[ Search ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
| [ Introduced ] |
91_HB1154eng HB1154 Engrossed LRB9101412NTsb 1 AN ACT to amend the School Code by changing Section 29-5. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing 5 Section 29-5 as follows: 6 (105 ILCS 5/29-5) (from Ch. 122, par. 29-5) 7 Sec. 29-5. Reimbursement by State for transportation. 8 Any school district, maintaining a school, transporting 9 resident pupils to another school district's vocational 10 program, offered through a joint agreement approved by the 11 State Board of Education, as provided in Section 10-22.22 or 12 transporting its resident pupils to a school which meets the 13 standards for recognition as established by the State Board 14 of Education which provides transportation meeting the 15 standards of safety, comfort, convenience, efficiency and 16 operation prescribed by the State Board of Education for 17 resident pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 through 12 18 who: (a) reside at least 1 1/2 miles as measured by the 19 customary route of travel, from the school attended; or (b) 20 reside in areas where conditions are such that walking 21 constitutes a hazard to the safety of the child when 22 determined under Section 29-3; and (c) are transported to the 23 school attended from pick-up points at the beginning of the 24 school day and back again at the close of the school day or 25 transported to and from their assigned attendance centers 26 during the school day, shall be reimbursed by the State as 27 hereinafter provided in this Section. 28 The State will pay the cost of transporting eligible 29 pupils less the assessed valuation in a dual school district 30 maintaining secondary grades 9 to 12 inclusive times a 31 qualifying rate of .05%; in elementary school districts HB1154 Engrossed -2- LRB9101412NTsb 1 maintaining grades K to 8 times a qualifying rate of .06%; in 2 unit districts maintaining grades K to 12 times a qualifying 3 rate of .07%. To be eligible to receive reimbursement in 4 excess of 4/5 of the cost to transport eligible pupils, a 5 school district shall have a Transportation Fund tax rate of 6 at least .12%. If a school district does not have a .12% 7 Transportation Fund tax rate, the amount of its claim in 8 excess of 4/5 of the cost of transporting pupils shall be 9 reduced by the sum arrived at by subtracting the 10 Transportation Fund tax rate from .12% and multiplying that 11 amount by the districts equalized or assessed valuation, 12 provided, that in no case shall said reduction result in 13 reimbursement of less than 4/5 of the cost to transport 14 eligible pupils. 15 The minimum amount to be received by a district is $16 16 times the number of eligible pupils transported. 17 Any such district transporting resident pupils during the 18 school day to an area vocational school or another school 19 district's vocational program more than 1 1/2 miles from the 20 school attended, as provided in Sections 10-22.20a and 21 10-22.22, shall be reimbursed by the State for 4/5 of the 22 cost of transporting eligible pupils. 23 School day means that period of time which the pupil is 24 required to be in attendance for instructional purposes. 25 If a pupil is at a location within the school district 26 other than his residence for child care purposes at the time 27 for transportation to school, that location may be considered 28 for purposes of determining the 1 1/2 miles from the school 29 attended. 30 Claims for reimbursement that include children who attend 31 any school other than a public school shall show the number 32 of such children transported. 33 Claims for reimbursement under this Section shall not be 34 paid for the transportation of pupils for whom transportation HB1154 Engrossed -3- LRB9101412NTsb 1 costs are claimed for payment under other Sections of this 2 Act. 3 The allowable direct cost of transporting pupils for 4 regular, vocational, and special education pupil 5 transportation shall be limited to the sum of the cost of 6 physical examinations required for employment as a school bus 7 driver; the salaries of full or part-time drivers and school 8 bus maintenance personnel; employee benefitsexcluding9Illinois municipal retirement payments, social security10payments, unemployment insurance payments and workers'11compensation insurance premiums; expenditures to independent 12 carriers who operate school buses; payments to other school 13 districts for pupil transportation services; pre-approved 14 contractual expenditures for computerized bus scheduling; the 15 cost of gasoline, oil, tires, and other supplies necessary 16 for the operation of school buses; the cost of converting 17 buses' gasoline engines to more fuel efficient engines or to 18 engines which use alternative energy sources; the cost of 19 travel to meetings and workshops conducted by the regional 20 superintendent or the State Superintendent of Education 21 pursuant to the standards established by the Secretary of 22 State under Section 6-106 of the Illinois Vehicle Code to 23 improve the driving skills of school bus drivers; the cost of 24 maintenance of school buses including parts and materials 25 used; expenditures for leasing transportation vehicles, 26 except interest and service charges; the cost of insurance 27 and licenses for transportation vehicles; expenditures for 28 the rental of transportation equipment; plus a depreciation 29 allowance of 20% for 5 years for school buses and vehicles 30 approved for transporting pupils to and from school and a 31 depreciation allowance of 10% for 10 years for other 32 transportation equipment so used. In addition to the above 33 allowable costs school districts shall also claim all 34 transportation supervisory salary costs, including Illinois HB1154 Engrossed -4- LRB9101412NTsb 1 municipal retirement payments, and all transportation related 2 building and building maintenance costs without limitation. 