Bill Text: NY A07017 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires the board of education in the city of Buffalo to submit the school district budget to the voters for approval prior to adoption.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to education [A07017 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A07017-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7017 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY April 3, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PEOPLES-STOKES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring the board of education in the city of Buffalo to submit the school district budget to the voters for approval prior to adoption The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 2531 2 to read as follows: 3 § 2531. Adoption of the school district budget in the city of Buffalo. 4 1. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the board of education in 5 the city of Buffalo shall provide for the submission of a budget for 6 approval of the voters pursuant to the provisions of this section. 7 2. The board of education shall conduct all annual and special school 8 district meetings for the purpose of adopting a school district budget 9 in the same manner as a union free school district in accordance with 10 the provisions of article forty-one of this title, except as otherwise 11 provided by this section. The annual meeting and election of the Buffalo 12 school district shall be held on the third Tuesday of May in each year, 13 provided, however that such annual meeting and election shall be held on 14 the second Tuesday in May if the commissioner at the request of a local 15 school board certifies no later than March first that such election 16 would conflict with religious observances, and any school budget revote 17 shall be held on the date and in the same manner specified in subdivi- 18 sion three of section two thousand seven of this title. The provisions 19 of section twenty-six hundred three of this title, governing the quali- 20 fication and registration of voters, and procedures for the nomination 21 and election of members of the board of education shall continue to 22 apply, and shall govern the qualification and registration of voters and 23 voting procedures with respect to the adoption of a school district 24 budget. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD10833-01-9A. 7017 2 1 3. The board of education shall prepare a proposed school district 2 budget for the ensuing year in accordance with the provisions of section 3 seventeen hundred sixteen of this chapter, including all provisions 4 relating to required notices and appendices to the statement of expendi- 5 tures. No board of education shall incur a school district liability 6 except as authorized by the provisions of section seventeen hundred 7 eighteen of this chapter. Such proposed budget shall be presented in 8 three components: a program component, a capital component and an admin- 9 istrative component which shall be separately delineated in accordance 10 with regulations of the commissioner after consultation with local 11 school district officials. The administrative component shall include, 12 but need not be limited to, office and central administrative expenses, 13 traveling expenses and all compensation, salaries and benefits of all 14 school administrators and supervisors, including business administra- 15 tors, superintendents of schools and deputy, assistant, associate or 16 other superintendents under all existing employment contracts or collec- 17 tive bargaining agreements, any and all expenditures associated with the 18 operation of the board of education, the office of the superintendent of 19 schools, general administration, the school business office, consulting 20 costs not directly related to direct student services and programs, 21 planning and all other administrative activities. The program component 22 shall include, but need not be limited to, all program expenditures of 23 the school district, including the salaries and benefits of teachers and 24 any school administrators or supervisors who spend a majority of their 25 time performing teaching duties, and all transportation operating 26 expenses. The capital component shall include, but need not be limited 27 to, all transportation capital, debt service, and lease expenditures; 28 costs resulting from judgments in tax certiorari proceedings or the 29 payment of awards from court judgments, administrative orders or settled 30 or compromised claims; and all facilities costs of the school district, 31 including facilities lease expenditures, the annual debt service and 32 total debt for all facilities financed by bonds and notes of the school 33 district, and the costs of construction, acquisition, reconstruction, 34 rehabilitation or improvement of school buildings, provided that such 35 budget shall include a rental, operations and maintenance section that 36 includes base rent costs, total rent costs, operation and maintenance 37 charges, cost per square foot for each facility leased by the school 38 district, and any and all expenditures associated with custodial sala- 39 ries and benefits, service contracts, supplies, utilities, and mainte- 40 nance and repairs of school facilities. Except as provided in subdivi- 41 sion four of this section, nothing in this section shall preclude the 42 board, in its discretion, from submitting additional items of expendi- 43 ture to the voters for approval as separate propositions or the voters 44 from submitting propositions pursuant to sections two thousand eight and 45 two thousand thirty-five of this title. 46 4. In the event the qualified voters of the Buffalo school district 47 reject the budget proposed pursuant to subdivision three of this 48 section, the board may propose to the voters a revised budget pursuant 49 to subdivision three of section two thousand seven of this title or may 50 adopt a contingency budget pursuant to subdivision five of this section 51 and subdivision five of section two thousand twenty-two of this title. 52 The school district budget for any school year, or any part of such 53 budget or any propositions involving the expenditure of money for such 54 school year shall not be submitted for a vote of the qualified voters 55 more than twice. In the event the qualified voters reject the resubmit- 56 ted budget, the board shall adopt a contingency budget in accordanceA. 7017 3 1 with subdivision five of this section and subdivision five of such 2 section two thousand twenty-two. 3 5. If the qualified voters fail or refuse to vote the sum estimated to 4 be necessary for teachers' salaries and other ordinary contingent 5 expenses, the board shall adopt a contingency budget in accordance with 6 this subdivision and shall levy a tax for that portion of such sum 7 remaining after applying thereto the moneys received or to be received 8 from state, federal or other sources, in the same manner as if the budg- 9 et had been approved by the qualified voters; subject to the limitations 10 imposed in subdivision four of section two thousand twenty-three of this 11 title and this subdivision. Such contingency budget shall include the 12 sum determined by the board to be necessary for: 13 (a) teachers' salaries, including the salaries of all members of the 14 teaching and supervising staff; 15 (b) items of expense specifically authorized by statute to be incurred 16 by the board of education, including, but not limited to, expenditures 17 for transportation to and from regular school programs included as ordi- 18 nary contingent expenses in subdivision twelve of section twenty-five 19 hundred three of this article, expenditures for textbooks, required 20 services for non-public school students, school health services, special 21 education services, kindergarten and nursery school programs, and the 22 district's share of the administrative costs and costs of services 23 provided by a board of cooperative educational services; 24 (c) items of expense for legal obligations of the district, including, 25 but not limited to, contractual obligations, debt service, court orders 26 or judgments, orders of administrative bodies or officers, and standards 27 and requirements of the board of regents and the commissioner that have 28 the force and effect of law; 29 (d) the purchase of library books and other instructional materials 30 associated with a library; 31 (e) items of expense necessary to maintain the educational programs of 32 the district, preserve the property of the district or protect the 33 health and safety of students and staff, including, but not limited to, 34 support services, pupil personnel services, the necessary salaries for 35 the necessary number of non-teaching employees, necessary legal 36 expenses, water and utility charges, instructional supplies for teach- 37 ers' use, emergency repairs, temporary rental of essential classroom 38 facilities, and expenditures necessary to advise school district voters 39 concerning school matters; 40 (f) expenses incurred for interschool athletics, field trips and other 41 extracurricular activities; and 42 (g) any other item of expense determined by the commissioner to be an 43 ordinary contingent expense in any school district. 44 6. The commissioner shall determine appeals raising questions as to 45 what items of expenditure are ordinary contingent expenses pursuant to 46 subdivision five of this section in accordance with sections three 47 hundred ten and two thousand twenty-four of this chapter. 48 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
