SB 863 — EDUCATION-TECH

(i) The bonds are issued for the purpose of constructing a new high school building to replace two adjacent existing buildings which together house a single high school, each of which is more than 65 years old, and which together are located on more than 10 acres and less than 11 acres of property.

(ii) At the time the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds is adopted, the cost of constructing a new school building to replace the existing school building is less than 60% of the cost of repairing the existing school building.

(iii) The sale of the bonds occurs before July 1, 1997.

(iv) The school district issuing the bonds is a unit school district located in a county of less than 70,000 and more than 50,000 inhabitants, which has an average daily attendance of less than 1,500 and an equalized assessed valuation of less than $29,000,000.

(h) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Section or the provisions of any other law, until January 1, 1998, a community unit school district maintaining grades K through 12 may issue bonds up to an amount, including existing indebtedness, not exceeding 27.6% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property in the district, if all of the following conditions are met:

(i) The school district has an equalized assessed valuation for calendar year 1995 of less than $24,000,000;

(ii) The bonds are issued for the capital improvement, renovation, rehabilitation, or replacement of existing school buildings of the district, all of which buildings SB0863 Engrossed - 8 - LRB094 04495 NHT 34524 b were originally constructed not less than 40 years ago;

(iii) The voters of the district approve a proposition for the issuance of the bonds at a referendum held after March 19, 1996;

and (iv) The bonds are issued pursuant to Sections 19-2 through 19-7 of this Code.

(i) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Section or the provisions of any other law, until January 1, 1998, a community unit school district maintaining grades K through 12 may issue bonds up to an amount, including existing indebtedness, not exceeding 27% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property in the district, if all of the following conditions are met:

(i) The school district has an equalized assessed valuation for calendar year 1995 of less than $44,600,000;

(ii) The bonds are issued for the capital improvement, renovation, rehabilitation, or replacement of existing school buildings of the district, all of which existing buildings were originally constructed not less than 80 years ago;

(iii) The voters of the district approve a proposition for the issuance of the bonds at a referendum held after December 31, 1996;

and (iv) The bonds are issued pursuant to Sections 19-2 through 19-7 of this Code.

(j) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Section or the provisions of any other law, until January 1, 1999, a community unit school district maintaining grades K through 12 may issue bonds up to an amount, including existing indebtedness, not exceeding 27% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property in the district if all of the following conditions are met:

(i) The school district has an equalized assessed valuation for calendar year 1995 of less than $140,000,000 and a best 3 months average daily attendance for the 1995-96 school year of at least 2,800;

SB0863 Engrossed - 9 - LRB094 04495 NHT 34524 b (ii) The bonds are issued to purchase a site and build and equip a new high school, and the school district’s existing high school was originally constructed not less than 35 years prior to the sale of the bonds;

(iii) At the time of the sale of the bonds, the board of education determines by resolution that a new high school is needed because of projected enrollment increases;

(iv) At least 60% of those voting in an election held after December 31, 1996 approve a proposition for the issuance of the bonds;

and (v) The bonds are issued pursuant to Sections 19-2 through 19-7 of this Code.

(k) Notwithstanding the debt limitation prescribed in subsection (a) of this Section, a school district that meets all the criteria set forth in paragraphs (1) through (4) of this subsection (k) may issue bonds to incur an additional indebtedness in an amount not to exceed $4,000,000 even though the amount of the additional indebtedness authorized by this subsection (k), when incurred and added to the aggregate amount of indebtedness of the school district existing immediately prior to the school district incurring such additional indebtedness, causes the aggregate indebtedness of the school district to exceed or increases the amount by which the aggregate indebtedness of the district already exceeds the debt limitation otherwise applicable to that school district under subsection (a):

(1) the school district is located in 2 counties, and a referendum to authorize the additional indebtedness was approved by a majority of the voters of the school district voting on the proposition to authorize that indebtedness;

(2) the additional indebtedness is for the purpose of financing a multi-purpose room addition to the existing high school;

(3) the additional indebtedness, together with the existing indebtedness of the school district, shall not SB0863 Engrossed - 10 - LRB094 04495 NHT 34524 b exceed 17.4% of the value of the taxable property in the school district, to be ascertained by the last assessment for State and county taxes;

and (4) the bonds evidencing the additional indebtedness are issued, if at all, within 120 days of the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1998.

