The final multiplier in the BEF formula is the Local Effort/Capacity Index—or LECI. It measures the tax effort and tax capacity in each school district.
The LECI is calculated from two component measures: the local effort index and the local capacity index.
The local effort index measures the total local tax effort placed on each household at the median household income for the district. This index is adjusted down in those districts that have current expenditures per ADM that are greater than the statewide median (which is $12,287 per ADM for 2018-19). The Commission’s rationale for this adjustment was that they didn’t want the formula to incentivize high taxing for high spending. The median school district local effort per household in the 2019-20 BEF formula is $51.22.
The local capacity index measures a school district’s ability to generate local revenue on a per weighted student basis. Only school districts that are able to generate less revenue per ADM than the statewide median (which is $7,171 for 2018-19) have a local capacity index—districts with the capacity to generate more local revenue per ADM than the statewide median have a robust tax capacity, so they don’t get an adjustment.
The local effort index and the local capacity index are added together to equal the LECI. The LECI multiplier is greater than 1 in some districts, and it is less than 1 in other districts. In the 2019-20 BEF formula released yesterday, the lowest LECI for a school district was 0.6 in Salisbury-Elk Lick SD and the highest LECI was 2.26 in York City School District.
Click on the map below to view the LECI multiplier in each school district for 2019-20 and the change in the LECI from 2015-16 to 2019-20.