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Public Act 093-0799
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| HB0754 Enrolled |
LRB093 05410 NHT 05500 b |
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AN ACT relating to schools.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, |
represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section |
19-1 as follows:
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(105 ILCS 5/19-1) (from Ch. 122, par. 19-1)
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Sec. 19-1. Debt limitations of school districts.
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(a) School districts shall not be subject to the provisions |
limiting their
indebtedness prescribed in "An Act to limit the |
indebtedness of counties having
a population of less than |
500,000 and townships, school districts and other
municipal |
corporations having a population of less than 300,000", |
approved
February 15, 1928, as amended.
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No school districts maintaining grades K through 8 or 9 |
through 12
shall become indebted in any manner or for any |
purpose to an amount,
including existing indebtedness, in the |
aggregate exceeding 6.9% on the
value of the taxable property |
therein to be ascertained by the last assessment
for State and |
county taxes or, until January 1, 1983, if greater, the sum |
that
is produced by multiplying the school district's 1978 |
equalized assessed
valuation by the debt limitation percentage |
in effect on January 1, 1979,
previous to the incurring of such |
indebtedness.
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No school districts maintaining grades K through 12 shall |
become
indebted in any manner or for any purpose to an amount, |
including
existing indebtedness, in the aggregate exceeding |
13.8% on the value of
the taxable property therein to be |
ascertained by the last assessment
for State and county taxes |
or, until January 1, 1983, if greater, the sum that
is produced |
by multiplying the school district's 1978 equalized assessed
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valuation by the debt limitation percentage in effect on |
January 1, 1979,
previous to the incurring of such |
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indebtedness.
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Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the |
contrary, in any
case in which the voters of a school district |
have approved a proposition
for the issuance of bonds of such |
school district at an election held prior
to January 1, 1979, |
and all of the bonds approved at such election have
not been |
issued, the debt limitation applicable to such school district
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during the calendar year 1979 shall be computed by multiplying |
the value
of taxable property therein, including personal |
property, as ascertained
by the last assessment for State and |
county taxes, previous to the incurring
of such indebtedness, |
by the percentage limitation applicable to such school
district |
under the provisions of this subsection (a).
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(b) Notwithstanding the debt limitation prescribed in |
subsection (a)
of this Section, additional indebtedness may be |
incurred in an amount
not to exceed the estimated cost of |
acquiring or improving school sites
or constructing and |
equipping additional building facilities under the
following |
conditions:
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(1) Whenever the enrollment of students for the next |
school year is
estimated by the board of education to |
increase over the actual present
enrollment by not less |
than 35% or by not less than 200 students or 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
building facilities are |
required as a result of such increase in
enrollment; and
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(2) When the Regional Superintendent of Schools having |
jurisdiction
over the school district and the State |
Superintendent of Education
concur in such enrollment |
projection or increase and approve the need
for such |
additional school sites or building facilities and the
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estimated cost thereof; and
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(3) When the voters in the school district approve a |
proposition for
the issuance of bonds for the purpose of |
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acquiring or improving such
needed school sites or |
constructing and equipping such needed additional
building |
facilities at an election called and held for that purpose.
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Notice of such an election shall state that the amount of |
indebtedness
proposed to be incurred would exceed the debt |
limitation otherwise
applicable to the school district. |
The ballot for such proposition
shall state what percentage |
of the equalized assessed valuation will be
outstanding in |
bonds if the proposed issuance of bonds is approved by
the |
voters; or
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(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (1) |
through (3) of
this subsection (b), if the school board |
determines that additional
facilities are needed to |
provide a quality educational program and not
less than 2/3 |
of those voting in an election called by the school board
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on the question approve the issuance of bonds for the |
construction of
such facilities, the school district may |
issue bonds for this
purpose; or
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(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (1) |
through (3) of this
subsection (b), if (i) the school |
district has previously availed itself of the
provisions of |
paragraph (4) of this subsection (b) to enable it to issue |
bonds,
(ii) the voters of the school district have not |
defeated a proposition for the
issuance of bonds since the |
referendum described in paragraph (4) of this
subsection |
(b) was held, (iii) the school board determines that |
additional
facilities are needed to provide a quality |
educational program, and (iv) a
majority of those voting in |
an election called by the school board on the
question |
approve the issuance of bonds for the construction of such |
facilities,
the school district may issue bonds for this |
purpose.
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In no event shall the indebtedness incurred pursuant to |
this
subsection (b) and the existing indebtedness of the school |
district
exceed 15% of the value of the taxable property |
therein to be
ascertained by the last assessment for State and |
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county taxes, previous
to the incurring of such indebtedness |
or, until January 1, 1983, if greater,
the sum that is produced |
by multiplying the school district's 1978 equalized
assessed |
valuation by the debt limitation percentage in effect on |
January 1,
1979.
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The indebtedness provided for by this subsection (b) shall |
be in
addition to and in excess of any other debt limitation.
