SENATE BILL 346
50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011
INTRODUCED BY
Cynthia Nava
AN ACT
RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES; CREATING THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITY OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM; AUTHORIZING GRANTS FROM THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CAPITAL OUTLAY FUND TO CERTAIN SCHOOL DISTRICTS FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 22-24-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1975, Chapter 235, Section 4, as amended) is amended to read:
"22-24-4. PUBLIC SCHOOL CAPITAL OUTLAY FUND CREATED--USE.--
A. The "public school capital outlay fund" is created. Balances remaining in the fund at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert.
B. Except as provided in Subsections G and I through [L] M of this section, money in the fund may be used only for capital expenditures deemed necessary by the council for an adequate educational program.
C. The council may authorize the purchase by the public school facilities authority of portable classrooms to be loaned to school districts to meet a temporary requirement. Payment for these purchases shall be made from the fund. Title to and custody of the portable classrooms shall rest in the public school facilities authority. The council shall authorize the lending of the portable classrooms to school districts upon request and upon finding that sufficient need exists. Application for use or return of state-owned portable classroom buildings shall be submitted by school districts to the council. Expenses of maintenance of the portable classrooms while in the custody of the public school facilities authority shall be paid from the fund; expenses of maintenance and insurance of the portable classrooms while in the custody of a school district shall be the responsibility of the school district. The council may authorize the permanent disposition of the portable classrooms by the public school facilities authority with prior approval of the state board of finance.
D. Applications for assistance from the fund shall be made by school districts to the council in accordance with requirements of the council. Except as provided in Subsection K of this section, the council shall require as a condition of application that a school district have a current five-year facilities plan, which shall include a current preventive maintenance plan to which the school adheres for each public school in the school district.
E. The council shall review all requests for assistance from the fund and shall allocate funds only for those capital outlay projects that meet the criteria of the Public School Capital Outlay Act.
F. 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 an application has been approved or an expenditure has been ordered by a court pursuant to Section 22-24-5.4 NMSA 1978. At the discretion of the council, money for a project shall be distributed as follows:
(1) up to ten percent of the portion of the project cost funded with distributions from the fund or five percent of the total project cost, whichever is greater, may be paid to the school district before work commences with the balance of the grant award made on a cost-reimbursement basis; or
(2) the council may authorize payments directly to the contractor.
G. Balances in the fund may be annually appropriated for the core administrative functions of the public school facilities authority pursuant to the Public School Capital Outlay Act, and, in addition, balances in the fund may be expended by the public school facilities authority, upon approval of the council, for project management expenses; provided that:
(1) the total annual expenditures from the fund for the core administrative functions pursuant to this subsection shall not exceed five percent of the average annual grant assistance authorized from the fund during the three previous fiscal years; and
(2) any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year from the expenditures authorized in this subsection shall revert to the fund.
H. Up to ten million dollars ($10,000,000) of the fund may be allocated annually by the council for expenditure in fiscal years 2010 through 2015 for a roof repair and replacement initiative with projects to be identified by the council pursuant to Section 22-24-4.3 NMSA 1978; provided that money allocated pursuant to this subsection shall be expended within two years of the allocation.
