Philadelphia Mayor Nutter testifies before the Senate Education Committee on SB 1303, the bill addresses real estate taxes for distressed school districts of the first class Part - 1 _____________________Senate Bill 1303: 1 rnAmending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "Anrn2 rnact relating to the public school system, including certainrn3 rnprovisions applicable as well to private and parochialrn4 rnschools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing thern5 rnlaws relating thereto," further providing for distress inrn6 rnschool districts of the first class.rn7 rnThe General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvaniarn8 rnhereby enacts as follows:rn9 rnSection 1. Section 696(h) of the act of March 10, 1949rn10 rn(P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949,rn11 rnamended June 29, 2002 (P.L.524, No.88), is amended and thern12 rnsection is amended by adding a subsection to read:rn13 rnSection 696. Distress in School Districts of the Firstrn14 rnClass.--* * *rn15 rn(h) The School Reform Commission shall be responsible forrn16 rnfinancial matters related to the distressed school district ofrn17 rnthe first class and subject to the provisions of subsectionrn18 rn(h.1):rn19 rn(1) All taxes authorized to be levied by a school districtrn20 rnof the first class or for a school district of the first classrn rn1 rnby a city or county of the first class on the date of thern2 rndeclaration of distress shall continue to be authorized andrn3 rnlevied in accordance with this act and shall be transmitted torn4 rnthe school district. For the first fiscal year or part thereofrn5 rnand every fiscal year thereafter in which the school district isrn6 rndeclared to be distressed, the amount appropriated or paid byrn7 rnthe city or county to the school district and the tax authorizedrn8 rnby the city or county to be levied for the school district orrn9 rndedicated to the school district shall be an amount or tax notrn10 rnless than the highest amount paid by the city or county to thern11 rnschool district or authorized by the city or county to be leviedrn12 rnfor the school district or dedicated to the school districtrn13 rnduring any of the three full preceding fiscal years. Inrn14 rnaddition, the city of the first class shall provide to thern15 rnschool district of the first class all other available localrn16 rnnon-tax revenue, including grants, subsidies or payments madern17 rnduring the prior year.rn18 rn(2) In addition to the moneys collected under paragraph (1),rn19 rnthe city of the first class shall remit to the school districtrn20 rnof the first class for each year that the school district isrn21 rndeclared distressed that portion of all other local tax revenuern22 rnlevied for a full fiscal year by a city or county of the firstrn23 rnclass coterminous with a school district of the first class thatrn24 rnwas allocated to the school district prior to the schoolrn25 rndistrict being declared distressed in accordance with sectionrn26 rn691(c).rn27 rn(3) All taxes collected on behalf of a school district ofrn28 rnthe first class by any person or entity, including a city orrn29 rncounty of the first class, shall be promptly paid followingrn30 rncollection to the School Reform Commission for the benefit ofrn20110SB1303PN1727 rn- 2 - rn rn1 rnthe school district.rn2 rn(4) In the event the city or county of the first class doesrn3 rnnot meet the financial obligations prescribed in thisrn4 rnsubsection, the Commonwealth may apply to that obligation anyrn5 rnamounts otherwise due from the Commonwealth to the city orrn6 rncounty of the first class, including, but not limited to,rn7 rngrants, awards and moneys collected by the Commonwealth onrn8 rnbehalf of the city or county of the first class. Funds withheldrn9 rnshall be maintained in a separate account by the State Treasurerrn10 rnto be disbursed as determined by the Secretary of Education inrn11 rnconsultation with the State Treasurer.rn12 rn(5) The School Reform Commission shall adopt a budget.rn13 rn(h.1) For any year for which the body with responsibilityrn14 rnfor the making of assessments of real property in a city of thern15 rnfirst class certifies that the total assessed value of all realrn16 rnproperty in the city is more than two times the total assessedrn17 rnvalue for the previous year, and for each year thereafter:rn18 rn(1) Subsection (h)(1), (2), (3) and (4) shall not apply,rn19 rnprovided that for so long as the district remains subject to arn20 rndeclaration of distress, for each year subsequent to the yearrn21 rnfor which the board so certifies, the city shall authorize for arn22 rnschool district a rate of tax no less than the rate of taxrn23 rnauthorized by the city for the immediately preceding year.rn24 rn(2) The authorization of tax for school districts of thern25 rnfirst class set forth in the following acts shall not apply:rn26 rn(i) Section 652 of this act.rn27 rn(ii) The act of May 23, 1949 (P.L.1661, No.505), entitled,rn28 rnas reenacted and amended, "An act to impose a tax on real estatern29 rnfor public school purposes in school districts of the firstrn30 rnclass and of the first class A for current expenses."rn20110SB1303PN1727 rn- 3 - rn rn1 rn(iii) The act of July 8, 1957 (P.L.548, No.303), entitledrn2 rn"An act to impose an additional tax on real estate for publicrn3 rnschool purposes in school districts of the first class forrn4 rncurrent expenses."rn5 rn(iv) The act of November 19, 1959 (P.L.1552, No.557),rn6 rnentitled "An act imposing a tax on real estate for public schoolrn7 rnpurposes in school districts of the first class and first classrn8 rnA for current expenses."rn9 rn(v) The act of August 8, 1963 (P.L.592, No.310), entitledrn10 rn"An act to impose an additional tax on real estate for publicrn11 rnschool purposes in school districts of the first class forrn12 rngeneral public school purposes."rn13 rn(3) The provisions of paragraph (2) shall continue after thern14 rnexpiration of a declaration of distress.rn15 rn* * *rn16 rnSection 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.rn20110SB1303PN1727 rn- 4 - rn Tags: Philadelphia Mayor Nutter Distressed Schools First Class Cities School Reform Photo/Natalie Caker