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(c) Notwithstanding the debt limitation prescribed in |
subsection (a)
of this Section, in any case in which a public |
question for the issuance
of bonds of a proposed school |
district maintaining grades kindergarten
through 12 received |
at least 60% of the valid ballots cast on the question at
an |
election held on or prior to November 8, 1994, and in which the |
bonds
approved at such election have not been issued, the |
school district pursuant to
the requirements of Section 11A-10 |
may issue the total amount of bonds approved
at such election |
for the purpose stated in the question.
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(d) Notwithstanding the debt limitation prescribed in |
subsection (a)
of this Section, a school district that meets |
all the criteria set forth in
paragraphs (1) and (2) of this |
subsection (d) may incur an additional
indebtedness in an |
amount not to exceed $4,500,000, even though the amount of
the |
additional indebtedness authorized by this subsection (d), |
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 (d), causes the aggregate indebtedness of the
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district to exceed the debt limitation otherwise applicable to |
that district
under subsection (a):
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(1) The additional indebtedness authorized by this |
subsection (d) is
incurred by the school district through |
the issuance of bonds under and in
accordance with Section |
17-2.11a for the purpose of replacing a school
building |
which, because of mine subsidence damage, has been closed |
as provided
in paragraph (2) of this subsection (d) or |
through the issuance of bonds under
and in accordance with |
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Section 19-3 for the purpose of increasing the size of,
or |
providing for additional functions in, such replacement |
school buildings, or
both such purposes.
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(2) The bonds issued by the school district as provided |
in paragraph (1)
above are issued for the purposes of |
construction by the school district of
a new school |
building pursuant to Section 17-2.11, to replace an |
existing
school building that, because of mine subsidence |
damage, is closed as of the
end of the 1992-93 school year |
pursuant to action of the regional
superintendent of |
schools of the educational service region in which the
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district is located under Section 3-14.22 or are issued for |
the purpose of
increasing the size of, or providing for |
additional functions in, the new
school building being |
constructed to replace a school building closed as the
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result of mine subsidence damage, or both such purposes.
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(e) 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 (5) of |
this subsection (e) may, without referendum,
incur an |
additional indebtedness in an amount not to exceed the lesser |
of
$5,000,000 or 1.5% of the value of the taxable property |
within the district
even though the amount of the additional |
indebtedness authorized by this
subsection (e), when incurred |
and added to the aggregate amount of indebtedness
of the |
district existing immediately prior to the district incurring |
that
additional indebtedness, causes the aggregate |
indebtedness of the district to
exceed or increases the amount |
by which the aggregate indebtedness of the
district already |
exceeds the debt limitation otherwise applicable to that
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district under subsection (a):
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(1) The State Board of Education certifies the school |
district under
Section 19-1.5 as a financially distressed |
district.
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(2) The additional indebtedness authorized by this |
subsection (e) is
incurred by the financially distressed |
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district during the school year or
school years in which |
the certification of the district as a financially
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distressed district continues in effect through the |
issuance of bonds for the
lawful school purposes of the |
district, pursuant to resolution of the school
board and |
without referendum, as provided in paragraph (5) of this |
subsection.
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(3) The aggregate amount of bonds issued by the |
financially distressed
district during a fiscal year in |
which it is authorized to issue bonds under
this subsection |
does not exceed the amount by which the aggregate |
expenditures
of the district for operational purposes |
during the immediately preceding
fiscal year exceeds the |
amount appropriated for the operational
purposes of the |
district in the annual school budget adopted by the school
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board of the district for the fiscal year in which the |
bonds are issued.
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(4) Throughout each fiscal year in which certification |
of the district as
a financially distressed district |
continues in effect, the district maintains
in effect a |
gross salary expense and gross wage expense freeze policy |
under
which the district expenditures for total employee |
salaries and wages do not
exceed such expenditures for the |
immediately preceding fiscal year. Nothing in
this |
paragraph, however, shall be deemed to impair or to require |
impairment of
the contractual obligations, including |
collective bargaining agreements, of the
district or to |
impair or require the impairment of the vested rights of |
any
employee of the district under the terms of any |
contract or agreement in effect
on the effective date of |
this amendatory Act of 1994.
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(5) Bonds issued by the financially distressed |
district under this
subsection 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 |
40 years from their date of issue, and shall be signed by |
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the president
of the school board and treasurer of the |
school district. In order to issue
bonds under this |
subsection, the school board shall adopt a resolution |
fixing
the amount of the bonds, the
date of the bonds, the |
maturities of the bonds, the rates of interest of the
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bonds, and their place of payment and denomination, and |
shall provide
for the levy and collection of a direct |
annual tax upon all the taxable
property in the district |
sufficient to pay the principal and interest on the
bonds |
to maturity. Upon the filing in the office of the county |
clerk of the
county in which the financially
distressed |
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 at |
any time authorized to be levied by the district.
