SB 3544 — SCHOOLS-FUNDING

8-10-07.) (105 ILCS 5/20-1) (from Ch.

122, par.

In each school district, whether organized under general law or special charter, having a population of less than 500,000 inhabitants, a fund to be known as a "Working Cash Fund" may be created,created increased,and, abated, maintained maintained,consistent andwith administeredthe abolished,limitations of and re-createdadministered in the manner prescribed in this Article, for the purpose of enabling the district to have in its treasury at all time sufficient money to meet demands thereon for ordinary and necessary expenditures for corporate purposes.

SB3544 - 3 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b (Source:

For the purpose of creatingcreating, re-creating, or increasing a working cash fund, the school board of any such district may incur an indebtedness and issue bonds as evidence thereof in an amount or amounts not SB3544 Engrossed - 2 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b exceeding in the aggregate 85% of the taxes permitted to be levied for educational purposes for the then current year to be determined by multiplying the maximum educational tax rate or rates applicable to such school district by the last assessed valuation or assessed valuations as determined at the time of the issue of said bonds plus 85% of the last known entitlement of such district to taxes as by law now or hereafter enacted or amended, imposed by the General Assembly of the State of Illinois to replace revenue lost by units of local government and school districts as a result of the abolition of ad valorem personal property taxes, pursuant to Article IX, Section 5, paragraph (c) of the Constitution of the State of Illinois.

Subject to the foregoing SB3544 - 4 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b limitations as to amount, the bonds may be issued in an amount including existing indebtedness which will not exceed the constitutional limitation as to debt, notwithstanding any statutory debt limitation to the contrary.

The school board shall before or at the time of issuing the bonds provide for the collection of a direct annual tax upon all the taxable property within the district sufficient to pay the principal SB3544 Engrossed - 3 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b thereof at maturity and to pay the interest thereon as it falls due, which tax shall be in addition to the maximum amount of all other taxes, either educational;

With respect to instruments for the payment of money issued under this Section either before, on, or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1989, it is and always has been the intention of the General Assembly (i) that the Omnibus Bond Acts are and always have been supplementary grants of power to issue instruments in accordance with the Omnibus Bond Acts, regardless of any provision of this Act that may appear to be or to have been more restrictive than those Acts, (ii) that the provisions of this Section are not a limitation on the supplementary authority granted by the Omnibus Bond Acts, and SB3544 - 5 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b (iii) that instruments issued under this Section within the supplementary authority granted by the Omnibus Bond Acts are not invalid because of any provision of this Act that may appear to be or to have been more restrictive than those Acts.

20-3) SB3544 Engrossed - 4 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b Sec.

provided that no such tax shall be levied if bonds are issued in amount or amounts equal in the aggregate to the limitation set forth in Section 20-2 for the creationcreation, re-creation, or increase of a working cash fund.

It may be levied by separate resolution by the last Tuesday in December September in each year or it may be included in the certificate of tax levy filed SB3544 - 6 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b under Section 17-11.

SB3544 Engrossed - 5 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b Moneys derived from the issuance of bonds as authorized by Section 20-2, or from any tax levied pursuant to Section 20-3, shall be used only for the purposes and in the manner hereinafter provided in this Article.

Moneys in the fund may shall not be used by the school board for any and all in any manner other than to provide moneys with which to meet ordinary and necessary disbursements for salaries and other school purposes and may be transferred in whole or in part to the general funds or both of the school district and disbursed therefrom in anticipation of the collection of taxes lawfully levied for any or all purposes, or in anticipation of such taxes as by law now or hereafter enacted or amended are imposed by the General Assembly of the State of Illinois to replace revenue lost by units of local government and school districts as a result of SB3544 - 7 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b the abolition of ad valorem personal property taxes, pursuant to Article IX, Section 5(c) of the Constitution of the State of Illinois.

