Legislators recently approved a 12.2 percent boost in the state’s funding formula for building new public schools after being told that districts across Arizona have had to scrimp on projects because funding hasn’t kept pace with rising construction costs.
The Joint Legislative Budget Committee’s action Oct. 24 came a year after the same panel’s members bucked their leaders and agreed to a bigger inflation adjustment than they wanted. The increase approved a year ago also was 12 percent, above the 9 percent sought by the chairmen.
This time, the committee’s leaders did a better job of counting noses in advance.
The Republican-led committee approved the 12.2 percent increase for the current fiscal year unanimously after rejecting on a voice vote a Democratic proposal to increase the funding by 20 percent, the recommendation by a statewide group of architects.
The state pays for building new schools under the Students First program enacted in 1998, but a School Facilities Board official and local school representatives told the lawmakers that the funding formula is not keeping pace with rising school construction costs, particularly in districts outside metro Phoenix and Tucson.
Principal: 12.2% not enough
A 12.2 percent increase is appreciated but not sufficient to cover project costs for taxes and permits as well as features such as security fences, said Katherin Shiba, a Sahuarita Unified School District principal. “That actually cuts way into all areas of the building, including furniture, fixtures and equipment.”
Dozens of projects now on the drawing board will be awarded funding under formulas that will be significantly too low by the time construction is under way a year or more later, said John Arnold, the School Facilities Board’s acting executive director.
When inflation was nearly flat in 2001, “that was fine,” Mr. Arnold said. “The formula is no longer sufficient to build a new school.”
Mr. Arnold said the board frequently approves extra funding above the formula amount but that handling projects that way has long-term drawbacks for the state.
The state provides funding to districts under minimum adequacy guidelines and formulas that trigger funding according to a district’s projected enrollment.
Though homebuilding is falling off, construction costs for schools are still rising partly due to continued strength in commercial projects, said Rep. Linda Lopez, D-29. “That’s where the competition for building these schools is.”
Rep. Meg Burton Cahill, D-17, voiced support for a big inflation adjustment. “Some of what we’re doing now is catch-up on work that we neglected to do in prior years,” she said.
The state plans to spend $250 million on new school construction during the current fiscal year.
Legislative budget analysts said the 12.2 percent increase would provide an additional $38.9 million through the 2010-2011 fiscal year for projects authorized in the next year and separately add $10.5 million to the state’s spending on school upkeep during the next fiscal year.
Previous inflation adjustments ranged from nothing in 2003 to 5 percent in 2001.
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