15-491

15-491. Elections on school property;
exceptions

A. The governing board of a school district may, and on petition of fifteen
per cent of the school electors as shown by the poll list at the last preceding annual
school election shall, call an election for the following purposes:

1. To locate or change the location of school buildings.

2. To purchase or sell school sites or buildings or sell school sites pursuant to
section 15-342 or to build school buildings, but the authorization by vote of the school
district shall not necessarily specify the site to be purchased.

3. To decide whether the bonds of the school district shall be issued and sold for
the purpose of raising money for purchasing or leasing school lots, for building or
renovating school buildings, for supplying school buildings with furniture, equipment and
technology, for improving school grounds, for purchasing pupil transportation vehicles or
for liquidating any indebtedness already incurred for such purposes. Bonds issued for
furniture, equipment and technology, other than fixtures, shall mature no later than the
July 1 that follows the fifth year after the bonds were issued. A school district shall
not issue class B bonds until the school district has obligated in contract the entire
proceeds of any class A bonds issued by the school district. The total amount of class A
and class B bonds issued by a school district shall not exceed the debt limitations
prescribed in article IX, sections 8 and 8.1, Constitution of Arizona.

4. To lease for five or more years, as lessor or as lessee, school buildings or
grounds. Approval by a majority of the school district electors voting authorizes the
governing board to negotiate for and enter into a lease. The ballot shall list the school
buildings or grounds for which a lease is sought. If the governing board does not enter
into a lease of five or more years of the school buildings or grounds listed on the
ballot within five years of the date of the election and the board continues to seek such
a lease, the governing board shall call a special election to reauthorize the board to
negotiate for and to enter into a lease of five or more years.

B. No petition shall be required for the holding of the first election to be held
in a joint common school district for any of the purposes specified in subsection A of
this section. The notice of election required by section 15-492 shall be published in
each of the counties that comprise the joint common school district. The certification of
election results required by section 15-493 shall be made to the board of supervisors of
the jurisdictional county.

C. When the election is called to determine whether or not bonds of the school
district shall be issued and sold for the purposes enumerated in the call for the
election, the question shall be submitted to the vote of the qualified electors of the
school district as defined in section 15-401 and subject to section 15-402.

D. The governing board shall order the election to be held in the manner prescribed
in title 35, chapter 3, article 3. If a petition for an election has been filed with the
governing board as provided in subsection A of this section, the board shall act on the
petition within sixty days by ordering the election to be held as provided in this
subsection. If a school district bond election is scheduled for the same date a school
district will hold an override election, the governing body shall deliver a copy of the
notice of election and ballot to the county school superintendent who shall include the
notice of election and ballot with the information report and ballot prepared for the
override election. Mailing of the information required for both the override and bond
elections shall constitute compliance with the notice provisions of this section.

E. The elections to be held pursuant to this section shall only be held on dates
prescribed by section 16-204, except that elections held pursuant to this section to
decide whether class B bonds shall be issued, or any other obligation incurred that will
require the assessment of secondary property taxes, shall only be held on the first
Tuesday after the first Monday of November.

F. Subsection A, paragraph 2 of this section does not apply to the sale of school
property if the market value of the school property is less than fifty thousand dollars.

G. Bond counsel fees, financial advisory fees, printing costs and paying agent and
registrar fees for bonds issued pursuant to an election under this section shall be paid
from either the amount authorized by the qualified electors of the school district or
current operating funds. Bond election expenses shall be paid from current operating
funds only.

H. For any election conducted to decide whether class B bonds will be issued
pursuant to this section:

1. Except as provided in paragraph 2 of this subsection, the ballot shall include
the following statement:

The capital improvements that are proposed to be funded through this
bond issuance are to exceed the state standards and are in addition to monies
provided by the state.

___________ school district is proposing to issue class B general
obligation bonds totaling $__________ to fund capital improvements over and
above those funded by the state. Under the students first capital funding
system, _________ school district is entitled to state monies for building
renewal, new construction and renovation of school buildings in accordance
with state law.

2. For a school district that is a joint technical education district, the ballot
shall include the following statement:

___________, a joint technical education district, is proposing to issue
class B general obligation bonds totaling $___________ to fund capital
improvements at a campus owned or operated and maintained by the joint
technical education district.

3. The ballot shall contain the words "bond approval, yes" and "bond approval, no",
and the voter shall signify the voter's desired choice.

