SB1472

THE CONTEXT: The Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) and Auditor General (OAG) must prescribe a budget format that allows school districts to plan and detail the use of available monies. The budget format must contain distinct sections for maintenance and operations, debt service, special projects, capital outlay, adjacent ways and the Classroom Site Fund.

WHAT THE BILL DID: The final vetoed version would require a governing board to prepare a proposed budget for the next three fiscal years, rather than only for the next fiscal year, redefines budget year to mean a fiscal year for which the school district is budgeting and that is one of the next three fiscal years immediately following the current year, and add that a school district's budget format must include: a) enrollment projections for each of the next three years; b) a description of the methods used to make the enrollment projections; and c) the rate of change in student enrollment between the current year and the fifth year immediately preceding the current year.

WHY IT MATTERED: The practical reason for this bill was to turn the Legislature's standard for school district budgets into an enforceable rule. It would require a governing board to prepare a proposed budget for the next three fiscal years, rather than only for the next fiscal year, and would also redefines budget year to mean a fiscal year for which the school district is budgeting and that is one of the next three fiscal years immediately following the current year, rather than leave the current rule unchanged.