APS FUNDING

"Hows" and "Whys" for facility construction at Albuquerque Public Schools

Introduction

APS is obligated to provide equitable public education for all students in the District.  In School Year 2022-23, District-wide enrollment reached just under 72,000 students, with student populations and school facilities dispersed throughout an area of approximately 1,230 square miles and spanning 14 jurisdictions.  As an economy of scale serving a student population of this magnitude, APS provides for the demands of student educational resources and facilities, which include the provision of a safe, secure learning environment, exceeding limited supplies of taxpayer dollars, and local and state funding.  Educational services and ancillary support require a budget of approximately one billion dollars annually.  Additionally, school facilities must be located equitably to accommodate the changing needs of shifting population dynamics, demographic and socioeconomic trends, and unstable real estate markets.  With over 16 million square feet of schools and administrative facilities, adequate funding is a necessity.  The following information in this story map explains where the money comes from, the prioritization process, and how the school district uses funding in facilities planning processes to anticipate capital needs and efficiently and equitably allocate resources while keeping within fiscal constraints.   

Funding for school facility projects is part of the Albuquerque Public Schools' Capital Master Plan, which is the strategic plan that guides the expenditure of APS Capital Resources in developing APS facilities districtwide.  Albuquerque Public Schools divides its budget into several categories, based on funding source and type of allocation.  The two main funding categories are:

(1) Operational funds (Fiscal Year 2022): General Operational Funds comprised approximately 50 percent ($831,290,767) of the APS Budget in Fiscal Year 2022.

  • Operational funds come from the state and are based on a state-wide equalization formula. This money funds recurring costs for providing education including teacher salaries, heating and cooling, supplies, etc.

(2) Capital funds (Fiscal Year 2022): Total Capital Funds accounted for approximately 22 percent of the total APS budget ($365,394,432).

  • Capital funds are approved by voters and locally derived from property taxes via mill levies and bonds. These funds are summed together to fund the entire district per the APS Capital Master Plan. Capital funds are primarily used for capital construction, technology, assets, equipment, etc.

APS District Summary Map

Operational Budget

The State of New Mexico is the largest funding provider of the APS operational budget. The operational budget funds District-Wide programmatic needs and covers employee salaries and benefits, in general.  The APS general operational budget consists of three categories: operational fund, transportation fund, and instructional materials fund.  The operational budget funds APS daily activities: direct instruction, student instructional support, school and general administration, central services, and some maintenance and operations.

Main Source of Operational Funding: Ninety percent of APS’s operational funding is funded by the State of New Mexico, through the State Equalization Guarantee (SEG) formula funding, and based on current, District-Wide student enrollment. The remaining funding is sourced directly from the State of New Mexico, including student transportation and instructional materials, as well as Local revenues (property taxes) and Federal funding.

Explanation of the State Equalization Guarantee (SEG) (Operational Budget):

The SEG funds equitable state-wide education in New Mexico.  SEG is allocated by the state to each school district and calculated based on the number of students per school district (based on an average of 80 th  Day and 120 th  student enrollment). FY 2022 SEG funding to the Albuquerque Public Schools District was $742.7 M. The SEG was codified by the New Mexico Legislature in 1974, in the Public School Finance Act.

Capital Budget

The APS capital budget addresses District-wide needs including construction, facilities’ maintenance, and equipment purchase.  Capital funds are supplied primarily from local, tax payer-approved funds and come from various sources, primarily property tax revenue (HB-33, SB-9, Debt Service Funds).

What is a Mill Levy and how is it relevant to APS?

The mill levy is a “pay as you go” commercial and residential property tax, where money is spent on capital projects, as it is received in the form of property taxes.  The mill levy is calculated by dividing a jurisdiction’s total needed revenues by the total assessed tax value in the jurisdiction. The collected mill levy tax is distributed to member governments in the jurisdiction based on the estimated revenue needs.

  • APS collects approximately 25 percent of mill levy funds which are used to supply the capital funds budget.  The rest of the mill levy is used by other public agencies and utilities in the same locality to fund their projects.  The current mill levy (as of 2022) is approximately $2 for $1,000 assessed of taxable property (0.2 percent).  Funding is used for construction, educational equipment, technology, maintenance, technology infrastructure, classroom technology, classroom equipment, and capital administration overhead.
  • APS mill levy authorization is found in HB 33 (six year) and SB 9 (six year).  Since 1990, mill levies have supplied over half of capital master plan revenues.
  • 2021 Election: $430 Million in HB 33 mill levy funding distributed over six years.
  • November 2019 Election: SB9 was reauthorized on a five year cycle, but will need to be reauthorized in 2023 to avoid a funding lapse.   

What is a bond and how is it relevant to APS?

