League of Charter Schools
Policy & Facility Summit
Leanne Emm, Associate Commissioner, Public School Finance
Scott Newell, Director, Capital Construction
October 6, 2014
BEST Program
2014 BEST Legislative Changes
 Requirement to include remaining bond capacity and
unreserved funds into the school district match calculations
 Requirement that each year’s grant funds are appropriated
 Requirement that Division staff perform outreach to any
school in an area the Governor has declared a natural disaster
BEST Program
 The Division anticipates approximately $35-45 million
available for grants in the coming year
 Grants are available for any school capital improvement
project with a focus on health, safety, security, overcrowding,
technology and others
 Contact Division staff to get started on next year’s BEST
application
http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdefinance/capconstbest
Building Excellent Schools Today:
BEST Program Timeline
July
Capital
Development
Committee
Meeting to
approve State
Board
recommendations
Jan. – Feb.
Application for
financial
assistance is
open to
applicants
June
State Board
Meeting to
approve CCAB
recommendations
Mar. - April
Division Staff
reviews
applications &
summarizes them
in a Summary
Book for the
CCAB
April - May
CCAB reviews
Summary Book
End of May
CCAB discusses
each project and
makes
recommendations
to the State Board
for award
BEST Program – 2015-16
 Performance audit by Office of State Auditor
 Recommendations made for improvements to program
 All recommendations have been implemented except for two items
needing funding to implement
 Budget request for 2015-16
 One-time costs - reconfigure and adjust the current assessment
database - $2.7M
 Ongoing cost - update the statewide assessment and keep the data
current
 In-house assessment team - $580,000
 One time costs - training - $100,000
Charter School Capital
Construction Grant
• The charter school capital construction grant is a per pupil allocation
separate from the BEST grant.
• Each year the legislature provides an appropriation for Charter School
and Institute Charter School Capital Construction. This funding can be
used by the Charter School or Institute Charter School to pay for
school construction, renovation, financing, purchasing or leasing of
facilities.
• HB14-1292 - Student Success Act added to the grant 12.5% of the
annual excise tax revenues from marijuana
• The purpose of this funding is to promote a safe and healthy learning
environment for all Colorado students.
Charter School Capital Construction
Grant Program
To be eligible for charter school capital construction funds a charter school
must:
• HAVE capital construction needs;
• IF the school is located in a district owned facility with construction needs;
• IF the school is located in a State owned facility, and paying rent, the school
is eligible.
• IF the school is located in a State owned facility, and not paying rent, the
school is not eligible.
• ON-LINE pupils are not eligible.
• Funds are distributed monthly to the charter school authorizer and then the
authorizer is required to distribute the funds to each charter school.
Charter School Capital Construction
Grant Program
• The annually appropriated amount is divided by the statewide
total qualifying FTE as reported in the October count to
determine the per pupil distribution.
• Must meet eligibility requirements
Fiscal Year
Appropriation
Estimated Amount
Per Pupil
2013-14
$7,000,000
$94.90
2014-15
$13,500,000
$167.00
2015-16
$20,000,000
Note: These figures exclude the
excise tax appropriation
$225.00
Charter School Capital Construction
Grant Program
NEW for FY14-15
• The grant will also receive 12.5% of the total excise tax on
marijuana
Example
• If total excise revenues for the year are $10 million CSCC would receive $1.25
million equaling approximately $15 per eligible FTE
• If total excise revenues for the year are $40 million CSCC would receive $5
million equaling approximately $60 per eligible FTE
2014 Legislative Session &
Discussion of Funding Levels
2014 Legislative Session
HB14-1298 –School Finance Act
 Provided funding to fund growth and inflation plus $110
million buy down of negative factor
 Provides a starting point for 2015-16 that states negative
factor will not increase
 Added 5,000 preschool slots
 Minimum per pupil funding is available to all charter schools
 Repeals and reenacts English Language Proficiency Act
 Additional $27 million; students funded for 5 years
 Additional funding for BOCES
 Increases READ Act funding
2014-15
Total Program Funding - School Finance Act
$5.933 Billion
Other State Funds,
$769.36 , 13%
Property Tax,
$1,844.57 , 31%
State General Fund,
$3,183.97 , 54%
Specific Ownership,
$135.44 , 2%
in millions
Assumptions
FY2014-15 Final Budget
Estimated
Change
Total
Pupil Growth*
14,305
845,136
At-Risk Growth
4,276
309,537
Inflation Estimate
2.8%
NA
$166.72
$6,121.00
Base Per Pupil Funding
*Includes 5,000 additional Preschool Slots
Assumptions
FY2014-15 Final Budget
2013-14
Actual
2014-15
Final Budget
Change
Total Program prior to
Negative Factor
(Growth & Inflation)
$6,531,213,075
$6,827,646,456
$296,433,381
Negative Factor
(1,004,279,325)
(894,302,068)
(109,977,257)
Revised Total Program
$5,526,933,750
$5,933,344,388
$406,410,638
-15.42%
-13.15%
2.27%
$6,652.30
$7,020.58
$368.28
Negative Factor
Percentage
Average Per Pupil Funding
State of Colorado
Total Program Funding
in millions
$7,000.0
State of
Colorado
Total Program
Funding
The gaps in the
bars represents
the negative
factor. For 201415 it is 13.15% or
$894 million.
