Vermont Legislative Joint Fiscal Office
One Baldwin Street • Montpelier, VT 05633-5701 • (802) 828-2295 • Fax: (802) 828-2483
FISCAL NOTE
Date: May 12, 2021
Prepared by: Mark Perrault and Breanna Parker
Senate Bill No. 13 - An act relating to the implementation of the Pupil Weighting Factors
Report as amended by the House Committees on Education and Ways and Means.
This bill creates a Task Force on the Implementation of the Pupil Weighting Factors Report. The
Task Force shall recommend to the General Assembly an action plan and proposed legislation
to ensure that all public school students have equitable access to education taking into account
the Pupil Weighting Factors Report.1 A written report shall be submitted to the House and
Senate Committees on Education, the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the Senate
Committee on Finance on or before December 15, 2021.
Sec. 5 – Excess Spending Moratorium
Provides that, for the purpose of determining a school district’s homestead property tax rate,
education spending shall be calculated without regard to the excess spending adjustment in
FY2022 and FY2023.
In FY2022, this provision will reduce gross homestead property taxes by about $1.4 million.
There will also be a small reduction in the cost of the property tax credit; however, this
reduction in the property tax credit will not be applied to homestead property tax bills until
FY2023.
The impact of this provision in FY2023 is uncertain because school districts will not submit
budgets to their voters for approval until March 2022.
Sec. 6 – Appropriations
(a) Appropriates $10,800 from the General Fund in FY2022 to the General Assembly for per
diems and reimbursements for legislative members assigned to the Task Force in section
2(b)(1) of this bill. The members of the Task Force shall be entitled to compensation for not
more than 12 meetings.
Since the bill as amended by the House Committee on Ways and Means expanded legislative
membership from four to eight members, this appropriation should be increased to $21,600
to cover per diems and reimbursements.
(b) Appropriates $25,000 from the General Fund in FY2022 to the Joint Fiscal Office for
consultant expenses. The Task Force may retain a consultant to assist it with modeling
education finance scenarios and in writing a report with its action plan and proposed
legislation.
1
Study of Pupil Weights in Vermont’s Education Finance Formula, December 2019.