(l) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Section or the provisions of any other law, until January 1, 2000, a school district maintaining grades kindergarten through 8 may issue bonds up to an amount, including existing indebtedness, not exceeding 15% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property in the district if all of the following conditions are met:

(i) the district has an equalized assessed valuation for calendar year 1996 of less than $10,000,000;

(ii) the bonds are issued for capital improvement, renovation, rehabilitation, or replacement of one or more school buildings of the district, which buildings were originally constructed not less than 70 years ago;

(iii) the voters of the district approve a proposition for the issuance of the bonds at a referendum held on or after March 17, 1998;

and (iv) the bonds are issued pursuant to Sections 19-2 through 19-7 of this Code.

(m) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Section or the provisions of any other law, until January 1, 1999, an elementary school district maintaining grades K through 8 may issue bonds up to an amount, excluding existing indebtedness, not exceeding 18% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property in the district, if all of the following conditions are met:

(i) The school district has an equalized assessed valuation for calendar year 1995 or less than $7,700,000;

(ii) The school district operates 2 elementary attendance centers that until 1976 were operated as the attendance centers of 2 separate and distinct school SB0863 Engrossed - 11 - LRB094 04495 NHT 34524 b districts;

(iii) The bonds are issued for the construction of a new elementary school building to replace an existing multi-level elementary school building of the school district that is not handicapped accessible at all levels and parts of which were constructed more than 75 years ago;

(iv) The voters of the school district approve a proposition for the issuance of the bonds at a referendum held after July 1, 1998;

and (v) The bonds are issued pursuant to Sections 19-2 through 19-7 of this Code.

(n) Notwithstanding the debt limitation prescribed in subsection (a) of this Section or any other provisions of this Section or of any other law, a school district that meets all of the criteria set forth in paragraphs (i) through (vi) of this subsection (n) may incur additional indebtedness by the issuance of bonds in an amount not exceeding the amount certified by the Capital Development Board to the school district as provided in paragraph (iii) of this subsection (n), even though the amount of the additional indebtedness so authorized, when incurred and added to the aggregate amount of indebtedness of the district existing immediately prior to the district incurring the additional indebtedness authorized by this subsection (n), causes the aggregate indebtedness of the district to exceed the debt limitation otherwise applicable by law to that district:

(i) The school district applies to the State Board of Education for a school construction project grant and submits a district facilities plan in support of its application pursuant to Section 5-20 of the School Construction Law.

(ii) The school district’s application and facilities plan are approved by, and the district receives a grant entitlement for a school construction project issued by, the State Board of Education under the School Construction Law.

SB0863 Engrossed - 12 - LRB094 04495 NHT 34524 b (iii) The school district has exhausted its bonding capacity or the unused bonding capacity of the district is less than the amount certified by the Capital Development Board to the district under Section 5-15 of the School Construction Law as the dollar amount of the school construction project’s cost that the district will be required to finance with non-grant funds in order to receive a school construction project grant under the School Construction Law.

(iv) The bonds are issued for a "school construction project", as that term is defined in Section 5-5 of the School Construction Law, in an amount that does not exceed the dollar amount certified, as provided in paragraph (iii) of this subsection (n), by the Capital Development Board to the school district under Section 5-15 of the School Construction Law.

(v) The voters of the district approve a proposition for the issuance of the bonds at a referendum held after the criteria specified in paragraphs (i) and (iii) of this subsection (n) are met.

(vi) The bonds are issued pursuant to Sections 19-2 through 19-7 of the School Code.

(o) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Section or the provisions of any other law, until November 1, 2007, a community unit school district maintaining grades K through 12 may issue bonds up to an amount, including existing indebtedness, not exceeding 20% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property in the district if all of the following conditions are met:

(i) the school district has an equalized assessed valuation for calendar year 2001 of at least $737,000,000 and an enrollment for the 2002-2003 school year of at least 8,500;

(ii) the bonds are issued to purchase school sites, build and equip a new high school, build and equip a new junior high school, build and equip 5 new elementary SB0863 Engrossed - 13 - LRB094 04495 NHT 34524 b schools, and make technology and other improvements and additions to existing schools;

(iii) at the time of the sale of the bonds, the board of education determines by resolution that the sites and new or improved facilities are needed because of projected enrollment increases;

(iv) at least 57% of those voting in a general election held prior to January 1, 2003 approved a proposition for the issuance of the bonds;

and (v) the bonds are issued pursuant to Sections 19-2 through 19-7 of this Code.

