89R3131 MM-D
By: Schatzline H.B. No. 4786
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to repeal of provisions requiring a school district to
reduce its local revenue level in excess of entitlement.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 12.013(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A home-rule school district is subject to:
(1) a provision of this title establishing a criminal
offense;
(2) a provision of this title relating to limitations
on liability; and
(3) a prohibition, restriction, or requirement, as
applicable, imposed by this title or a rule adopted under this
title, relating to:
(A) the Public Education Information Management
System (PEIMS) to the extent necessary to monitor compliance with
this subchapter as determined by the commissioner;
(B) educator certification under Chapter 21 and
educator rights under Sections 21.407, 21.408, and 22.001;
(C) criminal history records under Subchapter C,
Chapter 22;
(D) student admissions under Section 25.001;
(E) school attendance under Sections 25.085,
25.086, and 25.087;
(F) inter-district or inter-county transfers of
students under Subchapter B, Chapter 25;
(G) elementary class size limits under Section
25.112, in the case of any campus in the district that fails to
satisfy any standard under Section 39.054(e);
(H) high school graduation under Section 28.025;
(I) special education programs under Subchapter
A, Chapter 29;
(J) bilingual education under Subchapter B,
Chapter 29;
(K) prekindergarten programs under Subchapter E,
Chapter 29;
(L) safety provisions relating to the
transportation of students under Sections 34.002, 34.003, 34.004,
and 34.008;
(M) computation and distribution of state aid
under Chapters 31, 43, and 48;
(N) extracurricular activities under Section
33.081;
(O) health and safety under Chapter 38;
(P) the provisions of Subchapter A, Chapter 39;
(Q) public school accountability and special
investigations under Subchapters A, B, C, D, and J, Chapter 39, and
Chapter 39A;
(R) [options for local revenue levels in excess
of entitlement under Chapter 49;
[(S)] a bond or other obligation or tax rate
under Chapters 43, 45, and 48;
(S) [(T)] purchasing under Chapter 44; and
(T) [(U)] parental options to retain a student
under Section 28.02124.
SECTION 2. Section 12.029(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) If [Except as provided by Subchapter H, Chapter 49, if]
two or more school districts having different status, one of which
is home-rule school district status, consolidate into a single
district, the petition under Section 13.003 initiating the
consolidation must state the status for the consolidated district.
The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
proposition: "Consolidation of (names of school districts) into a
single school district governed as (status of school district
specified in the petition)."
SECTION 3. Section 13.054(i), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(i) The funding provided under Subsection (f), (g), or (h)
is in addition to other funding the district receives through other
provisions of this code, including funding the district receives
under Chapter [Chapters] 48 [and 49].
SECTION 4. Section 25.081(f), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(f) The commissioner may proportionally reduce the amount
of funding a district receives under Chapter 46 or[,] 48[, or 49]
and the average daily attendance calculation for the district if
the district operates on a calendar that provides fewer minutes of
operation than required under Subsection (a).
SECTION 5. Section 29.087(j), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(j) For purposes of funding under Chapters 46 and[,] 48,
[and 49,] a student attending a program authorized by this section
may be counted in attendance only for the actual number of hours
each school day the student attends the program, in accordance with
Section 25.081.
SECTION 6. Section 29.203(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A school district is entitled to the allotment provided
by Section 48.107 for each eligible student using a public
education grant. [If the district has a local revenue level greater
than the guaranteed local revenue level but less than the level
established under Section 48.257, a school district is entitled
under rules adopted by the commissioner to additional state aid in
an amount equal to the difference between the cost to the district
of providing services to a student using a public education grant
and the sum of the state aid received because of the allotment under
Section 48.107 and money from the available school fund
attributable to the student.]