3 Special education allowable costs shall also include 4 expenditures for the salaries of attendants or aides for that 5 portion of the time they assist special education pupils 6 while in transit and expenditures for parents and public 7 carriers for transporting special education pupils when 8 pre-approved by the State Superintendent of Education. 9 Indirect costs shall be included in the reimbursement 10 claim for districts which own and operate their own school 11 buses. Such indirect costs shall include administrative 12 costs, or any costs attributable to transporting pupils from 13 their attendance centers to another school building for 14 instructional purposes. No school district which owns and 15 operates its own school buses may claim reimbursement for 16 indirect costs which exceed 5% of the total allowable direct 17 costs for pupil transportation. 18 The State Board of Education shall prescribe uniform 19 regulations for determining the above standards and shall 20 prescribe forms of cost accounting and standards of 21 determining reasonable depreciation. Such depreciation shall 22 include the cost of equipping school buses with the safety 23 features required by law or by the rules, regulations and 24 standards promulgated by the State Board of Education, and 25 the Department of Transportation for the safety and 26 construction of school buses provided, however, any equipment 27 cost reimbursed by the Department of Transportation for 28 equipping school buses with such safety equipment shall be 29 deducted from the allowable cost in the computation of 30 reimbursement under this Section in the same percentage as 31 the cost of the equipment is depreciated. 32 On or before July 10, annually, the board clerk or the 33 secretary of the district shall certify to the regional 34 superintendent of schools upon forms prescribed by the State HB1154 Engrossed -5- LRB9101412NTsb 1 Superintendent of Education the district's claim for 2 reimbursement for the school year ended on June 30 next 3 preceding. The regional superintendent of schools shall 4 check all transportation claims to ascertain compliance with 5 the prescribed standards and upon his approval shall certify 6 not later than July 25 to the State Superintendent of 7 Education the regional report of claims for reimbursements. 8 The State Superintendent of Education shall check and approve 9 the claims and prepare the vouchers showing the amounts due 10 for district reimbursement claims. Beginning with the 1977 11 fiscal year, the State Superintendent of Education shall 12 prepare and transmit the first 3 vouchers to the Comptroller 13 on the 30th day of September, December and March, 14 respectively, and the final voucher, no later than June 15. 15 If the amount appropriated for transportation 16 reimbursement is insufficient to fund total claims for any 17 fiscal year, the State Board of Education shall reduce each 18 school district's allowable costs and flat grant amount 19 proportionately to make total adjusted claims equal the total 20 amount appropriated. 21 For purposes of calculating claims for reimbursement 22 under this Section for any school year beginning July 1, 23 1980, or thereafter, the equalized assessed valuation for a 24 school district used to compute reimbursement shall be 25 determined by adding to the real property equalized assessed 26 valuation for the district an amount computed by dividing the 27 amount of money received by the district under the provisions 28 of "An Act in relation to the abolition of ad valorem 29 personal property tax and the replacement of revenues lost 30 thereby, and amending and repealing certain Acts and parts of 31 Acts in connection therewith", certified August 14, 1979, as 32 amended, by the total tax rate for the district. For purposes 33 of this subsection, 1976 tax rates shall be used for school 34 districts in the county of Cook, and 1977 tax rates shall be HB1154 Engrossed -6- LRB9101412NTsb 1 used in all other counties. For the purposes of calculating 2 claims for reimbursement under this Section for any school 3 year beginning July 1, 1986, or thereafter, the real property 4 equalized assessed valuation for a school district used to 5 compute reimbursement shall be determined by subtracting from 6 the real property value as equalized or assessed by the 7 Department of Revenue for the district an amount computed by 8 dividing the amount of any abatement of taxes under Section 9 18-170 of the Property Tax Code by the maximum operating tax 10 rates specified in subsection 5(c) of Section 18-8. 11 All reimbursements received from the State shall be 12 deposited into the district's transportation fund or into the 13 fund from which the allowable expenditures were made. 14 (Source: P.A. 88-612, eff. 7-1-95; 88-641, eff. 9-9-94; 15 88-670, eff. 12-2-94; 89-235, eff. 8-4-95.)