LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY
OFFICE OF FISCAL AND MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS
200 W. Washington St., Suite 301
Indianapolis, IN 46204
(317) 233-0696
iga.in.gov
FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
LS 6975 NOTE PREPARED: Feb 19, 2024
BILL NUMBER: SB 270 BILL AMENDED: Feb 19, 2024
SUBJECT: Various Education Matters.
FIRST AUTHOR: Sen. Rogers BILL STATUS: 2
nd
Reading - 2
nd
House
FIRST SPONSOR: Rep. Behning
FUNDS AFFECTED:XGENERAL IMPACT: State & Local
DEDICATED
FEDERAL
Summary of Legislation: (Amended) Sale or Lease of School Buildings: This bill establishes limitations
regarding the lease of school property. The bill amends the enrollment threshold regarding when a school
building is considered underutilized. It makes changes regarding requiring (instead of allowing) a school
building to be closed or made available for lease or purchase. The bill provides that school corporations that
meet certain requirements regarding sharing operating referendum tax levy and school safety referendum tax
levy revenue are not subject to the transfer of vacant school building provisions. It provides that no
resolution, referenda, or distributed revenue prior to May 10, 2023, are effective to provide exemption from
the transfer of vacant school building provisions. It exempts school corporations that have had a designation
as a distressed political subdivision within the previous three years from the transfer of vacant school
building provisions. It also establishes additional requirements regarding notice, determinations, and appeals
under the transfer of vacant school building provisions. This bill amends requirements with regard to:
(1) Bringing a civil action to enforce a final order to make a covered school building available for
purchase or lease;
(2) The time frame for which a school building must be used; and
(3) Transferring a school building back to a school corporation.
The bill also provides that, if a school corporation transfers a covered school building in violation of the
transfer of vacant school building provisions, the transfer is void and allows for a court action with the award
of attorney's fees.
Operations Fund Revenue Sharing: The bill changes certain formulas to reference property tax levies
collected (current law references property tax levies imposed).
Commission for Higher Education: This bill requires the Commission for Higher Education to:
SB 270 1 (1) Study and make recommendations; and
(2) Submit a report;
regarding allowing Ivy Tech Community College to award bachelor's degrees and Vincennes University to
offer additional programs that lead to a bachelor's degree.
It makes conforming changes.
Effective Date: Upon passage; May 4, 2023 (retroactive); May 10, 2024; July 1, 2024.
Explanation of State Expenditures: Commission for Higher Education (CHE): The bill requires CHE to
study and make recommendations on whether:
(1) Ivy Tech Community College should be allowed to award bachelor’s degrees; and
(2) Vincennes University should be allowed to offer additional programs that lead to a bachelor’s
degree.
CHE will submit a report with the study’s findings by October 31, 2024. The bill’s requirements are within
the agency’s routine administrative functions and should be able to be implemented with no additional
appropriations, assuming near customary agency staffing and resource levels.
Sale or Lease of School Buildings: The bill’s impact on the number of buildings available for sale or lease
for $1 is unknown, but if the number of available buildings increases then future expenditures for state
educational institutions (SEIs) may decrease. [SEIs receive state funding through General Fund
appropriations.] Provisions in the bill also allow buildings to be leased to the Indiana School for the Blind
and Visually Impaired (ISBVI), and the Indiana School for the Deaf (ISD).This would have an
undeterminable impact on ISBVI and ISD expenditures dependent on the cost difference to lease the building
relative to what the schools would have had to pay if not for the bill’s provisions.
Additional Information - Sale or Lease of School Buildings: Current statute requires school corporations to
make certain school buildings available to be purchased or leased for $1 by an SEI or charter school. Certain
schools are exempt from this statute, including school corporations who share certain referendum revenue
with charter schools. This statute is retroactively amended under the bill and as of May 4, 2023, school
corporations are only eligible for this exemption if they proportionally distribute operating referendum funds
and, if applicable, school safety referendum funds, with local charter schools in a method prescribed via
statute.
Other provisions in the bill will require school buildings considered underutilized to be made available for
sale or lease for $1 and provide additional exemptions for school corporations that:
(1) Have been designated as a distressed political subdivision within the previous three years; or
(2) Wish to lease a school building to ISBVI or ISD.
Explanation of State Revenues:
Explanation of Local Expenditures: Sale or Lease of School Buildings: School corporations that are
required to sell or lease a school building for $1 to an eligible entity due to this bill’s provisions will have
reduced costs associated with maintaining and operating a school building. These savings may be offset by
additional administrative costs to school corporations from compiling data to support their claims in an
appeals process in the event that a buildings status is disputed. The fiscal impact to school corporations is
ultimately dependent on local action.
SB 270 2 Charter Schools: To the extent that provisions in this bill increase the number of buildings available to be
leased or purchased by charter schools for $1, this bill could decrease the future expenditures of a charter
school if it wanted to purchase or lease a school building.
Explanation of Local Revenues: Operations Fund Revenue Sharing: Under current law, beginning in 2025,
school corporations in Lake, Marion, St. Joseph, and Vanderburgh counties will be required to share a
portion of their operations fund property tax revenue proportionally with any charter school (excluding
virtual and adult charter schools) that is
1. Located in the same county as the school corporation; and
2. Enrolled a student who lives in that school district and does not receive more than 50% of their
education virtually.
The incremental property tax levy amount, calculated as current year operations fund property tax levy minus
the average operations fund property tax levy in CY 2021-CY 2023 (the base levy amount), is the only
portion of the levy that would be shared with charter schools under the bill. The bill changes the calculation
so that it references actual collections rather than levy amounts. Using FY 2023 student-level ADM data and
estimates of school corporations’ operations fund levies and collections, LSA estimates that school
corporations would be required to share about $500,000 more in CY 2025 and $300,00 less in CY 2026 due
to the change in the calculation.
Sale or Lease of School Buildings: The bill’s impact on school corporations regarding the sale or lease of
certain school buildings is unknown. If the bill’s provisions require school corporations to sell or lease a
building for $1 to a charter school or SEI, the school will experience a revenue decrease dependent upon how
much the school would have otherwise received if it had sold or leased the building at a market rate.
However, provisions in the bill allow schools to lease a building to ISBVI or ISD which could offset any
revenue decrease.
State Agencies Affected: Commission for Higher Education; State educational institutions.
Local Agencies Affected: Public schools.
Information Sources: Department of Education; LSA Education Database; LSA Property Tax Database.
Fiscal Analyst: Kelan Fong, 317-232-9592; Austin Spears, 317-234-9454.
SB 270 3