Wyoming Local Districts Responsible for School Facilities and Property Tax Revenue Equalization Amendment (2018)
| Wyoming Local Districts Responsible for School Facilities and Property Tax Revenue Equalization Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic Education | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The Wyoming Local Districts Responsible for School Facilities and Property Tax Revenue Equalization Amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 3, was not put on the ballot in Wyoming as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.[1]
This measure was designed to amend the constitution to make local school districts, not the state, responsible for school facilities and establish local property tax revenue equalization provisions. The equalization provisions was designed to require the state to provide funding to school districts with low property values to provide for revenue to repay school facility bonds without increasing the property tax rate above the rate that would be needed if the district's average assessed property value per person was equal to the state average.[2]
The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled in 2001 in State v. Campbell County School District that school facilities were the responsibility of the state not of the local school districts. Before the ruling, individual school districts funded and oversaw their own capital improvements and maintenance. This amendment was designed to, again, make the school districts, not the state, responsible for school facilities and would make it explicitly constitutional.[2]
Text of measure
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article 7, Wyoming Constitution
The measure was designed to add a new section to Article 7 of the state constitution:[2]
(a) The legislature shall by law provide a system of public school capital construction subject to the following:
(i) The local school districts are primarily responsible for providing school facilities through bonds or other means;
(ii) The decision of the voters in an election authorizing bonds is final;
(iii) The cost of paying bonds shall be equalized so that the needed mill levy does not exceed what the mill levy would be if the district had the state average per person assessed valuation, the federal census being used to determine the number of persons;
(iv) The state financing of the equalization shall assure the required payment by the state and may include appropriations, dedicated sources of funds or a state-wide mill levy. Compliance with the debt limitation imposed by article 16, section 5 of this constitution shall be determined using only the local share of the payment for the debt;
(v) A means shall be provided to decide which facilities are not needed for education and are not subject to equalization;
(vi) The legislature may appropriate funds to relieve hardship;
(vii) If the use of bonds becomes financially unwise or nondebt financing is desired, the legislature may provide for different financing means with comparable equalization provisions.[3]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Wyoming Constitution
To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment before voters, a two-thirds (66.67%) vote was required in both the Wyoming State Senate and the Wyoming House of Representatives.
This amendment was introduced as Senate Joint Resolution 3 on February 14, 2018. On February 28, 2018, the state Senate passed SJR 3 in a vote of 21-7, with two excused. Of the 27 Republicans in the Senate, 21 voted in favor of SJR 3, four voted against it, and two were excused. All three Democrats voted against it. It was not approved in the state House.[1]
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wyoming State Legislature, "Senate Joint Resolution 3," accessed February 28, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Wyoming Legislature, "Senate Joint Resolution 3 - Text," accessed February 28, 2018
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
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State of Wyoming Cheyenne (capital) |
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