                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PROPOSALS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION; GUIDELINES; TAX CREDITS AUTHORIZED (§
58.1-439.20:1)

A. Any neighborhood organization may submit education proposals to the
Superintendent of Public Instruction requesting an allocation of tax credits for
use by business firms making donations to the neighborhood organization. All
other neighborhood organization proposals shall be submitted to the Commissioner
or Social Services pursuant to &#xA7; 58.1-439.20.
			The proposal shall set forth the program to be conducted by the neighborhood
organization, the low-income persons or eligible students with disabilities to
be assisted, the estimated amount to be donated to the program, and the plans
for implementing the program.

B. 1. The Department of Education is hereby authorized to adopt guidelines for
the approval or disapproval of such proposals by neighborhood organizations and
for determining the value of the donations.

   2. In order to be eligible to receive an allocation of tax credits pursuant to
   this article, a neighborhood organization shall have been in existence for at
   least one year. As a prerequisite for approval, neighborhood organizations
   with total revenues of (i) more than $100,000 shall provide to the Department
   of Education an audit or review for the most recent year or (ii) $100,000 or
   less shall provide to the Department of Education a compilation for the most
   recent year. Such audit, review, or compilation shall be performed by an
   independent certified public accountant. For purposes of this subdivision,
   &#8220;total revenues&#8221; means all revenues, including the value of all
   donations, for the organization&#8217;s most recent year. No proposal for an
   allocation of tax credits shall be untimely filed solely because such audit,
   review, or compilation was not submitted by the neighborhood organization by
   the proposal filing deadline, provided that the audit, review, or compilation
   is submitted to the Superintendent of Public Instruction within the 30-day
   period immediately following such deadline.

   3. In order to be eligible to receive an allocation of credits pursuant to
   this article, at least 50 percent of the persons served by the neighborhood
   organization shall be low-income persons or eligible students with
   disabilities and at least 50 percent of the neighborhood organization&#8217;s
   revenues shall be used to provide services to low-income persons or to
   eligible students with disabilities. Expenditures for teacher salaries shall
   count toward the requirement that at least 50 percent of revenues be used to
   provide services to low-income persons or to eligible students with
   disabilities.

   4. In order for a proposal to be approved, an applicant neighborhood
   organization and any of its affiliates shall meet the requirements of this
   section and the application guidelines. However, beginning with tax credit
   allocations for fiscal year 2014-2015 and ending with tax credit allocations
   for fiscal year 2019-2020, such requirement for a proposal submitted by a
   neighborhood organization to the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall
   not apply in determining eligibility of the neighborhood organization
   submitting the proposal, provided that (i) the neighborhood organization
   otherwise meets all statutory requirements and regulations, (ii) the
   neighborhood organization received a fiscal year 2011-2012 allocation of
   neighborhood assistance tax credits, and (iii) no affiliate of the
   neighborhood organization submits a proposal for or receives an allocation of
   tax credits pursuant to this article for the program year for which the
   neighborhood organization has submitted its proposal.

   5. The guidelines shall provide for the equitable allocation of the available
   amount of tax credits among the approved proposals submitted by neighborhood
   organizations. In any year in which the available amount of tax credits
   exceeds the previous year&#8217;s available amount, at least 10 percent of the
   excess amount shall be allocated to qualified programs proposed by
   neighborhood organizations that did not receive any allocations in the
   preceding year. If the amount of tax credits requested by such neighborhood
   organizations is less than 10 percent of the excess amount, the unallocated
   portion of such 10 percent shall be allocated to qualified programs proposed
   by other neighborhood organizations.

C. 1. If the Superintendent of Public Instruction approves a proposal submitted
by a neighborhood organization, the organization shall make the allocated tax
credit amounts available to business firms making donations to the approved
program. A neighborhood organization shall not assign or transfer an allocation
of tax credits to another neighborhood organization without the approval of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction.

   2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no more than an aggregate of
   $0.825 million in tax credits shall be approved in a fiscal year to a
   neighborhood organization or to a grouping of neighborhood organization
   affiliates for all education proposals.

   3. If, after the initial allocation of credits to approved proposals, the
   Department of Education has a balance of tax credits remaining for the fiscal
   year that can be used or allocated by a neighborhood organization for a
   proposal that had been approved for tax credits during the initial allocation,
   then the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall reallocate the remaining
   balance of tax credits to such previously approved proposals to the extent
   that a neighborhood organization can use or allocate additional tax credits
   for the previously approved proposal. The $0.825 million annual limitations
   for tax credits approved to a grouping of neighborhood organization affiliates
   shall be inapplicable for such reallocation of any balance of tax credits. The
   balance of tax credits remaining for reallocation shall include the amount of
   any tax credits that have been granted for a proposal approved during the
   initial allocation but for which the Superintendent of Public Instruction
   received notice from the neighborhood organization that it will not be able to
   use or allocate such amount for the approved proposal.

D. The total amount of tax credits granted for programs approved by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction under this article for each fiscal year
shall not exceed $9 million for fiscal year 2015-2016 and each fiscal year
thereafter.
			The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall work cooperatively with the
Commissioner of Social Services for purposes of ensuring that neighborhood
organization proposals are submitted to the proper state agency. The
Superintendent of Public Instruction may request the assistance of the
Department of Taxation for purposes of determining whether or not anticipated
donations for which tax credits are requested by a neighborhood organization
likely qualify as a charitable donation under federal tax laws and regulations.

E. Actions of the Superintendent of Public Instruction or the Department of
Education relating to the review of neighborhood organization proposals and the
allocation of tax credits to proposals shall be exempt from the provisions of
the Administrative Process Act (&#xA7; 2.2-4000 et seq.). Decisions of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction or the Department of Education shall be
final and not subject to review or appeal.

HISTORY: 2017, c. 724.