An Arizona judge ruled Friday that a ballot proposition approved by voters in 2000 requests, but does not require, that the Legislature adjust its annual allocation formula for state aid to local school districts for inflation.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Mangum rejected a contention that the Legislature had no option but to follow the law approved by a 2-1 margin in November 2000.
In his ruling, Mangum said lawmakers cannot be ordered to take any action by either legislation or voters.
Proposition 301 raised the state sales tax by 0.6%, with the revenue dedicated to public education.
The measure stipulated that the Legislature must adjust the state’s school funding formula each year to protect districts from inflation.
“While Proposition 301 states the intention of the voters of Arizona that an appropriation be made to protect the schools from the effects of inflation, the proposition by itself is not self-executing,” Mangum said. “Failing to appropriate the statutory amount is a failure to do what the law requests, not what the law requires.”
The judge said the directive could have passed constitutional muster if it had mandated automatic transfers from the state treasury rather than legislative appropriations.
An attorney for the school districts said an appeal would be filed this week.
House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, said Mangum’s ruling was the right decision.
“The constitution requires specific legal authorization for all payments from the state treasury,” he said. “This requirement is especially important now as we face unprecedented financial challenges.”
Proposition 301 directed that the school funding formula be increased 2% through 2005, and thereafter by 2% or the rate of inflation, whichever was lower. It will expire in 2021.
The inflation adjustment had been made each year until fiscal 2011.
A coalition of local school districts and statewide education organizations filed suit last year when the fiscal 2011 state budget provided only a $5 million increase in state aid to education rather than the $61 million they said should have been added.
The Arizona School Boards Association, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said 60% of local districts would not receive any funding from Proposition 301 in fiscal 2011.
The inflation factor for fiscal 2011 should have been 1.3%, the plaintiffs contended.
