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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR SCONC

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/20/2007

HB

SHORT TITLE

Public Peace, Health, Safety and Welfare

School District Redistricting

SB 1217/SCONCS

ANALYST Aguilar

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$80.0 Non-Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-

Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

Indeterminate Indeterminate

Non-

Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

The Senate Conservation Committee substitute for Senate Bill 1217 appropriates $80 thousand

from the general fund to the Public Education Department for the purpose of assisting in the

redistricting of school districts that exceed thirty-five thousand students.

The committee substitute provides for school districts with enrollment greater than 35,000

students to develop a plan to divide the district into smaller school districts, provides for a two

year time frame for completing the plan, provides for the appointment of a task force to complete

the plan and provides for a redistricting election.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Senate Bill 1217/SCONCS – Page

2

The appropriation of $80 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2010 shall

revert to the general fund.

SB1217/SCONCS provides an appropriation to PED to assist in the redistricting efforts detailed

in the bill. The bill provides for the payment of per diem and travel to certain task force

members, allows the department to contract with for services with recognized experts, provides

for the task force to publish regular reports and provides for the conduct of an election.

Although the total cost of these efforts is unclear at this time it appears that the appropriations

will be significantly less than what will be required to complete the duties required in the bill.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Using current year 40

th

day enrollment figures, the only district this will affect is the

Albuquerque Public Schools.

SB1217/SCONCS provides for the department to notify a school district with a student

population of greater than 35,000 when the school district is required to prepare a redistricting

plan.

The committee substitute also provides for PED to promulgate rules setting forth the procedures

for redistricting a school district under the conditions noted above.

SB1217/SCONCS provides for the appointment of a task force to assist the school district with

the redistricting plan and in general terms specify the make-up of the taskforce.

The taskforce is charged with considering and reporting on:

•

The boundaries of the new school district;

•

Population demographics, district growth patterns, ethnicity, economic levels, family

income and student and parent educational achievement and attainment levels;

•

The division of assets and liabilities;

•

The bonded indebtedness and voter-approved mill levies;

•

The ability of the new school districts to raise operational and capital funds;

•

The effects of redistricting on transportation costs; and,

•

Other considerations that affect redistricting or the new school districts.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The committee substitute specifies that the school district hold a special school district election

on the first Tuesday of February 2009 on the question of dividing the school district into smaller

districts. This appears to be problematic as the 2009 date is less than two years away and the

earliest this legislation, in its present form, could go into effect would be June 17, 2007. The bill

provides for a two year time frame to complete the redistricting plan.

The committee substitute also provides for new board members to be elected to four year terms.

Without providing for staggered terms, the entire board would come up for reelection at one time

Senate Bill 1217/SCONCS – Page

3

PA/nt