Assigned to ED                                                                                           AS PASSED BY THE SENATE

 

 

ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Phoenix, Arizona

 

REVISED

FACT SHEET FOR S.B. 1181

 

school facilities board; construction

 

Purpose

 

An emergency measure allowing the School Facilities Board to contract and procure directly for services and materials used to correct school facility deficiencies. Extends the date of the School Facilities Board’s rulemaking and procurement code exemptions, and also allows the School Facilities Board to transfer monies from the new school facilities fund to the deficiencies correction fund until June 30, 2001.

 

Background

 

Laws 1998, 43rd Legislature, Fifth Special Session, Chapter 1 (Students FIRST) established a School Facilities Board that is responsible for developing capital standards, for distributing state funding to ensure that adequate school facilities are built and maintained, and for ensuring that the appropriate capital equipment is available in schools to meet the state’s academic requirements.  Additionally, Arizona law requires the School Facilities Board to award monies directly to school districts for the correction of school deficiencies by June 30, 2001.  The School Facilities Board is charged with ensuring that school districts take measures to correct school deficiencies by June 30, 2003. 

 

Laws 2000, 44th Legislature, Fifth Special Session, Chapter 1 allowed the School Facilities Board authority to issue up to $800 million in revenue bonds to correct existing deficiencies in schools. 

 

In 1999, the School Facilities Board approved 150 emergency deficiency correction projects.  Of these 150 emergency projects approved in 1999, school districts completed 20 projects as of August of 2000.  S.B. 1181 provides the School Facilities Board authority to contract and procure for construction services and materials directly with vendors hired for the correction of existing deficiencies.  The bill also allows the School Facilities Board to transfer monies from the new school facilities fund to the deficiencies correction fund until June 30, 2001, with a requirement to transfer back any borrowed monies during the next fiscal year.

 

There is no fiscal impact to the state general fund associated with this bill. 

 

Provisions

 

1.      Allows the School Facilities Board to contract for construction services and materials in the correction of school facility deficiencies.

 

2.      Allows the School Facilities Board to procure for construction services.  Provides that procurement rules do not apply for the construction planning and services required by the agencies to perform the correction of school deficiencies, but does not exempt the School Facilities Board from procurement rules for actual construction projects.  

 

3.      Allows the School Facilities Board to enter into agreements with school districts to allow staff and contractors of the School Facilities Board access onto school property in order to perform construction services. 

 

4.      Allows the School Facilities Board to provide school deficiencies correction fund monies directly to contractors.

 

5.      Allows deficiencies correction projects to be combined between one or more school districts for the purpose of procuring construction services and materials in the correction of school deficiencies, if the School Facilities Board determines that such action maximizes the state’s purchasing value.

 

6.      Allows the School Facilities Board or school districts, or both, to enter into an agreement with a public procurement unit to procure materials and services in order to correct school facility deficiencies. 

 

7.      Adds two exceptions for when a school district governing board is not required to hold an election of the school district electors when selling a school site or leasing buildings and grounds, including the following:

 

(a)    If the School Facilities Board provides for the entire funding of the buildings and sites. 

 

(b)   If the transaction involves the sale of improved or unimproved property based on an agreement with the School Facilities Board, whereby the school district agrees to sell the property and transfer proceeds of the sale to the School Facilities Board in exchange for monies from the Board to acquire a more suitable school site.

 

Requires a school district to elect to transfer to the School Facilities Board the portion of proceeds from the sale of property acquired by a school district prior to July 9, 1998 that equals the cost of the acquisition of a more suitable school site.  Requires the school district to only use any remaining proceeds for (1) future land purchases approved by the School Facilities Board of (2) capital improvements not funded by the School Facilities Board for any existing or future facility.

 

8.      Allows a school district to pledge school district revenues to a municipal property corporation or a special district under Title 48 for any project financed with a loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

9.      Repeals the delayed repeal of the revenue bonding for deficiencies corrections from and after June 30, 2005.

 

 

 

 

10.  Extends the School Facilities Board's rulemaking and procurement code exemption from December 31, 2000 to December 31, 2001. Provides that these provisions are retroactive to December 31, 2000.

 

11.  Allows the School Facilities Board to transfer monies from the new school facilities fund to the deficiencies correction fund until June 30, 2001.

 

12.  Requires the School Facilities Board to transfer monies back to the new school facilities fund from the deficiencies correction fund at any time during FY 2001-2002, as long as the amount does not exceed the amount of monies transferred during FY 2000-2001.

 

13.  Makes technical and conforming changes

 

14.  Contains an emergency clause.

 

Amendments Adopted by Committee

 

Adds an exception for when a school district governing board is not required to hold an election of the school district electors when selling a school site or leasing buildings and grounds as follows:

 

·        Requires a school district to elect to transfer to the School Facilities Board the portion of the proceeds from the sale of property acquired by a school district prior to July 9, 1998 that equals the cost of the acquisition of a more suitable school site.

 

Amendments Adopted by Committee of the Whole

 

1.      Allows the School Facilities Board to transfer monies from the new school facilities fund to the deficiencies correction fund until June 30, 2001.

 

2.      Requires the School Facilities Board to transfer monies back to the new school facilities fund from the deficiencies correction fund at any time during FY 2001-2001, as long as the amount does not exceed the amount of monies transferred during FY 2000-2001.

 

3.      Specifies that when a school district transfers to the School Facilities Board the portion of the proceeds that equals the cost of the acquisition of a more suitable school site for the sale of property acquired by the school district before July 9, 1998, the following shall occur:

 

·        Requires the school district to only use any remaining proceeds for (a) future land purchases approved by the School Facilities Board or (b) capital improvements not funded by the School Facilities Board for any existing or future facility.

 

4.      Allows a school district to pledge school district revenues to a municipal property corporation or a special district under Title 48 for any project financed with a loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

 

Senate Action

 

ED                   1/25/01            DPA    7-1-0-0

3rd Read           2/19/01                        26-2-2-0

 

 

Prepared by Senate Staff

March 14, 2001