SF 600/SSB 1243 – Transportation Budget
SF 601/SF 554 –Pesticide Administration and Enforcement Fund
SF 602/SF 138– Whole grade sharing incentives extension
SF 603/SF 488 – Funding for dual enrollment, allowing it to replace required courses
COMMITTEE ACTION:
SF 600/SSB 1243 – Transportation Budget
SF 600 makes a supplemental appropriation for FY18-19. It also makes FY19-20 appropriations from the Road Use Tax Fund and the Primary Road Fund to the Department of Transportation. FY19-20 appropriations are at the Governor’s level.
FY 2018-2019 Supplemental appropriations
SF 600 makes a supplemental appropriation of $8,700,000 from the primary road fund for the purchase of salt. This provision of the bill takes effect upon enactment.
Department of Transportation
Road Use Tax Fund
FY20 Appropriation $51,488,498
FY19 Appropriation $51,036,884
Difference $451,614
Percent 0.9% increase
Primary Road Fund
FY20 Appropriation $353,199,194
FY19 Appropriation $338,492,899 *includes FY19 supplemental
Difference $14,706,295
Percent 4.34% increase
Total FY20 Appropriation: $15.2 million
Highlights:
Road Use Tax Fund
Appropriations include $350,000 in capital costs associated with a new driver’s license service center in Dallas County.
The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) provides driver and identification service centers in the most populous areas of the state, and county treasurers provide services in counties that do not have a service center. There are 17 service centers in 16 counties – two in Polk County. County treasurers provide services in the other 83 counties, working as DOT agents via 28E intergovernmental agreements.
Dallas County started offering services in 2002, but its population has more than doubled and is projected to grow another 20 percent in the next five years (107,000 in 2023). This has created service demands that far exceed what can be effectively managed under the county treasurer model. The current annual issuance volume is 26,000 licenses and IDs per year compared to the average county volume of 3,500. Dallas County issuance is now comparable to centers in Ames, Council Bluffs and Dubuque. Dallas County officials asked the DOT to assume services there.
The DOT budget request includes an adjustment for an additional eight FTEs (full-time equivalents) and $515,000 in operational funds for positions to staff the service center, as well as $350,000 in capital funds to establish a new leased facility. The service center would open in January 2020.
Primary Road Fund
Appropriations include $26,951,000 for a Sioux City facility that will combine the services and uses of five existing DOT facilities.
Sale of the existing facilities will return those properties to taxable use and will return an estimated $1,376,000 to the Primary Road Fund. It also should avoid an estimated $3,798,000 in major maintenance to existing facilities over the next 15 years, which will also benefit of the Primary Road Fund.
Consistent with steps to reduce the physical footprint in other districts, the DOT proposes to consolidate five facilities into a single facility – the current District 3 main office, the Leeds and Hamilton garages, and the Leeds resident construction engineer’s office.
All of these facilities are 40 to 60 years old. Consolidating avoids duplication of facilities and common spaces, improves coordination of collaborate staff, moves the facilities out of what are now residential areas to an area with better access to the highway system, and creates garage space large enough to accommodate larger modern DOT equipment.
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SF 601/SF 554 –Pesticide Administration and Enforcement Fund
SF 601 creates a new Pesticide Administration and Enforcement Fund under the administration of the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS). Currently, the fees that are collected every two years for the certification of a pesticide applicator are deposited into the General Fund. The bill redirects the fees into the new Pesticide Administration and Enforcement Fund for the enforcement of the Pesticide Act of Iowa as outlined in Iowa Code chapter 206. There is a $460,000 reduction in fee revenue to the General Fund in FY 20 and every two years after. There is an increase of $460,000 to the new fund evert two years.
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SF 602/SF 138– Whole grade sharing incentives extension
SF 602 extends the state’s school district reorganization incentives that are set to expire at the end of FY20. Currently, school districts that participate in whole grade sharing are eligible to receive supplementary weighting for three years. If the school districts reorganize, they may be eligible to receive supplementary weighting for six years. In addition, they may be eligible for a uniform levy rate reduction for three years. The provisions in SF 602 extend reorganization provisions authorized on or before July 1, 2019, to July 1, 2024.
State aid costs associated with each of these supplementary weightings have varied due to the size and number of districts eligible to receive supplementary weighting. In recent years, the minimum total state aid generated from whole grade sharing and reorganization incentives was $2.9 million; the maximum was $5.6 million.
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SF 603/SF 488 – Funding for dual enrollment, allowing it to replace required courses
SF 603 has three main provisions and is estimated to costs $1.8 million to $3.9 million next year, plus it will take $108,000 for a new FTE at Iowa Department of Education to implement. First, SF 603 increases supplementary weighting for liberal arts concurrent/dual enrollment from .46 to .50. This will cost the state an additional $1.2 million within the school funding formula next year.
Second, the bill allows concurrent enrollment programs to supplant or take the place of, rather than supplement some high school courses currently required to be “offered and taught” under the state’s educational standards. The bill allows one of these required science and math units and any of their career and technical (CTE) courses to be taught under dual enrollment if the number of pupils enrolled exceeds five and the school district’s total enrollment does not exceed 600 pupils. Public schools with more than 600 students may use college classes to count for one existing “offer and teach” requirement for science and math or any of their career and technical courses, but they will not receive additional/weighted funding. This provision is expected to cost from $487,300 to $2 million next year.
Third, the bill provides a new direct state standing unlimited fund to pay for concurrent community college enrollment of private school students. Private schools are limited to funding as a percent of public school per-pupil funding, in an effort to control costs/align with public weighted funding. Like new student population thresholds for public schools, accredited private schools can use concurrent enrollment to supplant one science and math requirement, or any of their CTE offer and teach requirements. They can get “extra funding” if they have student populations of less than 200. If the nonpublic school has over 200 enrolled students, they can still use community colleges to cover offer and teach requirements, but no extra/weighted funding will be provided. This provision is estimated to cost $380,280 to $1 million next year.
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