HB4444eng 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB4444 Engrossed LRB093 19943 NHT 45687 b

AN ACT concerning education.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section 17-2.11 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/17-2.11) (from Ch. 122, par. 17-2.11)

Sec. 17-2.11. School board power to levy a tax or to borrow money and issue bonds for fire prevention, safety, energy conservation, disabled accessibility, school security, and specified repair purposes. Whenever, as a result of any lawful order of any agency, other than a school board, having authority to enforce any school building code applicable to any facility that houses students, or any law or regulation for the protection and safety of the environment, pursuant to the Environmental Protection Act, any school district having a population of less than 500,000 inhabitants is required to alter or reconstruct any school building or permanent, fixed equipment; or whenever any such district determines that it is necessary for energy conservation purposes that any school building or permanent, fixed equipment should be altered or reconstructed and that such alterations or reconstruction will be made with funds not necessary for the completion of approved and recommended projects contained in any safety survey report or amendments thereto authorized by Section 2-3.12 of this Act; or whenever any such district determines that it is necessary for disabled accessibility purposes and to comply with the school building code that any school building or equipment should be altered or reconstructed and that such alterations or reconstruction will be made with funds not necessary for the completion of approved and recommended projects contained in any safety survey report or amendments thereto authorized under Section 2-3.12 of this Act; or whenever any such district determines that it is necessary for school security purposes and the related protection and safety of pupils and school personnel that any school building, bleachers, or property should be altered or reconstructed or that security systems and equipment (including but not limited to intercom, early detection and warning, access control and television monitoring systems) should be purchased and installed, and that such alterations, reconstruction or purchase and installation of equipment will be made with funds not necessary for the completion of approved and recommended projects contained in any safety survey report or amendment thereto authorized by Section 2-3.12 of this Act and will deter and prevent unauthorized entry or activities upon school property by unknown or dangerous persons, assure early detection and advance warning of any such actual or attempted unauthorized entry or activities and help assure the continued safety of pupils and school staff if any such unauthorized entry or activity is attempted or occurs; or if a school district does not need funds for other fire prevention and safety projects, including the completion of approved and recommended projects contained in any safety survey report or amendments thereto authorized by Section 2-3.12 of this Act, and it is determined after a public hearing (which is preceded by at least one published notice (i) occurring at least 7 days prior to the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation within the school district and (ii) setting forth the time, date, place, and general subject matter of the hearing) that there is a substantial, immediate, and otherwise unavoidable threat to the health, safety, or welfare of pupils due to disrepair of school sidewalks, playgrounds, parking lots, or school bus turnarounds and repairs must be made: then in any such event, such district may, by proper resolution, levy a tax for the purpose of making such alteration or reconstruction, based on a survey report by an architect or engineer licensed in the State of Illinois, upon all the taxable property of the district at the value as assessed by the Department of Revenue at a rate not to exceed .05% per year for a period sufficient to finance such alterations, repairs, or reconstruction, upon the following conditions:

(a) When there are not sufficient funds available in either the operations and maintenance fund of the district or the fire prevention and safety fund of the district as determined by the district on the basis of regulations adopted by the State Board of Education to make such alterations, repairs, or reconstruction, or to purchase and install such permanent fixed equipment so ordered or determined as necessary. Appropriate school district records shall be made available to the State Superintendent of Education upon request to confirm such insufficiency.

(b) When a certified estimate of an architect or engineer licensed in the State of Illinois stating the estimated amount necessary to make the alterations or repairs, or to purchase and install such equipment so ordered has been secured by the district, and the estimate has been approved by the regional superintendent of schools, having jurisdiction of the district, and the State Superintendent of Education. Approval shall not be granted for any work that has already started without the prior express authorization of the State Superintendent of Education. If such estimate is not approved or denied approval by the regional superintendent of schools within 3 months after the date on which it is submitted to him or her, the school board of the district may submit such estimate directly to the State Superintendent of Education for approval or denial.

