TITLE 33

EDUCATION

CHAPTER 10

FOUNDATION PROGRAM — STATE AID — APPORTIONMENT

33-1017.  School safety and health revolving loan and grant fund. (1) Fund created. There is hereby created a fund in the state treasury to be known as the school safety and health revolving loan and grant fund to which shall be credited all moneys that may be appropriated, apportioned, allocated and paid back to that fund. Moneys in this fund shall be used exclusively as provided in this section, except that moneys in this fund shall be returned to the budget stabilization fund as provided in this section.

(2)  Approval of loan or grant. A school district that does not have the financial resources to abate unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified pursuant to section 33-1613, Idaho Code, and that is eligible to seek additional funds under subsection (5)(b)(ii) of section 33-1613, Idaho Code, may apply to the state treasurer for a loan and, if eligible, a grant from the school safety and health revolving loan and grant fund. A school district that has borrowed money from the Idaho safe school facilities loan program may apply for a grant of interest from the school safety and health revolving loan and grant fund. The loan or grant shall be approved if the school district’s application meets the criteria of section 33-1613, Idaho Code, and of this section. If the board of examiners finds that existing and anticipated loans or grants under this section have depleted the school safety and health revolving loan and grant fund to an extent that the fund does not have available sufficient moneys to loan to an eligible school district, the board of examiners shall declare that additional loans may be made from the budget stabilization fund provided in section 57-814, Idaho Code, up to any limits of the use of that fund provided by statute or declared by the governor in times of general revenue shortfalls or major disaster.

(3)  Conditions of loan or grant — Repayment of loan.

(a)  The school district’s application shall identify the unsafe or unhealthy conditions that would be abated with the proceeds of the loan or grant and, if a loan, shall propose a method of and timetable for abating those conditions and for repaying the loan.

(b)  The state treasurer shall review the application to determine whether the application is for abatement of unsafe or unhealthy conditions as described in section 33-1613, Idaho Code, and to determine whether the estimated costs of abatement and proposed plan of abatement are reasonable. In reviewing the application, the state treasurer may call upon the assistance of the state division of occupational and professional licenses, the state fire marshal, the state department of administration, the state board of education, the state department of education, or other knowledgeable persons to determine whether conditions identified to be abated meet the criteria of section 33-1613, Idaho Code, and to determine whether the plan of abatement, estimated costs of abatement and proposed methods of abatement are reasonable. The state treasurer shall process the application for a loan or grant within thirty-five (35) days after its receipt.

(i)   If the state treasurer determines that the application has not identified unsafe or unhealthy conditions as described in section 33-1613, Idaho Code, the state treasurer shall return the application with a written statement that contains reasons why the loan or grant application does not meet the criteria of this section and of section 33-1613, Idaho Code.

(ii)  If the state treasurer determines that the application has identified unsafe or unhealthy conditions as described in section 33-1613, Idaho Code, the state treasurer shall then determine whether the application has proposed reasonable methods of abatement and reasonable estimates of costs of abatement. The state treasurer shall approve the plan of abatement if the school district has proposed a reasonable method of abatement and if its estimated costs of abatement are reasonable; otherwise, the state treasurer shall return the application with a written statement how the application can be amended to qualify.

(c)  If the application is for a loan, the state treasurer may accept the school district’s proposed method of and timetable for repaying the loan or may impose reasonable alternative or substitute methods of and timetables for repayment consistent with this subsection, which alternative or substitute methods shall be binding on the school district. At a minimum, the school district shall be required to repay in each fiscal year succeeding the year of the loan an amount no less than the lottery proceeds that the school district would otherwise receive for that fiscal year and additional foundation support moneys, if any, accruing as a result of an initial overestimation of state average daily attendance support units and later distribution of residual amounts resulting from fewer support units than originally estimated. The loan shall provide for the school safety and health revolving loan and grant fund, or the budget stabilization fund, to the extent that it was the source of the loan, to intercept the lottery proceeds that would otherwise go to the school district until the loan is fully repaid. In addition, the state treasurer may impose reasonable fiscal conditions on the school district during the term of loan repayment including, but not limited to, restrictions in use of otherwise unrestricted school district moneys to assist in repayment of the loan or in abatement of unsafe or unhealthy conditions, the declaration of a financial emergency during some or all of the term of repayment of the loan, or interception by the school safety and health revolving loan and grant fund of a portion of the state foundation program payments under chapter 10, title 33, Idaho Code, that would otherwise go to the school district to repay the loan. The initial term of the loan shall not exceed ten (10) years, but may be extended in the state treasurer’s discretion for another ten (10) years.

(d)  If a loan is approved, the state treasurer shall establish a line of credit for the school district and monthly reimburse the school district for costs incurred to abate the unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified as the reason for the loan. The state treasurer may prescribe forms and procedures for administration of this line of credit.

(e)  A school district may repay its loan or any portion of its loan in advance at any time without penalty.

(4)  Interest. Loans to school districts under this section shall bear interest at the average rate of interest that would be available to the state treasury were the loan funds retained in the state treasury, as determined by the state treasurer.