If bond |
proceeds from the sale of bonds include a premium or if the |
proceeds of
the bonds are invested as authorized by law, |
the school board shall determine
by resolution whether the |
interest earned on the investment of bond proceeds or
the |
premium realized on the sale of the bonds is to be used for |
any of the
lawful school purposes for which the bonds were |
issued or for the payment of
the principal indebtedness and |
interest on the bonds. The proceeds of the bond
sale shall |
be deposited in the educational purposes fund of the |
district and
shall be used to pay operational expenses of |
the district. This subsection is
cumulative and |
constitutes complete authority for the issuance of bonds as
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provided in this subsection, notwithstanding any other law |
to the contrary.
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(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of |
this Section or of
any other law, bonds in not to exceed the |
aggregate amount of $5,500,000 and
issued by a school district |
meeting the following criteria 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 |
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statutory limitation as to indebtedness:
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(1) At the time of the sale of such bonds, the board of |
education of the
district shall have determined by |
resolution that the enrollment of students in
the district |
is projected to increase by not less than 7% during each of |
the
next succeeding 2 school years.
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(2) The board of education shall also determine by |
resolution that the
improvements to be financed with the |
proceeds of the bonds are needed because
of the projected |
enrollment increases.
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(3) The board of education shall also determine by |
resolution that the
projected increases in enrollment are |
the result of improvements made or
expected to be made to |
passenger rail facilities located in the school
district.
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Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this |
Section or of any other law, a school district that has availed |
itself of the provisions of this subsection (f) prior to the |
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General |
Assembly may also issue bonds approved by referendum up to an |
amount, including existing indebtedness, not exceeding 25% of |
the equalized assessed value of the taxable property in the |
district if all of the conditions set forth in items (1), (2), |
and (3) of this subsection (f) are met.
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(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of |
this Section or any
other law, bonds in not to exceed an |
aggregate amount of 25% of the equalized
assessed value of the |
taxable property of a school district and issued by a
school |
district meeting the criteria in paragraphs (i) through (iv) of |
this
subsection shall not be considered indebtedness for |
purposes of any statutory
limitation and may be issued pursuant |
to resolution of the school board in an
amount or amounts, |
including existing indebtedness, in
excess of any statutory |
limitation of indebtedness heretofore or hereafter
imposed:
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(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 |
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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.
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(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.
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(iii) The sale of the bonds occurs before July 1, 1997.
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(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.
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(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
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value of the taxable property in the district, if all of the |
following
conditions are met:
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(i) The school district has an equalized assessed |
valuation for calendar
year 1995 of less than $24,000,000;
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(ii) The bonds are issued for the capital improvement, |
renovation,
rehabilitation, or replacement of existing |
school buildings of the district,
all of which buildings |
were originally constructed not less than 40 years ago;
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(iii) The voters of the district approve a proposition |
for the issuance of
the bonds at a referendum held after |
March 19, 1996; and
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(iv) The bonds are issued pursuant to Sections 19-2 |
through 19-7 of this
Code.
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(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 |
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indebtedness, not exceeding 27% of the equalized assessed value |
of the
taxable property in the district, if all of the |
following conditions are met:
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(i) The school district has an equalized assessed |
valuation for calendar
year 1995 of less than $44,600,000;
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(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;
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(iii) The voters of the district approve a proposition |
for the issuance of
the bonds at a referendum held after |
December 31, 1996; and
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(iv) The bonds are issued pursuant to Sections 19-2 |
through 19-7 of this
Code.
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(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
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conditions are met:
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(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;
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(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;
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(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
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increases;
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(iv) At least 60% of those voting in an election held
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after December 31, 1996 approve a proposition
for the |
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issuance of
the bonds; and
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(v) The bonds are issued pursuant to Sections 19-2 |
through
19-7 of this Code.
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(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
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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):
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(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;
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(2) the additional indebtedness is for the purpose of |
financing a
multi-purpose room addition to the existing |
high school;
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(3) the additional indebtedness, together with the |
existing indebtedness
of the school district, shall not |
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
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(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.
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(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, |
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not exceeding 15% of the equalized assessed
value of the |
taxable property in the district if all of the following
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conditions are met:
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(i) the district has an equalized assessed valuation |
for calendar year
1996 of less than $10,000,000;
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(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;
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(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
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(iv) the bonds are issued pursuant to Sections 19-2 |
through 19-7 of this
Code.
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(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:
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(i) The school district has an equalized assessed |
valuation for calendar
year 1995 or less than $7,700,000;
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(ii) The school district operates 2 elementary |
attendance centers that
until
1976 were operated as the |
attendance centers of 2 separate and distinct school
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districts;
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(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;
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(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
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(v) The bonds are issued pursuant to Sections 19-2 |
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through 19-7 of this
Code.
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(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
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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
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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:
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(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.
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(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.
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(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.
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(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.
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(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.
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(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:
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(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;
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(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 |
schools, and make technology
and other improvements and |
additions to existing schools;
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(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 |