For purposes of this Section a school district may replace a school building or build additions to replace portions of a building when it is determined that the effectuation of the recommendations for the existing building will cost more than the replacement costs. Such determination shall be based on a comparison of estimated costs made by an architect or engineer licensed in the State of Illinois. The new building or addition shall be equivalent in area (square feet) and comparable in purpose and grades served and may be on the same site or another site. Such replacement may only be done upon order of the regional superintendent of schools and the approval of the State Superintendent of Education.

The filing of a certified copy of the resolution levying the tax when accompanied by the certificates of the regional superintendent of schools and State Superintendent of Education shall be the authority of the county clerk to extend such tax.

The county clerk of the county in which any school district levying a tax under the authority of this Section is located, in reducing raised levies, shall not consider any such tax as a part of the general levy for school purposes and shall not include the same in the limitation of any other tax rate which may be extended.

Such tax shall be levied and collected in like manner as all other taxes of school districts, subject to the provisions contained in this Section.

The tax rate limit specified in this Section may be increased to .10% upon the approval of a proposition to effect such increase by a majority of the electors voting on that proposition at a regular scheduled election. Such proposition may be initiated by resolution of the school board and shall be certified by the secretary to the proper election authorities for submission in accordance with the general election law.

When taxes are levied by any school district for fire prevention, safety, energy conservation, and school security purposes as specified in this Section, and the purposes for which the taxes have been levied are accomplished and paid in full, and there remain funds on hand in the Fire Prevention and Safety Fund from the proceeds of the taxes levied, including interest earnings thereon, the school board by resolution shall use such excess and other board restricted funds excluding bond proceeds and earnings from such proceeds (1) for other authorized fire prevention, safety, energy conservation, and school security purposes or (2) for transfer to the Operations and Maintenance Fund for the purpose of abating an equal amount of operations and maintenance purposes taxes. If any transfer is made to the Operation and Maintenance Fund, the secretary of the school board shall within 30 days notify the county clerk of the amount of that transfer and direct the clerk to abate the taxes to be extended for the purposes of operations and maintenance authorized under Section 17-2 of this Act by an amount equal to such transfer.

If the proceeds from the tax levy authorized by this Section are insufficient to complete the work approved under this Section, the school board is authorized to sell bonds without referendum under the provisions of this Section in an amount that, when added to the proceeds of the tax levy authorized by this Section, will allow completion of the approved work.

Such bonds shall bear interest at a rate not to exceed the maximum rate authorized by law at the time of the making of the contract, shall mature within 20 years from date, and shall be signed by the president of the school board and the treasurer of the school district.

In order to authorize and issue such bonds, the school board shall adopt a resolution fixing the amount of bonds, the date thereof, the maturities thereof, rates of interest thereof, place of payment and denomination, which shall be in denominations of not less than $100 and not more than $5,000, and provide for the levy and collection of a direct annual tax upon all the taxable property in the school district sufficient to pay the principal and interest on such bonds to maturity. Upon the filing in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the school district is located of a certified copy of the resolution, it is the duty of the county clerk to extend the tax therefor in addition to and in excess of all other taxes heretofore or hereafter authorized to be levied by such school district.

After the time such bonds are issued as provided for by this Section, if additional alterations or reconstructions are required to be made because of surveys conducted by an architect or engineer licensed in the State of Illinois, the district may levy a tax at a rate not to exceed .05% per year upon all the taxable property of the district or issue additional bonds, whichever action shall be the most feasible.

This Section is cumulative and constitutes complete authority for the issuance of bonds as provided in this Section notwithstanding any other statute or law to the contrary.

With respect to instruments for the payment of money issued under this Section either before, on, or after the effective date of Public Act 86-004 (June 6, 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 (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.

When the purposes for which the bonds are issued have been accomplished and paid for in full and there remain funds on hand from the proceeds of the bond sale and interest earnings therefrom, the board shall, by resolution, use such excess funds in accordance with the provisions of Section 10-22.14 of this Act.

Whenever any tax is levied or bonds issued for fire prevention, safety, energy conservation, and school security purposes, such proceeds shall be deposited and accounted for separately within the Fire Prevention and Safety Fund.

(Source: P.A. 88-251; 88-508; 88-628, eff. 9-9-94; 88-670, eff. 12-2-94; 89-235, eff. 8-4-95; 89-397, eff. 8-20-95.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.