Moneys so transferred to any other fund shall be deemed to be transferred in anticipation of the collection of that part of the taxes so levied or to be received which is in excess of the amount thereof required to pay any warrants or notes and the interest thereon theretofore and thereafter SB3544 Engrossed - 6 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b issued in anticipation of the collection thereof and such taxes when collected shall be applied to the payment of any such warrants and the interest thereon, the amount estimated to be required to satisfy debt service and pension or retirement obligations, as set forth in Section 12 of the State Revenue Sharing Act and then to the reimbursement of such working cash fund as hereinafter provided.

Unless the taxes so received and applied to the reimbursement of the working cash fund prior to the first day of the eighth month following the month in which due and unpaid real property taxes begin to bear interest are sufficient to effect a complete reimbursement of such fund for any moneys transferred therefrom in anticipation of the collection of such taxes, the working cash fund shall be reimbursed for the amount of the deficiency SB3544 - 8 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b therein from any other revenues accruing to the educational fund, and the school board shall make provisions for the immediate reimbursement of the amount of any such deficiency in its next annual tax levy.

20-5) SB3544 Engrossed - 7 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b Sec.

(c) the aggregate amount of warrants or notes theretofore issued in anticipation of the collection of such taxes together with the amount of interest accrued and which the school board SB3544 - 9 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b estimates will accrue thereon;

(d) the aggregate amount of receipts from taxes imposed to replace revenue lost by units of local government and school districts as a result of the abolition of ad valorem personal property taxes, pursuant to Article IX, Section 5(c) of the Constitution of the State of Illinois, which the corporate authorities estimate will be set aside for the payment of the proportionate amount of debt SB3544 Engrossed - 8 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b service and pension or retirement obligations, as required by Section 12 of the State Revenue Sharing Act;

At any time moneys are available in the working cash fund they shall be transferred to such other funds of the district the educational SB3544 - 10 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b fund and used for any and all disbursed for the payment of salaries and other school purposes expenses so as to avoid, whenever possible, the issuance of anticipation tax warrants or notes.

Moneys earned as interest from the investment of the working cash fund, or any portion thereof, may be transferred from the working cash fund to another fund of the district that SB3544 Engrossed - 9 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b is most in need of the interest without any requirement of repayment to the working cash fund, upon the authority of the school board by separate resolution directing the school treasurer to make such transfer and stating the purpose in accordance with subsection (c) of Section 9(c)9 of the Local Government Debt Reform Act therefore as one herein authorized.

The notice shall set forth (1) the intention of the district to SB3544 - 11 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b issue bonds in accordance with this Article;

At the time of publication of the notice and for 30 days thereafter, the recording officer of the district shall provide a petition form to any individual SB3544 Engrossed - 10 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b requesting one.

SB3544 - 12 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b of School District district number....

YES County, Illinois, be authorized to issue bonds for a working -------------------------- cash fund as provided for by Article 20 of the NO School Code? ------------------------------------------------------------ SB3544 Engrossed - 11 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b (Source:

Any balance in any working cash fund that is created in any school district on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1991 (including all outstanding loans from any such working cash fund to other funds of the district the educational, transportation, operations and maintenance, or SB3544 - 13 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b fire prevention and safety fund of the district and all outstanding taxes levied by the district under Section 20-3 to provide moneys for any such working cash fund) may, when such working cash fund is abolished, be used and applied for the purpose of reducing, by the balance in that working cash fund at the close of the school year in which the fund so created is abolished, the amount of the taxes that the school board of the school SB3544 Engrossed - 12 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b district otherwise would be authorized or required to levy for educational purposes for the immediately succeeding school year.

Any school district may abate its working cash fund at any time, upon the adoption of a resolution so providing, and direct the transfer at any time of moneys in that fund to any fund or funds of the SB3544 - 14 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b district most in need of the money, providingprovided that the district maintains an amount to the credit of the working cash fund, including taxes levied pursuant to Section 20-3 and not yet collected and amounts transferred pursuant to Section 20-4 and to be reimbursed to the working cash fund, at least equal to 0.05% of the then current value, as equalized or assessed by the Department of Revenue, of the taxable property in the SB3544 Engrossed - 13 - LRB096 20716 MJR 36445 b district.