| 1 | The Committee on Appropriations recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to funding for school districts; amending |
| 7 | s. 1011.62, F.S.; revising the calculation of the district |
| 8 | cost differential for purposes of allocation of state |
| 9 | funds to each district for current operation; providing an |
| 10 | effective date. |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 1011.62, Florida |
| 15 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 16 | 1011.62 Funds for operation of schools.--If the annual |
| 17 | allocation from the Florida Education Finance Program to each |
| 18 | district for operation of schools is not determined in the |
| 19 | annual appropriations act or the substantive bill implementing |
| 20 | the annual appropriations act, it shall be determined as |
| 21 | follows: |
| 22 | (2) DETERMINATION OF DISTRICT COST DIFFERENTIALS.--The |
| 23 | Commissioner of Education shall annually compute for each |
| 24 | district the current year's district cost differential. |
| 25 | (a) Determination of district cost differential for |
| 26 | districts with a 2003-2004 cost differential greater than |
| 27 | 1.0000.--The district cost differential shall be the greater of: |
| 28 | 1. The district cost differential shall be calculated by |
| 29 | adding each district's price level index as published in the |
| 30 | Florida Price Level Index for the most recent 3 years and |
| 31 | dividing the resulting sum by 3. The result for each district |
| 32 | shall be multiplied by 0.008 and to the resulting product shall |
| 33 | be added 0.200; or |
| 34 | 2. The lesser of: |
| 35 | a. 1.0000; or |
| 36 | b. The cost differential that when used in the prior |
| 37 | year's FEFP funding formula will result in the district's prior |
| 38 | year funding per unweighted FTE being the same as the prior |
| 39 | year's state average. |
| 40 | (b) Determination of district cost differential for |
| 41 | districts with a 2003-2004 cost differential of less than |
| 42 | 1.0000.-- |
| 43 | 1. For fiscal years 2004-2005 through 2007-2008, the |
| 44 | district cost differential shall be the greater of: |
| 45 | a. The cost differential calculated by adding each |
| 46 | district's price level index as published in the Florida Price |
| 47 | Level Index for the most recent 3 years and dividing the |
| 48 | resulting sum by 3. The result for each district shall be |
| 49 | multiplied by 0.008 and to the resulting product shall be added |
| 50 | 0.200; or |
| 51 | b. The lesser of: |
| 52 | (I) The district's 2003-2004 cost differential which shall |
| 53 | be increased each year for 4 consecutive years by a factor that |
| 54 | is calculated by subtracting from 1.000 the district's 2003-2004 |
| 55 | cost differential and then dividing the result by 5; or |
| 56 | (II) The cost differential that when used in the prior |
| 57 | year's FEFP funding formula will result in the district's prior |
| 58 | year funding per unweighted FTE being the same as the prior |
| 59 | year's state average. |
| 60 | 2. For fiscal years 2008-2009 and thereafter, the district |
| 61 | cost differential shall be the greater of: |
| 62 | a. The cost differential calculated by adding each |
| 63 | district's price level index as published in the Florida Price |
| 64 | Level Index for the most recent 3 years and dividing the |
| 65 | resulting sum by 3. The result for each district shall be |
| 66 | multiplied by 0.008 and to the resulting product shall be added |
| 67 | 0.200; or |
| 68 | b. The lesser of: |
| 69 | (I) 1.0000; or |
| 70 | (II) The cost differential that when used in the prior |
| 71 | year's FEFP funding formula will result in the district's prior |
| 72 | year funding per unweighted FTE being the same as the prior |
| 73 | year's state average. |
| 74 | (c) Calculation of prior year's state funding.--For the |
| 75 | purpose of calculating prior year's state funding in this |
| 76 | section, prior year's state funding shall include total state |
| 77 | and local formula and categorical funds for K-12 programs and |
| 78 | maximum potential discretionary local revenue and shall not |
| 79 | include funds for the Discretionary Lottery and School |
| 80 | Recognition Program the sum thus obtained shall be the cost |
| 81 | differential for that district for that year. |
| 82 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004. |