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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Fifth Legislature, First Regular Session
schools; state aid; adjustment
Purpose
Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), subject to review by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC), to adjust state aid for a school district in the current year if requested by a school district governing board due to changes in assessed valuation as outlined.
Background
If the SPI determines the calculation of state aid or budget limits for a school district or a charter school within the previous three years did not conform with statutory requirements, the SPI requires the errors are corrected. Errors in the calculation of state aid must be corrected by increasing or decreasing the state aid to the school district or charter school in the year or years in which the correction is made. Errors in the calculation of the school district's or charter school's budget limits must be corrected at a public hearing where the governing board reduces or increases its budget by the amount of the correction to be made that year.
For corrections made in the current year or budget year, the SPI may approve corrections partly in one year and partly in the subsequent year. Subject to the review by the JLBC, the SPI must adjust state aid for a school district in the current year if the school district's governing board requests the recalculation of state aid for a prior year due to a change in assessed valuation that occurred as the result of a property tax appeal court judgement (A.R.S. § 15-915).
A person who is not satisfied with the valuation or classification of the person's property by a county assessor may either petition the assessor for review or appeal to a tax court. If the county assessor denies all or part of a petition, the petitioner may appeal the assessor's decision to a county board of equalization (county board) or the State Board of Equalization (State Board) (A.R.S. §§ 42-15104 and 42-16056).
For counties with a population less than 500,000 persons, the county board of supervisors constitutes the county board. A county board is not established in counties with a population greater than 500,000 persons. The State Board is an independent agency that is not subject to the supervision or control of the Arizona Department of Revenue (A.R.S. §§ 42-16102 and 42-16152).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Requires the SPI, subject to review by the JLBC, to adjust state aid for a school district in the current year if a school district governing board requests the recalculation of state aid for a prior year due to a change in assessed valuation that occurred resulting from a decision by a county board or by the State Board.
2. Makes technical and conforming changes.
3. Becomes effective on the general effective date, retroactive to July 1, 2019.
Prepared by Senate Research
February 5, 2021
LMM/DH/gs