I. The fund may be expended annually by the council for grants to school districts for the purpose of making lease payments for classroom facilities, including facilities leased by charter schools. The grants shall be made upon application by the school districts and pursuant to rules adopted by the council; provided that an application on behalf of a charter school shall be made by the school district, but, if the school district fails to make an application on behalf of a charter school, the charter school may submit its own application. The following criteria shall apply to the grants:
(1) the amount of a grant to a school district shall not exceed:
(a) the actual annual lease payments owed for leasing classroom space for schools, including charter schools, in the district; or
(b) seven hundred dollars ($700) multiplied by the number of MEM using the leased classroom facilities; provided that in fiscal year 2009 and in each subsequent fiscal year, this amount shall be adjusted by the percentage change between the penultimate calendar year and the immediately preceding calendar year of the consumer price index for the United States, all items, as published by the United States department of labor;
(2) a grant received for the lease payments of a charter school may be used by that charter school as a state match necessary to obtain federal grants pursuant to the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001;
(3) at the end of each fiscal year, any unexpended or unencumbered balance of the appropriation shall revert to the fund;
(4) no grant shall be made for lease payments due pursuant to a financing agreement under which the facilities may be purchased for a price that is reduced according to the lease payments made unless:
(a) the agreement has been approved pursuant to the provisions of the Public School Lease Purchase Act; and
(b) the facilities are leased by a charter school;
(5) if the lease payments are made pursuant to a financing agreement under which the facilities may be purchased for a price that is reduced according to the lease payments made, neither a grant nor any provision of the Public School Capital Outlay Act creates a legal obligation for the school district or charter school to continue the lease from year to year or to purchase the facilities nor does it create a legal obligation for the state to make subsequent grants pursuant to the provisions of this subsection; and
(6) as used in this subsection:
(a) "MEM" means: 1) the average
full-time-equivalent enrollment using leased classroom facilities on the eightieth and one hundred twentieth days of the prior school year; or 2) in the case of an approved charter school that has not commenced classroom instruction, the estimated full-time-equivalent enrollment that will use leased classroom facilities in the first year of instruction, as shown in the approved charter school application; provided that, after the eightieth day of the school year, the MEM shall be adjusted to reflect the full-time-equivalent enrollment on that date; and
(b) "classroom facilities" or "classroom space" includes the space needed, as determined by the minimum required under the statewide adequacy standards, for the direct administration of school activities.
J. In addition to other authorized expenditures from the fund, up to one percent of the average grant assistance authorized from the fund during the three previous fiscal years may be expended in each fiscal year by the public school facilities authority to pay the state fire marshal, the construction industries division of the regulation and licensing department and local jurisdictions having authority from the state to permit and inspect projects for expenditures made to permit and inspect projects funded in whole or in part under the Public School Capital Outlay Act. The authority may enter into contracts with the state fire marshal, the construction industries division or the appropriate local authorities to carry out the provisions of this subsection. Such a contract may provide for initial estimated payments from the fund prior to the expenditures if the contract also provides for additional payments from the fund if the actual expenditures exceed the initial payments and for repayments back to the fund if the initial payments exceed the actual expenditures. Money distributed from the fund to the state fire marshal or the construction industries division pursuant to this subsection shall be used to supplement, rather than supplant, appropriations to those entities.
K. Pursuant to guidelines established by the council, allocations from the fund may be made to assist school districts in developing and updating five-year facilities plans required by the Public School Capital Outlay Act; provided that:
(1) no allocation shall be made unless the council determines that the school district is willing and able to pay the portion of the total cost of developing or updating the plan that is not funded with the allocation from the fund. Except as provided in Paragraph (2) of this subsection, the portion of the total cost to be paid with the allocation from the fund shall be determined pursuant to the methodology in Paragraph (5) of Subsection B of Section 22-24-5 NMSA 1978; or
(2) the allocation from the fund may be used to pay the total cost of developing or updating the plan if:
(a) the school district has fewer than an average of six hundred full-time-equivalent students on the eightieth and one hundred twentieth days of the prior school year; or
(b) the school district meets all of the following requirements: 1) the school district has fewer than an average of one thousand full-time-equivalent students on the eightieth and one hundred twentieth days of the prior school year; 2) the school district has at least seventy percent of its students eligible for free or reduced-fee lunch; 3) the state share of the total cost, if calculated pursuant to the methodology in Paragraph (5) of Subsection B of Section 22-24-5 NMSA 1978, would be less than fifty percent; and 4) for all educational purposes, the school district has a residential property tax rate of at least seven dollars ($7.00) on each one thousand dollars ($1,000) of taxable value, as measured by the sum of all rates imposed by resolution of the local school board plus rates set to pay interest and principal on outstanding school district general obligation bonds.
