2013 Nebraska Revised Statutes
Chapter 79 - SCHOOLS
79-1011 - Incentives for consolidation; qualification; requirements; payment.

79-1011. Incentives for consolidation; qualification; requirements; payment.

(1) To encourage consolidation of Class II and III school districts with less than three hundred ninety students, incentives shall be paid to reorganized Class II, III, IV, or V districts resulting from consolidations which meet the requirements of this section. This section shall only apply to consolidations with an effective date after May 31, 2009, and before June 1, 2011.

(2) To qualify for incentive payments under this section, the consolidation must be approved for incentive payments by the State Committee for the Reorganization of School Districts. Consolidating school districts shall file an application with the state committee on or before June 15, 2009, or within thirty days following the issuance of the boundary change order pursuant to subsection (1) of section 79-479, whichever is later. The state committee shall approve or disapprove incentive payments within thirty days after receipt of the application.

(3) For incentive payments to be approved by the state committee, a reorganization study, including efficiency, demographic, curriculum, facility, financial, and community components, must be completed prior to the reorganization. If a study containing such elements has been completed and the study indicates that the reorganization will most likely result in more efficiency in the delivery of educational services or greater educational opportunities, the state committee may approve incentive payments.

(4) Incentive payments shall be based on the number of students moving from Class II or III school districts with less than three hundred ninety students into a reorganized Class II, III, IV, or V school district with at least three hundred ninety students based on the average daily membership in each affected district in the school fiscal year immediately preceding the first school fiscal year the boundary change will be in effect and the average daily membership the consolidated district would have had following the boundary change if it had occurred in the school fiscal year immediately preceding the first school fiscal year the boundary change will be in effect. The incentive amount for each district involved in the reorganization having an average daily membership of less than three hundred ninety students shall equal one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars plus the product of five hundred dollars per student multiplied by the difference of three hundred ninety students minus the average daily membership in such district.

(5) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, base fiscal year incentive payments shall equal fifty percent of the amount calculated pursuant to subsection (4) of this section. Base fiscal year incentive payments shall be calculated as of August 2 immediately preceding the base fiscal year and shall be paid directly to the reorganized district from the School District Reorganization Fund pursuant to subsection (6) of this section. The payments shall be made in ten as nearly as possible equal payments on the last business day of each month, beginning in September and ending the following June, for the base fiscal year. If the total amount of base fiscal year incentive payments for that school fiscal year exceeds the amount in the School District Reorganization Fund, the base fiscal year incentive payments shall be reduced proportionately so that the total amount of base fiscal year incentive payments equals the amount of funds so appropriated. The base fiscal year incentive payments shall not be included in local system formula resources as calculated under section 79-1018.01.

(6) The amount calculated pursuant to subsection (4) of this section minus the amount of base fiscal year incentive payments pursuant to subsection (5) of this section shall be paid out of any remaining funds in the School District Reorganization Fund after base fiscal year incentive payments. If the total amount of second-year incentive payments exceeds the remaining funds, the second-year incentive payments shall be reduced proportionately so that the total amount of second-year incentive payments equals the amount in the fund. Second-year incentive payments shall not be included in local system formula resources as calculated pursuant to section 79-1018.01.

Source

Laws 2004, LB 1091, § 9;
Laws 2009, LB545, § 12.