(5)  Certification of loan funds spent. If a school district obtains a loan pursuant to this section, the board of trustees shall certify the total expenditures of loaned funds that were actually spent to abate unsafe and unhealthy conditions.

(6)  Excess funds. If any funds loaned pursuant to this section were not spent on abatement of unsafe and unhealthy conditions, they must be returned to the school safety and health revolving loan and grant fund or the budget stabilization fund, as the case may be. This subsection shall be judicially enforceable by the state treasurer, and any amounts due for repayment under this subsection may be recovered by offset from state foundation program moneys that would otherwise be paid to the school district.

(7)  Eligibility for grant. After complying with the provisions of section 33-1613, Idaho Code, school districts that borrow money from the Idaho safe schools facilities loan program pursuant to section 33-804A, Idaho Code, or that refinance through the Idaho safe schools facilities loan program loans for money borrowed under this section or that finance abatement of unsafe and unhealthy conditions through indebtedness pursuant to chapter 11, title 33, Idaho Code, may apply for a grant from the school safety and health revolving loan and grant fund to pay for eligible interest costs incurred on loan proceeds used to abate unsafe and unhealthy conditions. If the school district’s application for a grant is accepted, then the school district will qualify for a grant of the present value of the qualifying percentage of the interest costs of the loan associated with abating unsafe and unhealthy conditions as follows:

(a)  If the school district is participating in the Idaho safe schools facilities loan program, within seven (7) days after the approved school district receives loan proceeds from the Idaho safe schools facilities loan fund, the state treasurer shall provide funds to the school district in the amount of the qualifying percentage of the present value of the interest costs associated with abating unsafe and unhealthy conditions.

(b)  If a school district has obtained a loan from the school health and safety revolving loan and grant fund and has refinanced its loan through the Idaho safe schools facilities program and prepays the outstanding principal of its loan, the school district shall be eligible for a grant of the qualifying percentage of the present value of the outstanding interest costs associated with the prepaid principal.

(c)  If the school district has financed the abatement of unsafe or unhealthy conditions through indebtedness pursuant to chapter 11, title 33, Idaho Code, within seven (7) days after the school district receives bond proceeds, the state treasurer shall provide funds to the school district in the amount of the qualifying percentage of the present value of the interest costs associated with abating unsafe and unhealthy conditions.

(8)  Present value. The present value of the interest costs associated with money borrowed under the Idaho safe schools facilities loan program shall be calculated by the state treasurer using a method of equal annual loan payments and a discount rate of the interest rate prescribed in subsection (4) of this section on the date that the school district receives funds from the Idaho safe schools facilities loan fund. The present value of the unpaid interest costs for principal prepayments to the school safety and health revolving loan and grant fund shall be calculated by the state treasurer by summing the unpaid interest that would be paid without the principal prepayment and discounting it at the interest rate prescribed in subsection (4) of this section on the date that the treasurer receives the prepayment. The present value of the interest costs associated with money borrowed by a school district in a bond issue shall be calculated by the state treasurer using the school district’s actual schedule for making interest payments on the bonds and discounting those interest payments by the interest rate prescribed in subsection (4) of this section on the date that the school district receives funds from the bond issue.

(9)  Qualifying percentage. The qualifying percentage of the interest costs of a school district applying for a grant of interest under this section shall be determined as follows: For a school district borrowing money under the Idaho safe schools facilities loan program or refinancing a loan made under this section with money borrowed under the Idaho safe schools facilities program or incurring bonded indebtedness for safe and healthy schools, the state treasurer shall express:

(a)  The total of the bond and plant facilities levies imposed by the school district (including the levy for which the application is made); and

(b)  The total levies imposed by the school district (including the levy for which the application is made)

as a fraction of assessed value for the most recent assessment against which the school district’s existing levies are made. The qualifying percentage of interest granted under this section shall be the higher of the amounts shown in the following tables:

Table 1 – Bond and Plant Facilities Levies

Bond Plus Plant Facilities Levy

Less than.0019

More than.0019 and less than.0029

More than.0029 and less than.0039

More than.0039

Table 2 – Total Levies

Total Levy

Less than.0060

More than.0060 and less than.0072

More than.0072 and less than.0084

More than.0084 and less than.0096

More than.0096

(10) Interest costs for abatement of unsafe and unhealthy conditions. The interest costs for abatement of unsafe and unhealthy conditions shall be calculated by determining the percentage of the loan proceeds or prepayment of the loan that will be used to abate unsafe and unhealthy conditions.

(11) Procedures. The state treasurer may prescribe forms for applying for a loan or grant under this section. No actions taken under this section are contested cases or rulemaking subject to chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code, and none of the contested case or rulemaking procedures of chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code, apply to actions taken under this section.

(12) The state treasurer’s authority to accept applications for and to approve grants of interest from the school safety and health revolving loan and grant fund shall cease on July 1, 2003.

History:

[33-1017, added 2000, ch. 219, sec. 2, p. 610; am. 2001, ch. 326, sec. 2, p. 1144; am. 2002, ch. 157, sec. 1, p. 453; am. 2023, ch. 15, sec. 4, p. 71.]