Purpose

• Establish a new school district program called seasonal tax base replacement aid.
• Improve and expand the way the state funds local school districts by amending the general education aid structure and adding several new forms of aid.
• The bill also authorizes money to be appropriated to fund these changes.

Main Provisions

• Creation of seasonal tax base replacement aid for school districts (new program referenced in the bill’s title).
• Change to the General Education Aid calculation for fiscal year 2015 and later:
  • General education aid for a district will equal:
  • general education revenue (but excluding certain categories) plus
  • several additional aid components listed below.
  • Specifically, general education revenue is defined as:
  • general education revenue excluding operating capital revenue, equity revenue, local optional revenue, and transition revenue
  • Plus the following add-ons:
  • operating capital aid under section 126C.10 subdivision 13b
  • equity aid under section 126C.10 subdivision 30
  • transition aid under section 126C.10 subdivision 33
  • shared time aid under section 126C.01 subdivision 7
  • referendum aid under section 126C.17 subdivisions 7 and 7a and 7c
  • online learning aid under section 124D.096
  • local optional aid according to section 126C.10 subdivision 2e paragraph f

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Amends Minnesota Statutes 2024 section 126C.13 subdivision 4 to redefine general education aid as the combination of the base general education revenue (with certain revenue categories excluded) plus multiple specific aid components (operating capital, equity, transition, shared time, referendum, online learning, and local optional aid).
• Adds a new subdivision under Minnesota Statutes 2024 section 126C.17 to establish the seasonal tax base replacement aid (the exact design details are not in the excerpt, but the new aid is intended to support districts facing seasonal tax base fluctuations).

Funding and Implementation (Overview)

• The bill appropriates money to fund these new and existing aid elements, though specific dollar amounts are not shown in the excerpt.
• The changes would apply to fiscal year 2015 and later for the general education aid formula.

Potential Impacts (Plain-language Summary)

• Districts would receive a broader mix of aid components as part of their general education funding.
• The introduction of seasonal tax base replacement aid aims to stabilize districts that experience seasonal changes in property tax base.
• The overall effect is a more comprehensive and possibly larger package of state support for local school districts.

Relevant Terms - seasonal tax base replacement aid - general education aid - general education revenue - operating capital revenue - operating capital aid (126C.10 subd. 13b) - equity aid (126C.10 subd. 30) - transition aid (126C.10 subd. 33) - shared time aid (126C.01 subd. 7) - referendum aid (126C.17 subds. 7, 7a, 7c) - online learning aid (124D.096) - local optional aid (126C.10 subd. 2e par. f) - Minnesota Statutes 2024 - 126C.13 subd. 4 - 126C.17 (new subdivision)