§36-32  State educational facilities
improvement special fund.  (a)  There is created in the treasury of the
State the state educational facilities improvement special fund, into which
shall be deposited a portion of all general excise tax revenues collected by
the department of taxation under section 237-31.  The special fund shall be
used solely to plan, design, acquire lands for, and to construct public school
facilities and to provide equipment and technology infrastructure to improve
public schools and other facilities under the jurisdiction of the department of
education, except public libraries.  In addition, activities of the department
of education intended to eliminate the gap between the facility needs of
schools and available resources shall be eligible for funding from the special
fund.  Expenditures from the special fund shall be limited to projects
authorized by the legislature and shall be subject to sections 37-31, and 37-33
through 37-40.  Appropriations or authorizations from the special fund shall be
expended by the superintendent of education.



(b)  There is established within the state
educational facilities improvement special fund a separate account, to be known
as the lease payments for schools account, for lease payments required by financing
agreements entered into by the department of education pursuant to this section
and sections 37D-2 and 302A-1506.  The lease payments for schools account shall
be funded by legislative appropriations and expended by the superintendent of
education.  Expenditures from the lease payments for schools account shall be
exempt from chapters 103 and 103D and are restricted to lease payments on new
schools included within the department of education's current six year capital
improvement programs and for which:



(1)  The legislature adopted a concurrent resolution
directing the department of education to:



(A)  Build a new school in
a specific geographic area using the design-build method; and



(B)  Pursue the use of a financing agreement to
build the new school; or



(2)  The legislature appropriated planning and design
funds and specified that the remainder of the costs necessary to complete the
project are eligible for funding through a financing agreement;



provided that any school to which the legislature has
appropriated planning and design funds prior to July 1, 2007 and for which a
private developer is willing to enter into a lease-purchase agreement with the
department of education within twelve months of July 1, 2007 is exempt from the
requirements of [paragraphs] (1) and (2).



(c)  The department of education shall submit
an annual report to the legislature that shall include a financial statement of
the special fund, the lease payments for schools account established under
subsection (b), and the status of projects undertaken pursuant to this section,
no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session. [L
1989, c 368, §2; am L 1993, c 364, §24; am L 1994, c 272, §32; am L 2005, c
189, §2; am L 2007, c 220, §2]



 



Revision Note



 



  "July 1, 2007" substituted for "the effective
date of this Act".