LB 583 will provide $1,500 state aid per student
New legislation passed in the 2023 Nebraska Unicameral session, LB 583, will send $1,500 to public schools for each student enrolled for the 2023-24 year.
How that will affect Chase County Schools’ budget is not totally clear yet, but it will mean about $1.15 million in new funds coming into the CCS budget from the state.
Supt. Adam Lambert and CCS board members discussed the new state legislation at the July 11 board meeting.
The state calls it foundation aid, Lambert said, and it will be the first time in awhile the CCS district will receive state aid.
That’s because, according to CCS’s property tax base and the dollars brought in, on paper it shows the CCS district has enough money to run the school, he said.
“This is their way I guess to equal that out (state aid) across the state,” he said.
For 2023-24 and 2024-25, schools will receive $1,500 for each student enrolled. That drops to $900 per student in 2025-26.
If CCS accepts an option enrollment student, the district receives about $10,000 per student to help with expenses. Lambert said for those students the $1,500 will be deducted from that payment so it will be around $8,500.
“They haven’t said much beyond year three so the foundation aid may end or continue,” he noted.
“We’ll have to navigate the budget to see what that looks like,” he said.
Another new piece of legislation is LB 243, which puts a third lid on school districts.
The new Property Tax Authority lid joins other lids that schools must abide by on levy increases and spending/budget authority.
The new lid combines the school’s General Fund and Special Building Fund. When those two funds are added together, a school board cannot up the property tax increase by more than 3%.
“We can’t just go to the Special Building Fund like we used to and max out to 14 cents, because if we do, the General Fund will have to be adjusted,” he said.
He said it’s great to get some state aid, but the board will also have to now deal with the new cap, too.