APS uses General Obligation (GO) bonds (4 year) revenues (bought with taxpayer money) to supply additional facilities’ needs and construction, capital projects, and basic and urgent repairs.  Bonds are a form of deficit financing, where residents pay taxes to fund school bonds, based on the premise that the school district will use the bond money to pay for construction.

  • 2021 Election: $200 Million in GO bond funding issued over four years ($65 M in 2023, $65 M in 2024, $70 M in 2025).
  • November 2019: Approved issuance of up to $100 M ($40 M sold in 2021, $57 M to be sold in 2022).
  • The next GO bond election will be in November 2025.  

Other Budget Categories (not considered Operational or Capital)

Other budget categories include: State, Federal, and Grants.

Note: Debt Services funding is supplied by local property tax and is paid towards the District’s debt in principal and interest payments.

APS Capital Master Plan

What is a Master Plan?

A Master Plan could refer to the overall Capital Master Plan, or to a specific Facility/Site Master Plan.                                                    

  1. The overall  Capital Master Plan  is the strategic plan that guides the expenditure of APS Capital Resources in developing APS facilities districtwide, as described above.
  2. A School Facility Master Plan is a comprehensive document that contains site-specific, long-term strategies for the development of APS School District Facility Sites. The Master Plan Strategy is guided by architectural evaluations, needs assessment summaries, phased renovation and rebuild plans, and voter-approved capital projects. Facility Master Plans work as a guide or outline for the future school design.

How are Facility/Site Master Plans Developed?

  1.  APS Capital Master Plan conducts analysis of historic, current and projected school enrollment, capacity, transfer percentages, classroom use and existing programs and amenities. Neighborhood character, community, and growth/housing trends are also taken into account.
  2. APS contracts an architectural firm to conduct an assessment and develop a Site Master Plan, using the information provided by APS Capital Master Plan, APS School Design Standards, and with the support of APS Facilities, Design & Construction.                                                            

What comes after the Facility/Site Master Plan?

  1. Once a school is prioritized via the Overall APS Capital Master Plan strategy process, it is added as a project included in the school election.
  2. If passed by voters, a bid will be put out to architectural firms for the school design.
  3. A school design team is put together, which includes the selected architectural firm, APS FD+C Architect and Construction Manager, the school principal, school staff, students and a community representative/parent.
  4. A school might be funded for a school design and build, or for a school design and partial build (implementation of 1+ phases).
  5. Timelines are dependent upon District need, availability of resources, and school elections.

APS capital projects are prioritized through the Capital Master Plan Process, which guides capital budget planning and spending on facilities, technology, and educational equipment and is used to identify and address the School District’s long-term capital needs.

Every five years, the APS District contracts an architectural company to conduct an independent and highly involved facility evaluation of APS facilities districtwide. These evaluations result in overall facility scores for each facility for use in prioritization of capital projects, and they also result in the cost estimates and priority timelines for capital projects at all APS facilities. These evaluations are integral to the formulation of the overall APS Capital Master Plan strategy. The Capital Master Plan Process is as follows:

  • As described above, the APS Capital Master Plan department identifies needs through a technical procedure based on a comprehensive independent architectural, engineering, quantitative and qualitative, and technology assessment of all district facilities with respect to APS and state facility standards. The prioritization guidelines are as follows:   

  • The Capital Master Plan Review Committee (consisting of community members and school principals) meets three times to review the Capital Master Plan prioritization for an upcoming election. During this series of meetings, the committee requests specific revisions and ultimately approves or disapproves of the Capital Master Plan. This Capital Master Plan reflects major capital/construction projects and line item capital budgets by category (i.e. Career Technical Education, Fine Arts, Furniture Refresh, etc.).
  • APS Superintendent reviews the Capital Master Plan for approval.
  • APS Board of Education reviews the Capital Master Plan for approval. If the APS Board of Education approves the Capital Master Plan, it is sent to the Bernalillo County Clerk to be included in the upcoming election.
  • The final list of projects and accompanying budget is presented for a vote in the mill levy/GO bond election, where local voters approve or reject tax funding for the list.    

November 2021 APS Election

These are the projects funded from the November 2021 election:

November 2019 APS Election

In February of 2019 APS lost a school election, which led to the scaling down of the district-wide construction scope. The projects included in the smaller scope included projects which were already designed and awaiting construction.

These are the projects funded from the November 2019 election:

Conclusion

In order to provide accessible, equitable, educational facilities to all students, family, and staff in the District, APS requires adequate funding for new construction, ongoing maintenance, and renovations to provide the safest and highest quality learning environments. The district makes the best use of its available resources through the Capital Master Planning process, whereby all school facilities are planned for and budgeted accordingly based upon equity, demographic needs, programming and curricula.

To learn more about the APS individual School Site Master Plans please visit the APS Capital Master Plan Website.

This story map will be updated as election cycles progress.