4. The ballot shall also contain the phrase "the issuance of these bonds will
result in an annual levy of property taxes sufficient to pay the debt on the bonds".

5. At least eighty-five days before the election, the school district shall submit
proposed ballot language to the director of the Arizona legislative council. The director
of the Arizona legislative council shall review the proposed ballot language to determine
whether the proposed ballot language complies with this section. If the director of the
Arizona legislative council determines that the proposed ballot language does not comply
with this section, the director, within ten calendar days of the receipt of the proposed
ballot language, shall notify the school district of the director's objections and the
school district shall resubmit revised ballot language to the director for approval.

6. No later than thirty-five days before a class B bond election conducted pursuant
to this section, the school district shall mail a publicity pamphlet to each household
that contains a qualified elector in the school district. The publicity pamphlet shall
contain, at a minimum, the following information:

(a) An executive summary of the school district's most recent capital plan
submitted to the school facilities board.

(b) A complete list of each proposed capital improvement that will be funded with
the proceeds of the bonds and a description of the proposed cost of each improvement,
including a separate aggregation of capital improvements for administrative purposes as
defined by the school facilities board.

(c) The tax rate associated with each of the proposed capital improvements and the
estimated cost of each capital improvement for the owner of a single family home that is
valued at one hundred thousand dollars.

I. For any election conducted to decide whether impact aid revenue bonds shall be
issued pursuant to this section:

1. The ballot shall include the following statement:

The capital improvements that are proposed to be funded through this
bond issuance are to exceed the state standards and are in addition to monies
provided by the state.

__________ school district is proposing to issue impact aid revenue
bonds totaling $__________ to fund capital improvements over and above those
funded by the state. Under the students first capital funding system,
_________ school district is entitled to state monies for building renewal,
new construction and renovation of school buildings in accordance with state
law.

2. The ballot shall contain the words "bond approval, yes" and "bond approval, no",
and the voter shall signify the voter's desired choice.

3. At least eighty-five days before the election, the school district shall submit
proposed ballot language to the director of the legislative council. The director of the
legislative council shall review the proposed ballot language to determine whether the
proposed ballot language complies with this section. If the director of the legislative
council determines that the proposed ballot language does not comply with this section,
the director, within ten calendar days of the receipt of the proposed ballot language,
shall notify the school district of the director's objections and the school district
shall resubmit revised ballot language to the director for approval.

4. No later than thirty-five days before an impact aid revenue bond election
conducted pursuant to this section, the school district shall mail a publicity pamphlet
to each household that contains a qualified elector in the school district. The publicity
pamphlet shall contain, at a minimum, the following information:

(a) The date of the election.

(b) The voter's polling place and the times it is open.

(d) A complete list of each proposed capital improvement that will be funded with
the proceeds of the bonds and a description of the proposed cost of each improvement,
including a separate aggregation of capital improvements for administrative purposes as
defined by the school facilities board.

(e) A statement that impact aid revenue bonds will be fully funded by aid that the
school district receives from the federal government and do not require a levy of taxes
in the district.

(f) A statement that if the bonds are approved, the first priority for the impact
aid will be to pay the debt service for the bonds and that other uses of the monies are
prohibited until the debt service obligation is met.

(g) A statement that if the impact aid revenue bonds are approved, the school
district shall not issue or sell class B bonds while the district has existing
indebtedness from impact aid revenue bonds, except for bonds issued to refund any bonds
issued by the board.

J. If the voters approve the issuance of school district class B bonds or impact
aid revenue bonds, the school district shall not use the bond proceeds for any purposes
other than the proposed capital improvements listed in the publicity pamphlet, except
that up to ten per cent of the bond proceeds may be used for general capital expenses,
including cost overruns of proposed capital improvements.

K. Each school district that issues bonds under this section is required to hold a
public meeting each year between September 1 and October 31, until the bond proceeds are
spent, at which an update of the progress of capital improvements financed through
bonding is discussed and at which the public is permitted an opportunity to comment. At a
minimum, the update shall include a comparison of the current status and the original
projections on the construction of capital improvements, the costs of capital
improvements and the costs of capital improvements in progress or completed since the
prior meeting and the future capital bonding plans of the school district. The school
district shall include in the public meeting a discussion of the school district's use of
state capital aid and voter-approved capital overrides in funding capital improvements,
if any.