State education officials have rediscovered a law more than 20 years old which affects the way millions of dollars in current and future fiscal year funds will be distributed to the state's school districts.
The formula for midterm adjustments, she said, accounts for ad valorem tax revenues. In that factoring, the state law enacted in 1990 to take effect in 1992 mandates that agricultural and commercial personal property taxes should be capped at 11 percent. The statute also notes that the Oklahoma Tax Commission will provide that data to the Department of Education.
Since the law took effect, Barresi said the State Department of Education has failed to consider the cap and the Oklahoma Tax Commission has not provided the necessary data.
The State Department of Education became aware of the mistake after Ponca City Superintendent David Pennington contacted a legislator recently, Barresi said, to inform them of the oversight which has been occurring each of the last 22 years.
Barresi said a change would mean adding a "sizable increase" in funding to a small number of school districts and a decrease in funding to many more school districts amounting to a difference of "millions of dollars."
The superintendent added they are working as quickly as possible to meet the statutory requirement to have the mid-year adjustment by Jan. 15 but they do not yet know if the tax commission will have the data they need by that date because the Tax Commission will be not be able to provide the necessary data until, at best, early January.
Barresi said the states school district superintendents of the state have been notified of the error and their plan for action.
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