Does the school board get the surtax money every month from the state?
How often are they required to give the charter schools their portion?
Can they withhold the charter school portion if the charter school hasn’t submitted the requested information to the Citizen Oversight Committee?
Can the Citizen Oversight Committee require:
1. All financial documents, bond requests, loan requests that were made in anticipation of the sales tax revenue
2. The detail of the owners of the charter school drilled down to the names of the people
3. The detail of the owners of the building (drilled down to the names of the people) that the charter school is leasing with our sales tax money
4. The competitive bids and if the project was awarded to a related party
5. Will this information be on a website for the public to see?
Link to Florida statute 212.055 :
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/STATUTES/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0200-0299/0212/Sections/0212.055.html
Excerpts from 212.055 (6):
(6) SCHOOL CAPITAL OUTLAY SURTAX.—
[this statement was required by HB 7097 passed in early 2020]: The resolution must include a statement that the revenues collected must be shared with eligible charter schools based on their proportionate share of the total school district enrollment. … Surtax revenues shared with charter schools shall be expended by the charter school in a manner consistent with the allowable uses set forth in s. 1013.62(4). All revenues and expenditures shall be accounted for in a charter school’s monthly or quarterly financial statement pursuant to s. 1002.33(9). The eligibility of a charter school to receive funds under this subsection shall be determined in accordance with s. 1013.62(1). If a school’s charter is not renewed or is terminated and the school is dissolved under the provisions of law under which the school was organized, any unencumbered funds received under this subsection shall revert to the sponsor.(d) Surtax revenues collected by the Department of Revenue pursuant to this subsection shall be distributed to the school board imposing the surtax in accordance with law. [But how often? Every month?]
What is this saying? Here’s my guess:
Charter schools will get at least the amount of capital outlay funds per student that was distributed in the 2018-2019 fiscal year.
No such guarantee is given to the district owned school buildings.
Excerpt from 1013.62
Beginning in fiscal year 2021-2022, charter school capital outlay funding shall consist of state funds when such funds are appropriated in the General Appropriations Act and revenue resulting from the discretionary millage authorized in s. 1011.71(2) if the amount of state funds appropriated for charter school capital outlay in any fiscal year is less than the average charter school capital outlay funds per unweighted full-time equivalent student for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, multiplied by the estimated number of charter school students for the applicable fiscal year, and adjusted by changes in the Consumer Price Index issued by the United States Department of Labor from the previous fiscal year. Nothing in this subsection prohibits a school district from distributing to charter schools funds resulting from the discretionary millage authorized in s. 1011.71(2).
Unite Us Do Not Divide Us 