S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                 3479--B

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             March 19, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  STACHOWSKI  -- read twice and ordered printed, and
  when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education --  commit-
  tee  discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
  mitted to  said  committee  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,
  ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

AN  ACT  authorizing  the  Hamburg  central  school  district to receive
  certain apportionments on an accelerated basis

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  In  order  to  avoid  endangering the fiscal stability of
Hamburg central school district, certain apportionments payable  to  the
Hamburg central school district of Erie county to be paid on an acceler-
ated schedule as follows:
  a. (1) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, for aid payable in
the  school  years  2009-2010  through 2037-2038 upon application to the
commissioner of education submitted not sooner than the second Monday in
June of the school year in which such aid is payable and not later  than
the  Friday  following  the  third  Monday in June of the school year in
which such aid is payable, or ten days after the effective date of  this
act, whichever shall be later, the Hamburg central school district shall
be  eligible  to  receive  an  apportionment  pursuant to this act in an
amount equal to the product of 3,100,000 and the quotient of  the  posi-
tive difference of thirty minus the number of school years elapsed since
the 2009-2010 school year divided by thirty.
  (2)  Funds  apportioned pursuant to this subdivision shall be used for
services and expenses of the Hamburg central  school  district  of  Erie
county  and  shall be applied to support of its educational programs and
any liability incurred by such city school district in carrying out  its
functions and responsibilities under the education law.
  b.  The  claim  for an apportionment to be paid to the Hamburg central
school district pursuant to subdivision  a  of  this  section  shall  be

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD09851-03-9
              

S. 3479--B                          2

submitted to the commissioner of education on a form prescribed for such
purpose,  and  shall  be payable upon determination by such commissioner
that the form has been submitted  as  prescribed  and  that  the  school
district  has  complied with the reporting requirements of this act. For
each school year in which application is made pursuant to subdivision  a
of this section, such approved amount shall be payable on or before June
thirtieth  of  such  school year upon the audit and warrant of the state
comptroller on vouchers certified or approved  by  the  commissioner  of
education  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law from moneys in the state
lottery fund appropriated for general support of public schools and from
the general fund to the extent that  the  amount  paid  to  the  Hamburg
central  school  district pursuant to this subdivision and subdivision a
of this section exceeds the amount of the lottery apportionment, if any,
due such school district pursuant to subparagraph 2 of  paragraph  a  of
subdivision  1  of  section  3609-a  of  the  education law on or before
September first of such school year.
  c. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3609-a of  the  education
law,  an  amount  equal to the amount paid to the Hamburg central school
district during the base year pursuant to subdivisions a and b  of  this
section  shall  first  be  deducted from payments due during the current
school year pursuant to subparagraphs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of paragraph a of
subdivision 1 of section 3609-a of the education law  in  the  following
order:  the  lottery apportionment payable pursuant to subparagraph 2 of
such paragraph followed by the fixed fall payments payable  pursuant  to
subparagraph  4 of such paragraph, and any remainder to be deducted from
the individualized payments due to the district pursuant to paragraph  b
of  such subdivision shall be deducted on a chronological basis starting
with the earliest payment due the district.
  d. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the  sum  of  payments
made  to the Hamburg central school district during the base year pursu-
ant to subdivisions a and b of this section plus payments made  to  such
school  district  during  the current year pursuant to section 3609-a of
the education law shall be deemed to truly represent all  aids  paid  to
such  school  district  during  the current school year pursuant to such
section 3609-a of the education law for the purposes  of  computing  any
adjustments to such aids that may occur in a subsequent school year.
  e. (1) On or before the first day of each month beginning in July 2010
and ending in June 2039, the chief fiscal officer and the superintendent
of  schools  of  the  Hamburg  central school district shall prepare and
submit to the board of education of the city school district a report of
the fiscal condition of the school district, including but  not  limited
to  the most current available data on fund balances on funds maintained
by the school district and the  district's  use  of  the  apportionments
provided pursuant to subdivisions a and b of this section.
  (2) Such monthly report shall be in a format prescribed by the commis-
sioner  of  education.  The  board  of education shall either reject and
return the report to the chief fiscal officer and the superintendent  of
schools  for  appropriate revisions and resubmittal or shall approve the
report and submit copies to the commissioner of education and the  state
comptroller of such approved report as submitted or resubmitted.
  In  the  2009-2010  through  2037-2038  school years, the chief fiscal
officer of the Hamburg central school district shall monitor all budgets
and for each budget, shall prepare  a  quarterly  report  of  summarized
budget  data  depicting  overall  trends  of  actual revenues and budget
expenditures for the entire budget as well  as  individual  line  items.
Such  report  shall  compare revenue estimates and appropriations as set

S. 3479--B                          3

forth in such budget with the actual revenues and expenditures  made  to
date.  All  quarterly  reports  shall be accompanied by a recommendation
from the superintendent of schools or chief fiscal officer to the  board
of education setting forth any remedial actions necessary to resolve any
unfavorable  budget variance including the overestimation of revenue and
underestimation of appropriations. The chief fiscal officer  shall  also
prepare,  as  part  of such report, a quarterly trial balance of general
ledger accounts in accordance with generally accepted accounting princi-
ples as prescribed by  the  state  comptroller.  All  reports  shall  be
completed  within  sixty days after the end of each quarter and shall be
submitted to the chief fiscal officer and the board of education of  the
Hamburg  central  school district, the state division of the budget, the
office of the state comptroller,  the  commissioner  of  education,  the
chair  of  the  assembly  ways  and means committee and the chair of the
senate finance committee.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
  FISCAL NOTE.--This bill would authorize  the  Hamburg  central  school
district  to  receive certain apportionments of state aid on an acceler-
ated basis. Specifically, this  bill  would  make  the  Hamburg  central
school  district  eligible to receive advances in lottery aid apportion-
ments, and other apportionments if necessary, in school years  2009-2010
through  2037-2038 equal to the product of $3.1 million and the quotient
of the positive difference of  30  minus  the  number  of  school  years
elapsed  since  2009-2010 divided by 30. Such funds would be required to
be used by the district for its services and expenses,  to  support  its
educational programs, and to pay for any liability it incurs in carrying
out  its  functions  and responsibilities prescribed under the education
law.
  Since the bill provides for an advance of state  aid  payable  to  the
school  district  and does not increase the amount of aid payable to the
school district, it would not result  in  any  additional  cost  to  the
state.
  This  fiscal  note  was  prepared  by the New York state department of
education and is intended for  use  only  during  the  2009  legislative
session.