School finance: school districts: annual budgets: reserve balance.

(1) Existing law requires a school district, on or before July 1 of each year, to hold a hearing on, and adopt a budget for, the subsequent fiscal year. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district that proposes to adopt a budget that includes a combined assigned and unassigned ending fund balance in excess of the minimum recommended reserve for economic uncertainties adopted by the State Board of Education to provide specified information for public review and discussion at the public hearing, including, among other things, the combined assigned and unassigned ending fund balance in excess of the minimum recommended reserve for economic uncertainties for each fiscal year identified in the budget. This bill would instead require the governing board of a school district to provide the information for public review and discussion at the public hearing if the school district proposes to adopt a budget that includes a combined assigned and unassigned ending fund balance in the school district's general fund and special reserve fund for other than capital outlay projects in excess of the minimum recommended reserve for economic uncertainties adopted by the state board. This bill would require the information about the combined assigned and unassigned ending fund balance in excess of the minimum recommended reserve for economic uncertainties to include a description of the purposes for the amounts in each fund. The bill would require the governing board of a school district to adopt a policy setting the amounts of assigned and unassigned balances the governing board of the school district expects to be necessary to address economic uncertainties, funding volatility, cash flow, and savings for expenditures. By imposing additional duties on school districts, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the county superintendent of schools to determine whether the adopted budget of a school district includes a combined assigned and unassigned ending fund balance that exceeds the minimum recommended reserve for economic uncertainties and if so, to verify that the school district complied with the public review and disclosure requirements. This bill would instead require the county superintendent of schools to determine whether the adopted budget includes a combined assigned and unassigned ending fund balance in the school district's general fund and special reserve fund for other than capital outlay projects that exceeds the minimum recommended reserve for economic uncertainties. To the extent this requirement would impose additional duties on the county superintendent of schools, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law, unless the school district is granted an exemption, limits the amount of the combined assigned or unassigned ending fund balance contained in a school district's annual budget in any fiscal year immediately after a fiscal year in which a transfer is made into the Public School System Stabilization Account. Existing law establishes a formula for calculating the maximum amount allowable for school districts with less than 400,000 units of average daily attendance and establishes a formula for school districts with more than 400,000 units of average daily attendance, as specified. This bill would revise the formula for school districts with less than 400,000 units of average daily attendance and the formula for school districts with more than 400,000 units of average daily attendance, as specified. The bill also would make a technical change by deleting an obsolete provision. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.