Gaps represent
rescissions and
legislative actions.
Gap represents negative
factor of 13.15% or $894
million
$6,000.0
$5,000.0
Increase of $347
million between
2009-10 and 2014-15
$4,000.0
$3,000.0
$2,000.0
$1,000.0
$000.0
2008-09
Actual
2009-10
Actual
2010-11
Actual
2011-12
Actual
2012-13
Actual
2013-14
Actual
2014-15
Final
Budget
$5,354.8
$5,717.3
$5,822.3
$6,006.5
$6,309.4
$6,531.2
$6,827.6
Total Program Less Rescissions
$5,347.3
/Legislative Actions
$5,586.1
$5,439.7
$5,232.4
$5,298.0
$5,526.9
$5,933.3
Total Program Prior
to Legislative Actions
State of
Colorado
Average Per
Pupil Funding
State of Colorado
Average Per Pupil Funding
Gaps represent rescissions
rescissions
and
legislative
andactions.
legislative
$8,000
$7,000
$6,000
Similar to Total
Program, the gaps
in the bars
represents the
effect of the
negative factor.
$5,000
$4,000
$3,000
$2,000
For 2014-15, the
effect is $1,058 in
the statewide
average per pupil
funding.
$1,000
$2008-09
Actual
2009-10
Actual
2010-11
Actual
2011-12
Actual
2012-13
Actual
2013-14
Actual
2014-15
Final
Budget
Average Per Pupil Funding Before
Legislative Actions
$6,882
$7,242
$7,291
$7,432
$7,717
$7,861
$8,079
Actual Average Per Pupil Funding
$6,872
$7,076
$6,813
$6,475
$6,480
$6,652
$7,021
2014 Legislative Session
HB14-1292 –Student Success Act
 In conjunction with HB14-1298 reduces negative factor by
$110M
 Charter Schools
 Automatic waivers, contracts & applications
 Amount of funds for charter school facilities increased from $7M to
$13M for 2014-15, then $20M each year after
 Additional 12.5% of marijuana excise tax to charter school facilities
 Debt reserve fund
 Financial Transparency
 Report on additional local revenues distributed to schools
 READ Act increased funding
 With HB14-1298, total increase is $18M for total of $34M
HB14-1292 –Student Success Act
Financial Transparency
 Financial Policies and Procedures Advisory Committee (FPP)
makes recommendation to the State Board regarding the
reporting of revenues
 Department issues RFP for creation of web view that reports
expenditures for school sites, districts, CSI and BOCES that
ensures clarity and comparability
 Districts post information on their website
 Contractor will compile all district information into one view
 Data is not submitted by CDE to contractor
 In place by July 1, 2017 for FY2015-16 data
 $3M appropriated to do the work and establish contract
HB14-1292 –Student Success Act
Financial Transparency
 When contracted website up in July 2017, the following
reports are no longer necessary on district websites:
 Quarterly financial statements
 Check registers, credit, debit and purchase card statements
 Investment performance reports
 Districts will be required to post the 2015-16 pipeline
submissions to district website
 “actual expenditures, including but not limited to actual salary
expenditures and actual benefit expenditures reported by job
category specified in the standard chart of accounts, at the local
education provider level and at the school-site level.”
 FPP will specify the date postings will be due
HB14-1292 –Student Success Act
Financial Transparency
 By July 1, 2015, FPP will create a template that all districts
must use to post all of the transparency information including
site-level reports
 Standardized web page that all districts must use – must be
uniformly used by all districts
 District website used for 2015-16 financial data
HB14-1292 –Student Success Act
Reporting of Local Revenues
 2014-15 reporting requirement – additional local property tax
revenue – mill levy overrides
 How much is distributed to schools of the district
 Department will compile the report
 Districts and charter schools review report prior to publication
 District or charter school may request an addendum
 Overall distribution by district to charter schools
 Capital construction and facilities
 Funding for technology
 Other funding
 Financial Policies and Procedures Committee
 Report information through Fund 90 – informational items
Looking Ahead – 2015-16
HB14-1298 Moving Forward
 HB14-1298 sets starting point for 2015-16 budget
 States that negative factor will not increase from 2014-15 levels
 Fund growth and inflation, no change in negative factor
 Governor can propose adjustments
 General Assembly will set final budget
2015 Legislative Session
November, 2014
Governor Submits Budget Request for 2015-16
THIS IS ONLY A PROPOSAL!
Late
November/December
2014
Joint Budget Committee Hearings with Department
The JBC hears about the 2015-16 Budget Request from the
Department and seeks any information
January 2015
Governor Submits Supplemental Budget Request for 2014-15
Adjusts the Current Year Budget for actual Pupil Counts, AVs,
etc.
Governor Submits Budget Amendments for next budget year
Revised estimates for next year’s students, AVs, etc based on
actual
Spring 2015
JBC Develops State Budget – Figure Setting & Long Bill – pass by GA
HB14-1298 sets starting point – no change in negative factor
Spring 2015
School Finance Bill Introduced and passed
Adjusts the Long Bill numbers
Contact Information
Leanne Emm
Emm_L@cde.state.co.us
303-866-6202
Scott Newell
Newell_S@cde.state.co.us
303-866-6717