R ODAMIENTOS PARA CILINDROS SEPARADORES

Agencies: New Mexico Public School Capital Outlay Council; New Mexico Public School

Facilities Authority

Capital Outlay Bureau, New Mexico Public Education Department

Website: http://www.nmschoolbuildings.org/index.html

Contact: Tim Berry, deputy director, Public School Facilities Authority, 505/988-5989 x2109

Oversight: The New Mexico Public School Capital Outlay Council approves projects for

grant assistance from the public school capital outlay fund. Nine council members represent the governor’s office, Department of Finance and Administration, Public Education Commission, Public Education Department, Legislative Education Study Committee, Legislative Finance Committee (permanent joint committees of the New Mexico Legislature), Legislative Council Service, Construction Industries Division (Regulation and Licensing Department), and New Mexico School Boards Association.

The New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority develops criteria for grant assistance, maintains the school facility assessment database, reviews and ranks projects, and promulgates school building standards. All school construction requires review and approval by the authority before issuance of a building permit. The authority also assists school districts in planning, constructing, and maintaining facilities. Field staff live in the school districts in which they work. A total of 51 persons work for the authority.

The Capital Outlay Bureau, New Mexico Public Education Department, administers direct general fund appropriations for capital outlay projects in specific school districts and monitors school district bonding indebtedness. It also calculates and distributes state “matching funds” to equalize revenue generated by local property taxes for capital improvements and maintenance needs.

The 20 university, legislative, executive, education, and public members of the New Mexico Public School Capital Outlay Oversight Task Force evaluate the effectiveness of state aid for school construction and make recommendations to the legislature.

State Aid: A statewide database of public school buildings and distinct systems within the

buildings (approximately 200,000 specific line items) is used to rank every need in the state from greatest to least based on nine weighted categories, the most important being life, safety, and health. Once each year, the Public School Capital Outlay Council publishes the ranked list, and the state’s goal is to fund at least the top 100 projects each year. Districts must apply for the funds. The state share of each project is determined by a matching distribution formula, and districts can apply for a waiver from the local match requirement. In addition to standards- based capital outlay awards, the state uses bond proceeds in the public school capital outlay fund to finance deficiency correction projects, facilities leasing assistance, and school roofing repair. In FY 2005, state capital outlay for public school construction totaled $274.9 million.

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Financing: State-issued bonds backed by revenue from the state severance tax (tax on the

extraction of oil, natural gas, and coal) and general revenue fund appropriations

Of Note: If a district receives a direct appropriation for a capital outlay project as well as an award from the public school capital outlay fund, the award is reduced by a percent equal to the district’s local match for the award. This offset applies to the district, so if one school in a district receives a direct appropriation, other projects in the district that receive award funding will be subject to the offset.

New York

Agency: New York State Education Department

Website: http://stateaid.nysed.gov/build/building_info.htm

Contact: Andrea Hyary, Office of State Aid, 518/474-2977

Oversight: The Office of Facilities Planning, New York State Education Department, approves

plans and specifications for public school capital construction projects and determines eligibility for state aid. The Office of State Aid administers state aid to public schools, including building aid.

State Aid: The Building Aid Program in place since 1961 reimburses school districts for

debt service on bonds for school repair and new construction. The level of reimbursement is determined by the type of project, eligible project costs, and the district’s Building Aid Ratio. These ratios range from 10 percent for the most property-wealthy districts to 98 percent for those that are the most property-poor. The state provides Building Aid each year on an amortization schedule that is based on approved costs. Building Aid amounted to $1.5 billion in FY 2005-2006, which included special funding for building projects related to school district reorganization.

The EXCEL (Expanding our Children’s Education and Learning) Program passed by the New York Legislature in 2006 provides grant funding to each school district for certain types of school construction projects in addition to the district’s Building Aid apportionment. The EXCEL apportionment for the New York City Department of Education, the largest school district in the nation, is $1.8 billion, and the apportionment for the remainder of the school districts in the state is $800 million. To qualify for EXCEL funding, at least 75 percent of the cost for a project must qualify under one of five categories: education technology, health and safety, accessibility, physical capacity or expansion, and energy.

Financing: General revenue fund appropriations (Building Aid), general revenue bonds

(EXCEL)

Of Note: As part of the new school construction funding approved by the New York Legislature in 2006, New York City is allowed to borrow up to $9.4 billion for school construction and use future Building Aid apportionments to guarantee the new bonds.