SECTION 7. Section 37.0061, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.0061. FUNDING FOR ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION SERVICES IN
JUVENILE RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES. A school district that provides
education services to pre-adjudicated and post-adjudicated
students who are confined by court order in a juvenile residential
facility operated by a juvenile board is entitled to count such
students in the district's average daily attendance for purposes of
receipt of state funds under the Foundation School Program. [If the
district has a local revenue level greater than the guaranteed
local revenue level but less than the level established under
Section 48.257, the district in which the student is enrolled on the
date a court orders the student to be confined to a juvenile
residential facility shall transfer to the district providing
education services an amount equal to the difference between the
average Foundation School Program costs per student of the district
providing education services and the sum of the state aid and the
money from the available school fund received by the district that
is attributable to the student for the portion of the school year
for which the district provides education services to the student.]
SECTION 8. Section 45.251(2), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(2) "Foundation School Program" means the program
established under Chapters 46 and[,] 48, [and 49,] or any successor
program of state appropriated funding for school districts in this
state.
SECTION 9. Section 45.261(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) If the commissioner orders payment from the money
appropriated to the Foundation School Program on behalf of a school
district [that is not required to reduce its local revenue level
under Section 48.257], the commissioner shall direct the
comptroller to withhold the amount paid from the first state money
payable to the district. If the commissioner orders payment from
the money appropriated to the Foundation School Program on behalf
of a school district that is not entitled to state assistance under
Chapter 48 [required to reduce its local revenue level under
Section 48.257], the commissioner shall order [increase amounts due
from] the district to remit to the commissioner an [under Chapter 49
in a total] amount equal to the amount of payments made on behalf of
the district under this subchapter. Amounts withheld or received
under this subsection shall be used for the Foundation School
Program.
SECTION 10. Section 48.010(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) In making the determinations regarding funding levels
required by Subsection (a), the commissioner shall:
(1) make adjustments as necessary to reflect changes
in a school district's maintenance and operations tax rate; and
(2) [for a district required to reduce its local
revenue level under Section 48.257, base the determinations on the
district's net funding levels after deducting any amounts required
to be expended by the district to comply with Chapter 49; and
[(3)] determine a district's weighted average daily
attendance in accordance with this chapter as it existed on January
1, 2011.
SECTION 11. Section 48.252(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter [or
Chapter 49], a school district subject to this section is entitled
to receive for each student in average daily attendance at the
campus or program described by Subsection (a) an amount equivalent
to the difference, if the difference results in increased funding,
between:
(1) the amount described by Section 12.106; and
(2) the amount to which the district would be entitled
under this chapter.
SECTION 12. Sections 48.2543(a) and (a-1), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) For the 2022-2023 school year, a school district is
entitled to additional state aid to the extent that state and local
revenue under this chapter and former Chapter 49 is less than the
state and local revenue that would have been available to the
district under this chapter and former Chapter 49 as those chapters
existed on September 1, 2021, if any increase in the residence
homestead exemption under Section 1-b(c), Article VIII, Texas
Constitution, as proposed by the 87th Legislature, 3rd Called
Session, 2021, had not occurred.
(a-1) Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, a school
district is entitled to additional state aid to the extent that
state and local revenue under this chapter [and Chapter 49] is less
than the state and local revenue that would have been available to
the district under this chapter [and Chapter 49] as it [those
chapters] existed on September 1, 2022, if any increase in a
residence homestead exemption under Section 1-b(c), Article VIII,
Texas Constitution, and any additional limitation on tax increases
under Section 1-b(d) of that article as proposed by the 88th
Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 2023, had not occurred.
SECTION 13. Sections 48.2553(d) and (e), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(d) Any additional tax effort by a school district
authorized under this section is not:
(1) eligible for funding under Subchapter B, C, or D;
or
(2) eligible for the guaranteed yield amount of state
funds under Section 48.202[; or
[(3) subject to the limit on local revenue under
Section 48.257].
(e) The commissioner shall reduce state aid [or adjust the
limit on local revenue under Section 48.257] in an amount equal to
the amount of revenue generated by a school district's tax effort
that is not in compliance with this section or Section 48.2551.
