44th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2000

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; PROVIDING FOR A CHANGE IN THE QUALIFYING REQUIREMENTS FOR FUNDING THROUGH THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CAPITAL OUTLAY ACT; PROVIDING FOR PRIORITY FACTORS; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. Section 22-24-5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1975, Chapter 235, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-24-5. FUND--DISTRIBUTION.--

A. The council shall approve an application for grant assistance from the fund when the council determines that:

(1) a critical need exists requiring action;

(2) the residents of the school district have provided available resources to the school district to meet its capital outlay requirements;

(3) the school district has used its resources in a prudent manner;

(4) the school district is in a county or counties which have participated in a reappraisal program and the reappraised values are on the tax rolls or will be used for the tax year 1979 as certified by the property tax division of the taxation and revenue department;

(5) the school district has provided insurance for buildings of the school district in accordance with the provisions of Section 13-5-3 NMSA 1978;

(6) unless a determination and a certification have been made pursuant to Subsection D of this section, the school district is indebted at not less than seventy-five percent of the total debt authorized by law; and

(7) the school district has submitted a five-year facilities plan that includes enrollment projections.

B. The council shall consider all applications for assistance from the fund and, after a public hearing, shall either approve or deny the application. Applications for grant assistance shall only be accepted by the council after a district has complied with the provisions of this section. The council shall list all applications in order of priority, and all allocations shall be made on a priority basis; provided, however, except in the case of an emergency, that the order of priority shall first reflect those projects which have been previously funded but are not as yet completed, excluding expansion of those projects and contingent upon maintenance of the required local support.

C. Money in the fund shall be disbursed by warrant of the department of finance and administration on vouchers signed by the secretary of finance and administration following certification by the council that the application has been approved.

D. If the council makes a determination and certifies to the state board that, after January 1, 2000, a constitutional amendment has been adopted or legislation has been enacted that provides additional or supplemental revenue sources for public school capital outlay funding, then, in all subsequent application and allocation cycles, the following provisions apply:

(1) all school districts are eligible to apply for funding from the fund, regardless of percentage of indebtedness;

(2) priorities for funding shall be given to those capital projects that:

(a) are necessary for health and safety;

(b) were previously funded by the council but are not yet completed;

(c) are for school districts with relatively low property values;

(d) provide necessary classrooms due to student population increases or that improve existing school facilities; and

(e) are renovation projects rather than new construction, except where health and safety concerns require new construction;

(3) after consulting with the staff architect of the property control division of the general services department, the council shall establish criteria and standards to be used in public school capital outlay projects that receive grant assistance pursuant to the Public School Capital Outlay Act. In establishing the criteria and standards, the council shall consider:

(a) the feasibility of using design, build and finance arrangements for public school capital outlay projects;

(b) the potential use of more durable construction materials that may reduce long-term operating costs; and

(c) any other financing or construction concept that may maximize the dollar effect of the state grant assistance;

(4) a project approved and ranked by the council shall be funded within available resources in accordance with the following formula:

(district final prior year assessed valuation per MEM ÷ the state average final prior year assessed valuation per MEM) x 0.5. The product is subtracted from 1.0 and the difference is then multiplied by seventy-five percent. The product of that calculation added to (the percent of bonding capacity used x 0.25) equals the percentage of the cost of the approved project to be funded from the fund. "MEM" means the total enrollment of students attending public school in a school district in the final funded prior school year, with kindergarten being counted as 0.5. In those instances in which the formula provides less than 0.1, 0.1 shall be used as the state's share; and

(5) in those instances in which a school district has used all of its local resources, the state may fund the total amount of its projects."

Section 2. APPROPRIATION.--Four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the state department of public education for expenditure in fiscal years 2000 and 2001 to contract for an assessment of school districts' capital improvement needs and to complete an associated database. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2001 shall revert to the general fund.