maps do you want me to model?" she asked, noting the contractor cannot estimate savings precisely without district boundaries and the final choices about categorical aid and small/sparse definitions. She said the contractor will use cost-function and resource analyses with Vermont data and must provide a detailed list of assumptions and methodology so results can be replicated.
Reicher confirmed JFO awarded the contract to AIR: "The entire contract was awarded to American Institutes for Research, AIR," and that AIR will present findings and train JFO and Agency of Education staff on recalibration methodology and future updates.
Committee members asked whether JFO could produce interim comparisons under candidate maps; Reicher said rough modeling is feasible but would carry substantive caveats until outstanding policy decisions are settled.
The committee did not adopt any financing language during the session; members asked JFO staff to follow up with modeling memos and to make contractor deliverables available for legislative review.