(p) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Section or the provisions of any other law, a community unit school district maintaining grades K through 12 may issue bonds up to an amount, including indebtedness, not exceeding 27% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property in the district if all of the following conditions are met:

(i) The school district has an equalized assessed valuation for calendar year 2001 of at least $295,741,187 and a best 3 months’ average daily attendance for the 2002-2003 school year of at least 2,394.

(ii) The bonds are issued to build and equip 3 elementary school buildings;

build and equip one middle school building;

and alter, repair, improve, and equip all existing school buildings in the district.

(iii) At the time of the sale of the bonds, the board of education determines by resolution that the project is needed because of expanding growth in the school district and a projected enrollment increase.

(iv) The bonds are issued pursuant to Sections 19-2 through 19-7 of this Code.

(p-5) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Section or the provisions of any other law, bonds issued by a community unit school district maintaining grades K through 12 shall not be considered indebtedness for purposes of any statutory limitation and may be issued in an amount or amounts, including SB0863 Engrossed - 14 - LRB094 04495 NHT 34524 b existing indebtedness, in excess of any heretofore or hereafter imposed statutory limitation as to indebtedness, if all of the following conditions are met:

(i) For each of the 4 most recent years, residential property comprises more than 80% of the equalized assessed valuation of the district.

(ii) At least 2 school buildings that were constructed 40 or more years prior to the issuance of the bonds will be demolished and will be replaced by new buildings or additions to one or more existing buildings.

(iii) Voters of the district approve a proposition for the issuance of the bonds at a regularly scheduled election.

(iv) At the time of the sale of the bonds, the school board determines by resolution that the new buildings or building additions are needed because of an increase in enrollment projected by the school board.

(v) The principal amount of the bonds, including existing indebtedness, does not exceed 25% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property in the district.

(vi) The bonds are issued prior to January 1, 2007, pursuant to Sections 19-2 through 19-7 of this Code.

(p-10) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Section or the provisions of any other law, bonds issued by a community consolidated school district maintaining grades K through 8 shall not be considered indebtedness for purposes of any statutory limitation and may be issued in an amount or amounts, including existing indebtedness, in excess of any heretofore or hereafter imposed statutory limitation as to indebtedness, if all of the following conditions are met:

(i) For each of the 4 most recent years, residential and farm property comprises more than 80% of the equalized assessed valuation of the district.

(ii) The bond proceeds are to be used to acquire and improve school sites and build and equip a school building.

(iii) Voters of the district approve a proposition for SB0863 Engrossed - 15 - LRB094 04495 NHT 34524 b the issuance of the bonds at a regularly scheduled election.

(iv) At the time of the sale of the bonds, the school board determines by resolution that the school sites and building additions are needed because of an increase in enrollment projected by the school board.

(v) The principal amount of the bonds, including existing indebtedness, does not exceed 20% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property in the district.

(vi) The bonds are issued prior to January 1, 2007, pursuant to Sections 19-2 through 19-7 of this Code.

(p-15) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Section or the provisions of any other law, bonds issued by a school district maintaining grades K through 8 or a school district maintaining grades 9 through 12 shall not be considered indebtedness for purposes of any statutory limitation and may be issued in an amount or amounts, including existing indebtedness, in excess of any heretofore or hereafter imposed statutory limitation as to indebtedness if all of the following conditions are met:

(i) The bonds are issued to pay the cost of acquiring or improving school sites, building and equipping additional school building facilities, or altering, repairing, or equipping existing school building facilities.

(ii) The actual present enrollment of students has increased over the previous school year by not less than 35% or by not less than 200 students and the board of education determines that additional school sites or improvements thereto or school building facilities are required as a result of this increase in enrollment.

(iii) Voters of the district approve a proposition for the issuance of the bonds at a regularly scheduled election.

(iv) The principal amount of the bonds, including existing indebtedness, does not exceed 15% of the equalized SB0863 Engrossed - 16 - LRB094 04495 NHT 34524 b assessed value of the taxable property in the district.

(v) The bonds are issued prior to January 1, 2008, pursuant to Sections 19-2 through 19-7 of this Code.

(q) A school district must notify the State Board of Education prior to issuing any form of long-term or short-term debt that will result in outstanding debt that exceeds 75% of the debt limit specified in this Section or any other provision of law.

91-75,93-13, eff.

7-9-99.)6-9-03;

93-799, eff.

7-22-04;

93-1045, eff.

10-15-04;

94-234, eff.

7-1-06;

94-721, eff.

1-6-06;

94-952, eff.

6-27-06;

94-1019, eff.

7-10-06;

revised 8-3-06.) Section 99.

Effective date.

This Act takes effect upon becoming law.