OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
HB-5283
AN ACT CONCERNING THE EDUCATION COST SHARING
GRANT FORMULA AND THE FUNDING OF OTHER EDUCATION
PROGRAMS.
AMENDMENT
LCO No.: 4748
File Copy No.: 469
House Calendar No.: 332
Primary Analyst: JS 4/24/22
Contributing Analyst(s): ()
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 23 $ FY 24 $ FY 25 $
Education, Dept. GF - Cost Cost
increase of
536,987
Cost
increase of
3.3 million
Cost
increase of
39.6 million
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 23 $ FY 24 $ FY 25 $
Local and
Regional School
Districts
See Below See Below See Below See Below
Explanation
The amendment's provisions regarding certain major education
grants result in: (1) cost increases (over the bill) in FY 23 and FY 24, and
(2) an estimated increase of $39.6 million to the bill's cost in FY 25. The
amendment also results in higher costs beyond FY 25, reaching an
added cost of approximately $52.8 million in FY 30.
The amendment results in total costs to the State Department of
Education for the proposal in FY 25, the first year when the significant 2022HB-05283-R00LCO04748-FNA.DOCX Page 2 of 5
changes occur, of approximately $277 million, as shown in the table
below. The proposal's total costs for FY 26 through FY 30 (on an annual
basis) range between an estimated $211.6 million (FY 28) and $256.2
million (FY 30), with continued costs in the fiscal years beyond.
Estimated Impacts to the General Fund
in FY 25, sHB 5283 with Amendment
Program
FY 25 Cost
(In Millions)
ECS 116.0
State Charter Schools 22.7
RESC Magnets 86.5
BOE Magnets 35.3
Vo Ag 16.4
TOTAL 277.0
The amendment's changes to the grant structure for boards of
education that operate magnet schools (BOE magnets) and boards that
offer Vo Ag programs result in a net fiscal gain (on a program basis) to
these operators. The exact impact of amendment's grant structure
depends on the number of in- and out-of-district students and the
student need levels of sending towns in FY 25, along with the FY 24 state
grant and sending town tuition rates.
1
The amendment does not
provide for grant increases to BOE magnets and Vo Ag operators
beyond FY 25, as in the underlying bill.
BOE magnets. The amendment increases the positive net fiscal
impact to BOE magnets (compared to the bill) by approximately $28.9
million, resulting in a total positive net fiscal impact to them of $30.6
million. The amendment results in a net positive fiscal impact (specific
to this program) for each of the 11 operators. The net positive fiscal
impact of the amendment's BOE provisions (compared to the bill)
ranges among the BOE operators from under $50,000 to over $15.2
million.
1
This analysis assumes the FY 22 grant rates and recent tuition rates are unchanged
through FY 24. 2022HB-05283-R00LCO04748-FNA.DOCX Page 3 of 5
Vo Ag programs. The amendment improves the net fiscal impact of
the Vo Ag changes to these operators by approximately $2.6 million,
resulting in a total positive net fiscal impact to them of $4.4 million. The
net fiscal impact of the amendment (compared to the bill) ranges among
Vo Ag operators from a loss of approximately ($5,000) to an increase of
$410,800. The amendment produces a positive fiscal impact from the
bill for nearly all Vo Ag operators (19 of 20).
The amendment leaves in place the bill's lifting of the cap on out-of-
district Vo Ag enrollment, beginning in FY 25, which may produce a
higher number of such students. If that effect occurs: (1) Vo Ag
operators may experience additional revenue gains under the proposal,
and (2) state grant costs will rise. The level of impact would depend on
the number of additional out-of-district Vo Ag students and the student
need levels of those students' towns.
ECS. The amendment's changes to ECS result in: (1) an FY 23 cost
increase, compared to the bill, of approximately $536,987; (2) an FY 24
cost increase, compared to the bill, of approximately $3.3 million;
2
(3)
when underfunded towns reach full funding in FY 25 (as in the
underlying bill), a cost increase over the bill of $8.1 million; and (4) when
ECS full funding is fully implemented for all towns in FY 30 (as in the
underlying bill), a cost increase of $21.3 million over the bill.
3
Other changes. The amendment's adjustments to the bill's new State
Department of Education reporting requirements and to the task force
created by the bill are not anticipated to result in a fiscal impact. The
amendment does not impact the bill's treatment of sending town tuition
2
The amendment's FY 24 reduction in ECS savings compared to current law
(approximately $1.96 million) combines with the bill's $2.84 million FY 24 increase in
state charter school grants to produce a net cost of the proposal (compared to current
law) of $881,731 in FY 24.
3
The ECS cost increases are the net effect of: (1) maintaining the current list of Alliance
Districts, which benefits Groton, Norwalk, and Winchester; and (2) not adding the
three new Alliance Districts, which has a negative fiscal impact on Plainfield beginning
in FY 24. The amendment maintains the current list of Alliance Districts for an
additional year, through FY 24, and the analysis assumes this would continue
indefinitely into the future. 2022HB-05283-R00LCO04748-FNA.DOCX Page 4 of 5
(largely eliminated).
New grant structure details. See the table below for the
amendment's revised grant structure for BOE magnets and Vo Ag
programs. The amendment does not change the bill's grant structure for
state charter schools or magnet schools run by entities other than boards
of education.
BOE Magnet and Vo Ag State Grant Structure Under Amendment
1
Type of Operator
In-District
Student
(Maintains
current law) Out-of-District Student
BOE Magnet
Non-Sheff Region $3,060
Greater of the grant and tuition
revenue received in FY 24 (grant
revenue of $7,227 plus tuition
ranging from $0 to $5,148), or and the
sending town's student need-based
value (at least $11,525)
2
Sheff Region
3 $0
Greater of $13,315 (the grant revenue
received in FY 24 as there is no
tuition) or the sending town's student
need-based value
Vo Ag $5,200
Full-time programs: Greater of
$12,023 (FY 24 revenue of $5,200
grant plus $6,823 tuition) or the
sending town's student need-based
value
Part-time programs: The sending
town's student need-based value
(because the FY 24 grant plus tuition
is less than that value)
1
The table and analysis present the current grant and estimated tuition rates. The
actual grant structure in FY 25 will reflect the rates in FY 24.
2
It is projected that the "greater of" language affects only Windham, which has an
out-of-district student grant that is the greater of $12,375 ($7,227 grant plus $5,148
tuition) and the sending town's student need-based value. The other non-Sheff
towns operating magnets currently have out-of-district per-student revenue of
less than $11,525.
3
Consists of Hartford, Bloomfield, and East Hartford, except Hartford's Great Path
Academy has an in-district student grant of $10,652 and an out-of-district grant
equal to the greater of $14,117 (grant of $10,652 plus tuition of $3,465) and the
sending town's student need-based value.
2022HB-05283-R00LCO04748-FNA.DOCX Page 5 of 5
The preceding Fiscal Impact statement is prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely
for the purposes of information, summarization and explanation and does not represent the intent of the General
Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of
informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is
consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any
specific department.