OCR Text |
Show Fr Against Q Q asa&fa Official Ballot Title: Shall Article X, Section 3, of the State Constitution be amended to modify the revenue sources to the State School Fund to include all revenues from nonrenewable resources from school or state lands; and clarify the funding and administration of the Uniform School Fund, and provide an effective date Proposition No. 4 of July 1, 1987. STATE SCHOOL FUND AMENDMENTS Vote cast by the members of the 1984 Legislature on final passage: HOUSE (75 members): Yeas, 51, Nays, 3, Absent or not voting, 21. SENATE (29 members): Yeas, 21; Nays, 7; Absent or not voting, 1 IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS proceeds from other uses of renewable resources from school and state lands as well as income from the permanent school fund investments; (d) proceeds from individual income tax; and (e) funds appropriated annually by the legislature from state general and special revenues. Proposal The Utah Constitution establishes (1) a State School Fund, and (2) a Uniform School Fund. (1) The State School Fund is a trust fund established by the state constitution to provide a permanent source of revenue for public education. The State School Fund now receives revenues from three sources: (a) proceeds from the sale of all lands granted to the state by the United States for the support of elementary and secondary schools (this land is a one mile square section in each township of the public domain given to Utah at statehood by the federal government); (b) five percent of the net proceeds of federal land sold in Utah; and (c) revenues appropriated by the legislature. Monies deposited in the fund must remain there permanently and cannot be appropriated by the legislature. Interest received by investing these funds are used yearly to help fund publicly supported elementary and secondary schools. Currently the State School Fund has investments of $19.0 million and the interest earned on the investments last year was $1.4 million. The state government pays approximately 73 percent of the cost of public elementary and secondary education in Utah. The remaining 27 percent of the cost is raised through local property taxes. For the 1984-8school year the legislature appropriated $574 million of state funds to finance elementary and secondary education in Utah. This represents 37 percent of the total state budget. Of this total, $1.4 million will come from interest on State School Fund investments, $10.6 million will be collected from school land renewable resources and $7.0 million will be collected from the sale of nonrenewable resources on state and school lands. The proposed revision constitutionally changes the manner that proceeds from the sale of nonrenewable (oil, coal, gas) natural resources on school and state lands are used to pay for public education. Currently they are used each year to fund the Uniform School Fund. The proposed revision will provide that proceeds from these resources be placed in the State School Fund rather than the Uniform School Fund, where they will be interest bearing trust fund. incorporated into a (2) The Uniform School Fund is constitutionally established as an operating fund for public education and receives the mior sources of revenue for state aid to education. It receives revenues from: (a) proceeds from the sale of all unclaimed property; (b) all unclaimed dividends and shares of Utah corporations; (c) proceeds from the sale of timber, minerals (oil, gas, etc.) and 22- |