L. Upon application by a school district, allocations from the fund may be made by the council for the purpose of demolishing abandoned school district facilities, provided that:
(1) the costs of continuing to insure an abandoned facility outweigh any potential benefit when and if a new facility is needed by the school district;
(2) there is no practical use for the abandoned facility without the expenditure of substantial renovation costs; and
(3) the council may enter into an agreement with the school district under which an amount equal to the savings to the district in lower insurance premiums are used to reimburse the fund fully or partially for the demolition costs allocated to the district.
M. Upon application by a qualifying school district, allocations from the fund may be made by the council through the public school opportunity program pursuant to Section 22-24-4.5 NMSA 1978 for the purpose of providing certain facilities, such as performing arts centers and auxiliary gymnasiums, that, generally, are not included in the public school capital outlay council adequacy standards and that, therefore, school districts with low property tax valuations cannot afford to build on their own."
SECTION 2. A new section of the Public School Capital Outlay Act, Section 22-24-4.5 NMSA 1978, is enacted to read:
"22-24-4.5. [NEW MATERIAL] PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITY OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM--LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.--
A. The legislature finds that most school districts in this state either contain enough taxable property with sufficient assessed valuation or have other additional local resources available to schools so that public school facilities can exceed the minimum statewide adequacy standards; however:
(1) for many years, public school facilities in a few school districts in New Mexico have been so inadequate, because of a scarcity of local resources, that the quality of education offered to students in those school districts could not match the quality of education provided by school districts with more resources;
(2) in response to these inequities, the legislature implemented a program to bring all public schools up to the statewide adequacy standards;
(3) because of a low total assessed property valuation and a continuing shortage of other available local resources, some school districts will still not be able to exceed statewide adequacy standards in the foreseeable future and, therefore, will not have the opportunity to provide their students with the same quality of public school facilities as students in school districts that have the resources available to surpass minimum adequacy standards; and
(4) a program is needed to provide state support to those qualifying school districts that do not have any other resources available to provide students with some of the public school facilities that school districts with more resources available are able to provide.
B. The council shall develop the "public school facility opportunity program". The program shall provide additional state support through grant assistance from the fund for qualifying school districts located within areas with low total assessed property valuations that are not sufficient to provide students with some of the public school facilities that school districts that contain taxable property with sufficient assessed valuation are able to provide.
C. A school district may qualify for grant assistance under the public school facility opportunity program if the council determines that:
(1) the school district meets all qualifications to apply for grant assistance pursuant to Section 22-24-5 NMSA 1978;
(2) the value calculated for the school district pursuant to Subparagraph (k), (m), (n) or (o) of Paragraph (5) of Subsection B of Section 22-24-5 NMSA 1978 is equal to or greater than seven-tenths;
(3) at the time of application for grant assistance and at all times during the previous four years, the school district has a residential property tax rate of at least nine dollars ($9.00) on each one thousand dollars ($1,000) of taxable value, as measured by the sum of all rates imposed by resolution of the local school board plus rates set to pay interest and principal on outstanding school district general obligation bonds;
(4) at least seventy percent of the students in the school district are eligible for free or reduced-fee lunch; and
(5) for the next four years after the application for grant assistance, any local resources of the school district will be expended for the local match required for public school capital outlay projects and, therefore, the school district will have no available local resources to expend on school district public school facilities for the purpose of exceeding the statewide adequacy standards.
D. Applications for grant assistance from the public school facility opportunity program shall be made by school districts to the council in accordance with the requirements of the council. Using criteria developed by the council, the council shall evaluate applications and prioritize those applications most in need for grant assistance from the fund. To the extent that money in the fund is available for such purposes, the council may award grant assistance for those prioritized applications.
E. All provisions of the Public School Capital Outlay Act relating to the expenditure of grant assistance awarded from the fund, including those relating to reporting, oversight, project access and accountability, apply to the use and expenditure of grants made pursuant to this section. In addition, in awarding grant assistance pursuant to this section, the council may require conditions and procedures necessary to ensure that the money is expended in the most prudent manner."
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