SECTION 14. Section 48.258(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) For purposes of Chapter [Chapters] 46 [and 49] and this
chapter, and to the extent money specifically authorized to be used
under this section is available, the commissioner shall adjust the
taxable value of property in a school district that, due to factors
beyond the control of the board of trustees, experiences a rapid
decline in the tax base used in calculating taxable values in excess
of four percent of the tax base used in the preceding year.
SECTION 15. Section 48.260(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) For purposes of Chapter [Chapters] 46 [and 49] and this
chapter, the commissioner shall adjust the taxable value of
property of a school district all or part of which is located in an
area declared a disaster area by the governor under Chapter 418,
Government Code, as necessary to ensure that the district receives
funding based as soon as possible on property values as affected by
the disaster.
SECTION 16. Section 48.266(f), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(f) If the amount appropriated for the Foundation School
Program for the second year of a state fiscal biennium is less than
the amount to which school districts and open-enrollment charter
schools are entitled for that year, the commissioner shall certify
the amount of the difference to the Legislative Budget Board not
later than January 1 of the second year of the state fiscal
biennium. The Legislative Budget Board shall propose to the
legislature that the certified amount be transferred to the
foundation school fund from the economic stabilization fund and
appropriated for the purpose of increases in allocations under this
subsection. If the legislature fails during the regular session to
enact the proposed transfer and appropriation and there are not
funds available under Subsection (h), the commissioner shall adjust
the total amounts due to each school district and open-enrollment
charter school under this chapter [and the total amounts necessary
for each school district to comply with the requirements of Chapter
49] by an amount determined by applying to each district and school
the same percentage adjustment to the total amount of state and
local revenue due to the district or school under this chapter [and
Chapter 49] so that the total amount of the adjustment to all
districts and schools results in an amount equal to the total
adjustment necessary. The following fiscal year[:
[(1)] a district's or school's entitlement under this
section is increased by an amount equal to the adjustment made under
this subsection[; and
[(2) the amount necessary for a district to comply
with the requirements of Chapter 49 is reduced by an amount
necessary to ensure a district's full recovery of the adjustment
made under this subsection].
SECTION 17. Sections 48.267(a), (b), and (c), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioner may make adjustments to amounts due to
a school district under this chapter or Chapter 46[, or to amounts
necessary for a district to comply with the requirements of Chapter
49,] as provided by this section.
(b) A school district that has a major taxpayer, as
determined by the commissioner, that because of a protest of the
valuation of the taxpayer's property fails to pay all or a portion
of the ad valorem taxes due to the district may apply to the
commissioner to have the district's taxable value of property or ad
valorem tax collections adjusted for purposes of this chapter or
Chapter 46 [or 49]. The commissioner may make the adjustment only
to the extent the commissioner determines that making the
adjustment will not:
(1) in the fiscal year in which the adjustment is made,
cause the amount to which school districts are entitled under this
chapter to exceed the amount appropriated for purposes of the
Foundation School Program for that year; and
(2) if the adjustment is made in the first year of a
state fiscal biennium, cause the amount to which school districts
are entitled under this chapter for the second year of the biennium
to exceed the amount appropriated for purposes of the Foundation
School Program for that year.
(c) The commissioner shall recover the benefit of any
adjustment made under this section by making offsetting adjustments
in the school district's taxable value of property or ad valorem tax
collections for purposes of this chapter or Chapter 46 [or 49] on a
final determination of the taxable value of property that was the
basis of the original adjustment, or in the second school year
following the year in which the adjustment is made, whichever is
earlier.
SECTION 18. Section 48.272(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the agency may recover
an overallocation of state funds over a period not to exceed the
subsequent five school years if the commissioner determines that
the overallocation was the result of exceptional circumstances
reasonably caused by statutory changes to Chapter 46, [or 49 or]
this chapter, or former Chapter 49 and related reporting
requirements.
SECTION 19. Section 48.2721, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 48.2721. RECOVERY OF FUNDS FROM EXCESSIVE
TAXATION. The commissioner shall reduce state aid [or adjust the
limit on local revenue under Section 48.257] in an amount equal to
the amount of revenue generated by a school district's tax effort
that is not in compliance with Section 45.003 or this chapter.
