Compromise was reached in capital outlay legislation last week.
On a 6-1 vote, Senate Education committee members passed a freshly amended version of Senate Bill 170, which revises certain provisions regarding school district capital outlay funds.
The latest version of SB 170 makes multiple changes to the Capital Outlay fund, including:
- Amends the annual inflationary growth cap to be set at 3 percent, instead of 3 percent or inflation;
- Implements an opt-out process for the capital outlay fund with any of the additional revenue raised through the opt-out only allowed to be used for capital outlay purposes and not general fund transferable;
- Raise the alternative cap on capital outlay to $3,400 per student, up from $2,800 per student;
- For calendar years 2021, 2022 and 2023, districts impacted by the $3,400 per student cap may transfer to the general fund the amount they had transferred in 2020, but in 2024 will be subject to the 45 percent rule;
- Beginning with taxes payable in 2021, districts unable to raise $1,400 or less per student can levy up to an amount that would allow them to reach the $1,400 per student levy, but cannot exceed $3 per thousand dollars of valuation.
SB 170 is a compromise between Gov. Kristi Noem’s office and ASBSD, SASD and the other educational groups. With the compromise, Senate Bill 94, which revises provisions for the capital outlay fund, was withdrawn.
ASBSD supports SB 170 with Executive Director Wade Pogany calling the bill a “common ground” and said the bill was good for “both tax payers and school districts.”
There were no opponents in testimony to the bill.
“This is the way legislation should be worked out,” Sen. Jim Bolin said of the bill. “It is a compromised proposal that meets the needs of the schools.”
SB 170 now moves to the Senate floor for debate and review.
For updates on this bill, as well as House Bill 1198, which repeals certain Capital Outlay provisions, and is set for a committee hearing today (2/24), check the ASBSD Blog and Bill Tracker page.