20-9-346. Duties of superintendent of public instruction for state and county equalization aid distribution. The superintendent of public instruction shall administer the distribution of the state and county equalization aid by:

Terms Used In Montana Code 20-9-346

  • BASE: means base amount for school equity. See Montana Code 20-9-306
  • BASE aid: means :

    (a)direct state aid for 44. See Montana Code 20-9-306

  • Board of public education: means the board created by Article X, section 9, subsection (3), of the Montana constitution and 2-15-1507. See Montana Code 20-1-101
  • district: means the territory, regardless of county boundaries, organized under the provisions of this title to provide public educational services under the jurisdiction of the trustees prescribed by this title. See Montana Code 20-6-101
  • Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • fund: means a separate detailed account of receipts and expenditures for a specific purpose as authorized by law or by the superintendent of public instruction under the provisions of subsection (2). See Montana Code 20-9-201
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
  • school: means an institution for the teaching of children that is established and maintained under the laws of the state of Montana at public expense. See Montana Code 20-6-501
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
  • state equalization aid: means revenue as required in this section for distribution to the public schools for guaranteed tax base aid, BASE aid, and state debt service assistance. See Montana Code 20-9-343
  • State reimbursement for school facilities: means the amount of state equalization aid distributed to a district that:

    (a)has a district mill value per ANB that is less than the corresponding facility guaranteed mill value per ANB; and

    (b)has a debt service obligation in the ensuing school year on bonds. See Montana Code 20-9-370

  • Superintendent of public instruction: means that state government official designated as a member of the executive branch by the Montana constitution. See Montana Code 20-1-101

(1)establishing the annual entitlement of each district and county to state and county equalization aid, based on the data reported in the retirement, general fund, and debt service fund budgets for each district that have been adopted for the current school fiscal year and verified by the superintendent of public instruction;

(2)for the purposes of state advances and reimbursements for school facilities, limiting the distribution to no more than the amount appropriated for the school fiscal year to the districts that are eligible under the provisions of 20-9-366 through 20-9-371 by:

(a)determining the debt service payment obligation in each district for debt service on bonds that were sold as provided in 20-9-370(3) that qualify for a state advance or reimbursement for school facilities under the provisions of 20-9-366 through 20-9-369 and 20-9-370;

(b)based on the limitation of state equalization aid appropriated for debt service purposes, determining the state advance for school facilities and the proportionate share of state reimbursement for school facilities that each eligible district must receive for the school fiscal year; and

(c)distributing that amount by May 31 of each school fiscal year to each eligible district for reducing the property tax for the debt service fund for the ensuing school fiscal year;

(3)distributing by electronic transfer the BASE aid and state advances for county equalization, for each district or county entitled to the aid, to the county treasurer of the respective county for county equalization or to the county treasurer of the county where the district is located or to the investment account identified by the applicable district for BASE aid, in accordance with the distribution ordered by the board of public education;

(4)keeping a record of the full and complete data concerning money available for state equalization aid, state advances for county equalization, and the entitlements for BASE aid of the districts of the state;

(5)reporting to the board of public education the estimated amount that will be available for state equalization aid; and

(6)reporting to the office of budget and program planning, as provided in 17-7-111:

(a)the figures and data available concerning distributions of state and county equalization aid during the preceding 2 school fiscal years;

(b)the amount of state equalization aid then available;

(c)the apportionment made of the available money but not yet distributed;

(d)the latest estimate of accruals of money available for state equalization aid; and

(e)the amount of state advances and repayment for county equalization.

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