SECTION 20. Section 48.275(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The amount of additional funds to which each school
district or participating charter school is entitled due to the
increases in formula funding made by Chapter 1187 (H.B. [No.]
3343), Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, and any
subsequent legislation amending the provisions amended by that Act
that increase formula funding under [Chapter 49 and] this chapter
to school districts and charter schools is available for purposes
of Subsection (c).
SECTION 21. Section 48.283, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 48.283. ADDITIONAL STATE AID FOR CERTAIN DISTRICTS
IMPACTED BY COMPRESSION. A school district that received an
adjustment under former Section 48.257(b) for the 2022-2023 school
year is entitled to additional state aid for each school year in an
amount equal to the amount of that adjustment for the 2022-2023
school year less the difference, if the difference is greater than
zero, between:
(1) the amount to which the district is entitled under
this chapter for the current school year; and
(2) the amount to which the district would be entitled
under this chapter for the current school year if the district's
maximum compressed tax rate had not been reduced under Section
48.2555, as added by S.B. 2, Acts of the 88th Legislature, 2nd
Called Session, 2023.
SECTION 22. Section 403.302(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The comptroller shall conduct a study using comparable
sales and generally accepted auditing and sampling techniques to
determine the total taxable value of all property in each school
district. The study shall determine the taxable value of all
property and of each category of property in the district and the
productivity value of all land that qualifies for appraisal on the
basis of its productive capacity and for which the owner has applied
for and received a productivity appraisal. [The comptroller shall
make appropriate adjustments in the study to account for actions
taken under Chapter 49, Education Code.]
SECTION 23. Section 1579.251(a), Insurance Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The state shall assist employees of participating
school districts and charter schools in the purchase of group
health coverage under this chapter by providing for each covered
employee the amount of $900 each state fiscal year or a greater
amount as provided by the General Appropriations Act. The state
contribution shall be distributed through the school finance
formulas under Chapter [Chapters] 48 [and 49], Education Code, and
used by school districts and charter schools as provided by Section
48.275, Education Code.
SECTION 24. Section 21.01, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 21.01. REAL PROPERTY. Real property is taxable by a
taxing unit if located in the unit on January 1[, except as provided
by Chapter 49, Education Code].
SECTION 25. Section 21.02(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection [Subsections (b) and]
(e) and by Sections 21.021, 21.04, and 21.05, tangible personal
property is taxable by a taxing unit if:
(1) it is located in the unit on January 1 for more
than a temporary period;
(2) it normally is located in the unit, even though it
is outside the unit on January 1, if it is outside the unit only
temporarily;
(3) it normally is returned to the unit between uses
elsewhere and is not located in any one place for more than a
temporary period; or
(4) the owner resides (for property not used for
business purposes) or maintains the owner's principal place of
business in this state (for property used for business purposes) in
the unit and the property is taxable in this state but does not have
a taxable situs pursuant to Subdivisions (1) through (3) of this
subsection.
SECTION 26. Section 312.210(b), Tax Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A tax abatement agreement with the owner of real
property or tangible personal property that is located in the
reinvestment zone described by Subsection (a) [and in a school
district that has a local revenue level that does not exceed the
level established under Section 48.257, Education Code,] must
exempt from taxation:
(1) the portion of the value of the property in the
amount specified in the joint agreement among the municipality,
county, and junior college district; and
(2) an amount equal to 10 percent of the maximum
portion of the value of the property that may under Section
312.204(a) be otherwise exempted from taxation.
SECTION 27. The following provisions are repealed:
(1) Section 7.055(b)(34), Education Code;
(2) Sections 8.056 and 48.257, Education Code;
(3) Section 29.203(g), Education Code;
(4) Chapter 49, Education Code; and
(5) Sections 21.02(b) and (c) and 25.25(k), Tax Code.
SECTION 28. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.