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Public Act 096-0911
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| SB2548 Enrolled |
LRB096 15686 MJR 30922 b |
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AN ACT concerning education.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Public Community College Act is amended by |
changing Section 2-16.02 as follows:
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(110 ILCS 805/2-16.02) (from Ch. 122, par. 102-16.02)
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Sec. 2-16.02. Grants. Any community college district that |
maintains a
community college recognized by the State Board |
shall receive, when eligible,
grants enumerated in this |
Section. Funded semester credit hours or other
measures or both |
as specified by the State Board shall be used to distribute
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grants to community colleges. Funded semester credit hours |
shall be defined,
for purposes of this Section, as the greater |
of
(1) the number of semester credit hours, or equivalent, in |
all funded
instructional categories of students who have been |
certified as being in
attendance at midterm during the |
respective terms of the base fiscal year or
(2) the average of |
semester credit hours, or equivalent, in all funded
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instructional categories of students who have been certified as |
being in
attendance at midterm during the respective terms of |
the base fiscal year and
the 2 prior fiscal years. For purposes |
of this Section, "base fiscal year"
means the fiscal year 2 |
years prior to the fiscal year for which the grants are
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appropriated. Such students shall have been residents of |
Illinois and shall
have been enrolled in courses that are part |
of instructional program categories
approved by the State Board |
and that are applicable toward an associate degree
or |
certificate.
Courses that are eligible for reimbursement are |
those courses for which
the district pays 50% or more of the |
program costs from unrestricted
revenue sources, with the |
exception of courses offered by contract with
the Department of |
Corrections in correctional institutions. For the
purposes of |
this Section, "unrestricted revenue sources" means those
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revenues in which the provider of the revenue imposes no |
financial
limitations upon the district as it relates to the |
expenditure of the funds. Base operating grants shall be paid |
based on rates per funded
semester credit hour or equivalent |
calculated by the State Board for funded
instructional |
categories using cost of instruction, enrollment, inflation, |
and
other relevant factors. A portion of the base operating |
grant shall be
allocated on the basis of non-residential gross |
square footage of space
maintained by the district.
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Equalization grants shall be calculated by the State Board |
by determining a
local revenue factor for each district by: (A) |
adding (1)
each district's Corporate Personal Property |
Replacement Fund
allocations from the base
fiscal year or the |
average of the base fiscal year and prior year, whichever is
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less, divided by the applicable statewide average tax rate to |
(2) the
district's most recently audited
year's equalized |
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assessed valuation or the average of the most recently audited
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year and prior year, whichever is less, (B) then dividing by |
the district's
audited full-time equivalent resident students |
for the base fiscal year or the
average for the base fiscal |
year and the 2 prior fiscal years, whichever is
greater, and |
(C) then multiplying by the applicable statewide average tax
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rate. The State Board
shall calculate a statewide weighted |
average threshold by applying
the same methodology to the |
totals of all districts' Corporate Personal
Property Tax |
Replacement Fund allocations, equalized assessed valuations, |
and
audited full-time equivalent district resident students |
and multiplying by the
applicable statewide average tax rate. |
The difference between the statewide
weighted average |
threshold and the local revenue
factor, multiplied by the |
number of full-time equivalent resident students,
shall |
determine the amount of equalization funding that each district |
is
eligible to receive. A percentage factor, as determined by |
the State Board,
may be applied to the statewide threshold as a |
method for allocating
equalization funding. A minimum |
equalization grant of an amount per district
as determined by |
the State Board shall be established for any community college
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district which qualifies for an equalization grant based upon |
the preceding
criteria, but becomes ineligible for |
equalization funding, or would have
received a grant of less |
than the minimum equalization grant, due to threshold
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prorations applied to reduce equalization funding.
As of July |
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1, 2004, a community college district must maintain a
minimum |
required combined in-district tuition and universal fee rate |
per
semester credit hour equal to 85% of the State-average |
combined rate, as
determined by the State Board, for |
equalization funding. As of July 1,
2004, a community college |
district must maintain a minimum required
operating tax rate |
equal to at least 95% of its maximum authorized tax
rate to |
qualify for equalization funding. This 95% minimum tax rate
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requirement shall be based upon the maximum operating tax rate |
as
limited by the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law.
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The State Board shall distribute such other grants as may |
be
authorized or appropriated by the General Assembly.
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Each community college district entitled to State grants |
under this
Section must submit a report of its enrollment to |
the State Board not later
than 30 days following the end of |
each semester, quarter, or term in a
format prescribed by the |
State Board. These semester credit hours, or
equivalent, shall |
be certified by each district on forms provided by the
State |
Board. Each district's certified semester credit hours, or |
equivalent,
are subject to audit pursuant to Section 3-22.1.
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The State Board shall certify, prepare, and submit monthly |
vouchers to the State Comptroller
during August, November, |
February, and May of each fiscal year vouchers setting
forth an |
amount equal to one-twelfth 25% of the grants approved by the |
State Board for base
operating grants and equalization grants. |
The State Board shall prepare and
submit to the State |
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Comptroller vouchers for payments of other grants as
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appropriated by the General Assembly. If the amount |
appropriated for grants
is different from the amount provided |
for such grants under this Act, the
grants shall be |
proportionately reduced or increased accordingly.
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For the purposes of this Section, "resident student" means |
a student in a
community college district who maintains |
residency in that district or
meets other residency definitions |
established by the State Board, and who
was enrolled either in |
one of the approved instructional program categories
in that |
district, or in another community college district to which the
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resident's district is paying tuition under Section 6-2 or with |
which the
resident's district has entered into a cooperative |
agreement in lieu of such
tuition.
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For the purposes of this Section, a "full-time equivalent" |
student is
equal to 30 semester credit hours.
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The Illinois Community College Board Contracts and Grants |
Fund is hereby
created in the State Treasury. Items of income |
to this fund shall include
any grants, awards, endowments, or |
like proceeds, and where appropriate,
other funds made |
available through contracts with governmental, public, and
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private agencies or persons. The General Assembly shall from |
time to time
make appropriations payable from such fund for the |
support, improvement,
and expenses of the State Board and |
Illinois community college
districts.
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(Source: P.A. 93-21, eff. 7-1-03.)
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