HBA-SEB C.S.H.B. 98 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 98 By: Reyna, Arthur Public Education 4/19/1999 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, most school districts begin school in August or July. The timing of the fiscal year often coincides with the fall opening of the district. This means that the budget for the year is often adopted after the school year starts. Modifying the fiscal year calendar will keep the district from having to contend with both issues simultaneously. C.S.H.B. 98 sets the fiscal year for school districts to begin on August 1 of each year. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter A, Chapter 44, Education Code, by adding Section 44.0011, as follows: Sec. 44.0011. FISCAL YEAR. Establishes that the fiscal year of a school district begins on August 1 of each year. SECTION 2. Amends Section 26.01, Tax Code, by adding Subsection (d), as follows: (d) Requires the chief appraiser to prepare and certify, by June 15, to the assessor of each school district participating in the appraisal district an estimate of the taxable value of school district property. Requires the chief appraiser to assist each school district in determining values of school district property for the district's budgetary purposes. SECTION 3. Provides that a school district's fiscal year that begins in 2001 ends July 31, 2002. Requires a school district with a fiscal year that would have ended on another date in 2002 to take action before August 1, 2002, to conform to Section 44.0011, Education Code, as added by this Act. SECTION 4. Effective date: September 1, 2001. SECTION 5. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The substitute makes a conforming change in the caption. The substitute modifies SECTION 1 by changing proposed Section 44.0011, Education Code, to establish that the fiscal year of a school district begins on August 1 of each year, rather than July 1 of each year. The substitute modifies SECTION 2 by changing proposed Section 26.01(d), Tax Code, to require the chief appraiser to prepare and certify an estimate of the taxable value of school district property to the assessor of each school district participating in the appraisal district. The original would have required the chief appraiser to prepare and certify a preliminary appraisal roll for the school district. The substitute modifies SECTION 3 to make conforming changes with respect to the change of the bill's effective date and the change of the beginning date of a school district's fiscal year. The substitute modifies SECTION 4 to change the effective date from September 1, 1999, in the original to September 1, 2001, in the substitute.