82R6480 CAS-F
By: Aycock H.B. No. 2168
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to limitations on issuance by school districts of
tax-supported bonds.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 45, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 45.0035 to read as follows:
Sec. 45.0035. LIMITATIONS ON ISSUANCE OF TAX-SUPPORTED
BONDS. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, a
school district's local bonded indebtedness limit is an amount
equal to 10 percent of the assessed valuation of taxable property in
the district according to the most recent certified ad valorem tax
rolls of the district. For a district with a student enrollment of
less than 4,000, the district's local bonded indebtedness limit is
an amount equal to 12 percent of the assessed valuation of taxable
property in the district according to the most recent certified ad
valorem tax rolls of the district. For a district that has had a
student enrollment growth of at least 15 percent over the
three-year period preceding the year in which bonds are issued, the
district's local bonded indebtedness limit is the otherwise
applicable limit computed under this subsection plus an amount
equal to the product of 10 percent of the student enrollment growth
rate for that three-year period multiplied by the assessed
valuation of taxable property in the district.
(b) A school district's state funding percentage is the
quotient of the amount of state assistance received by the district
under Chapter 46 for the payment of debt service for the preceding
school year divided by the aggregate amount of debt service paid on
the district's bonded indebtedness for the preceding school year,
expressed as a percentage.
(c) A school district's adjusted local bonded indebtedness
limit is an amount equal to the sum of:
(1) the district's applicable local bonded
indebtedness limit as computed under Subsection (a); and
(2) an amount equal to the product of 20 percent of the
district's state funding percentage as computed under Subsection
(b) multiplied by the assessed valuation of taxable property in the
district.
(d) A school district may issue bonds described by Section
45.001 only if:
(1) after the issuance of those bonds, the aggregate
principal amount of the district's outstanding bonded indebtedness
would not exceed the district's adjusted local bonded indebtedness
limit as determined under Subsection (c); and
(2) the district has adopted:
(A) a debt management policy as provided by
Subsection (e); and
(B) a capital improvement plan as provided by
Subsection (f).
(e) A school district's debt management policy as required
by Subsection (d)(2)(A) must:
(1) address the district's ability to:
(A) maintain financial stability;
(B) provide debt management flexibility;
(C) meet future facility needs;
(D) maintain public trust;
(E) minimize costs to taxpayers;
(F) maintain access to capital markets; and
(G) receive the highest ratings on district bonds
from independent credit rating agencies; and
(2) demonstrate to taxpayers administrative oversight
of bond programs.
(f) A school district's capital improvement plan as
required under Subsection (d)(2)(B) must:
(1) address the location, timing, and financing of
district capital improvements over a multiyear period of not less
than five years;
(2) describe:
(A) significant, nonrecurring expenditures for
real property, improvements to real property, and equipment for the
improvements; and
(B) intended financing sources and development
schedules for capital improvement projects; and
(3) be reviewed at an annual public hearing provided
by the district.
(g) In addition to the limitation imposed by Subsection (d),
a school district may not issue bonds described by Section 45.001
for the construction, acquisition, or equipping of an athletic
facility designed to be used primarily for a purpose other than for
teaching the curriculum required under Section 28.002 if, after the
issuance of those bonds, the aggregate principal amount of
outstanding bonds issued after September 1, 2011, for such a
purpose would exceed an amount equal to 10 percent of the district's
adjusted local bonded indebtedness limit as computed under
Subsection (c).
(h) For purposes of this section, the amount of a school
district's bonded indebtedness does not include the amount of any
bonded indebtedness resulting from the issuance of bonds for the
construction, acquisition, or equipping of a school building to
replace a school building lost due to fire or a natural disaster,
less any amount paid by insurance covering the loss.
SECTION 2. Section 45.0031, Education Code, is repealed.
SECTION 3. Section 45.0035, Education Code, as added by
this Act, applies to school district bonds issued on or after the
effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the bonds were
approved by voters before, on, or after the effective date of this
Act. School district bonds approved by voters and issued before the
effective date of this Act are governed by the law in effect on the
date the bonds were issued, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.