Budget Stabilization / Negative Factor
In FY 2009-10, Colorado’s legislature created a new factor in the school finance formula due to the Great Recession and economic downturn that put pressure on the state’s budget. The factor is a state budget tool that proportionally reduces the amount of total funding for each school district. The factor reduces state aid to districts.
Fourteen years of BSF in Colorado – 2009 to 2024 (Inclusive of Budget Stabilization Factor, Negative Factor, and Mid-Year Recissions)
Colorado’s legislature has renamed the factor over the years:
- FY2009-10: mid-year cut. HB10-1369 created the new factor.
- FY2010-11: State Budget Stabilization Factor. The Federal Government awarded Federal ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) Funds and Education Jobs Funding which reduced the State Budget Stabilization Factor’s impact to school districts for that year. SB11-230 changed the name to the Negative Factor and extended the factor indefinitely.
- FY2011-12: Negative Factor
- FY2012-13 to FY2016-17: Negative Factor
- FY2017-18 to present: Budget Stabilization Factor (aka BS Factor)
Budget Stabilization / Negative Factor by fiscal year (source:
CDE Funding Workbook, FY2023-24)
- FY23-24: $141.2M
- FY22-23: $321.2M
- FY21-22: $503.2M
- FY20-21: $1.052B
- FY19-20: $572.4M
- FY18-19: $672.4M
- FY17-18: $828.3M
- FY16-17: $828M
- FY15-16: $830.7M
- FY14-15: $880M
- FY13-14: $1.004B
- FY12-13: $1.011B
- FY11-12: $774M
- FY10-11: $381M (State Budget Stabilization Factor: $-597M) + (Federal ARRA Funds and EDU jobs: $216M) = $-381M
- FY09-10: $130M
Updated 2020-21 Budget Stabilization Factor Tables
Twelve Years of Colorado K-12 School Funding Cuts 2009-2021 (Inclusive of Budget Stabilization Factor, Negative Factor, and Mid-Year Recissions)
2008-2021 Budget Stabilization Factor Graph
CSFP'S 2020 Budget Stabilization Informational Toolkit:
A look at the Budget Stabilization Factor:
Eleven Years of Colorado K-12 School Funding Cuts 2009-10 to 2019-20 (PDF) by county, district (inclusive of mid-year cuts, state budget stabilization, negative factor, and budget stabilization factor) as of May 2019. Total lost revenue: $8,129,000,000 ($8.1B). During the 2017 Legislative Session the Legislature renamed the Negative Factor to the Budget Stabilization Factor.
Budget Stabilization Factor Statewide Total: 2009-10 to current year graph Colorado's Legislative Council
Map of the Budget Stabilization Factor's impact on per-pupil funding in Colorado school districts FY 2019-20
March 2019 (projected): A
Decade of Colorado K-12 School Funding Cuts 2018-19 to 2009-10 (PDF) by county, district (inclusive of mid-year cuts, state budget stabilization, negative factor, and budget stabilization factor) - as of March 2019. Total lost revenue: $7,556,000,000 ($7.6B). During the 2017 Legislative Session the Legislature renamed the Negative Factor to the Budget Stabilization Factor.
Map of the Budget Stabilization Factor's impact on per-pupil funding in Colorado school districts FY 2018-19
A Decade of Colorado K-12 School Funding Cuts 2018-19 to 2009-10 (PDF) by county, district (inclusive of mid-year cuts, state budget stabilization, negative factor, and budget stabilization factor) - updated May 2018. Total lost revenue: $7,300,000,000 ($7.3B). During the 2017 Legislative Session the Legislature renamed the Negative Factor to the Budget Stabilization Factor.
From Legislative Council Staff's School Finance Booklet April 2018 (for 2017-18): The 2017 Legislature renamed the Negative Factor to the Budget Stabilization Factor.
In early March CSFP asked all 178 school district Superintendents and CFOs how they would spend a $100M buydown of the Budget Stabilization Factor (formerly the Negative Factor). CSFP posted responses on social media beginning Monday, March 5, 2018. All posts are available
here, updated with the most recent posts.
During the 2017 Legislative Session, the Legislature renamed the Negative Factor to the Budget Stabilization Factor.
From Legislative Council's School Finance Booklet April 2017:
Nine Years of K-12 School Funding Cuts 2009-2018 (PDF) by county, district (inclusive of mid-year cuts, state budget stabilization, negative factor, and budget stabilization factor) - updated May 2017.
We'll be adding content soon.
Negative Factor / Rescissions FY 2014-15: $880,000,000 June 2014 –
District Budget Conversations for the 2014-15 School Year Three Years of Negative Factor by District – FY 2011-12 thru FY 2013-14. Totals by district and Fiscal Year. Data Source: CDE.
Three Years of Negative Factor by District – FY 2011-12 thru FY 2013-14. Totals by district and Fiscal Year. Data Source: CDE
District Budget Cut Discussions
Beginning in 2010-11, the CSFP began collecting information from districts on the cuts made to district budgets as a result of mid-year rescissions and the Negative Factor (renamed to the Budget Stabilization Factor by the legislature in 2017).
In FY 2009-10, Colorado’s legislature created a new factor in the school finance formula due to the fiscal challenges facing Colorado. The new factor was and is a state budget tool that proportionally reduces the amount of total funding for each school districts. The factor reduces state aid to districts.
CSFP’s Timeline of School Finance and Ed Reform (from 1982 to present) provides an overview of Colorado’s school finance and education reform.
CSFP’s K-12 School Funding Cuts 2009-2021 lists school district cuts (inclusive of mid-year cuts and the budget stabilization/negative factor)
Colorado Legislative Council Staff, Issue Brief 15-22, December 2015: The Negative Factor and Public School Finance discusses the negative factor.
Since 2009, Colorado school districts have been negatively impacted by the Budget Stabilization Factor / Negative Factor / Rescissions, forcing districts to cut budgets and continue to make reductions.
