Sec. 15. (a) As used in this section, “debt service fund” includes the separate debt service fund for the payment of debt service on bonds used to implement solutions to a contractual retirement or severance liability.

     (b) As used in this section, “eligible school corporation” has the meaning set forth in IC 5-1-5-2.5.

     (c) As used in this section, “increment” refers to the annual increment computed under IC 5-1-5-2.5 with respect to bonds issued to retire or otherwise refund other bonds for each year that the bonds that are being retired or refunded would have been outstanding.

     (d) A school corporation may make a request to continue to impose a debt service fund levy in the amount that the school corporation would have been able to impose to pay debt service on bonds that were retired or refunded by the issuance of refunding bonds. A school corporation must include in its request a copy of the ordinance adopted under IC 5-1-5-2.5.

     (e) The department of local government finance shall grant the school corporation permission to continue to impose such a debt service fund levy if the department finds that the school corporation qualifies to issue refunding bonds under IC 5-1-5-2.5.

     (f) An eligible school corporation that is granted permission to impose a debt service fund levy as described in this section may transfer the lesser of the amount of credits granted under IC 6-1.1-20.6 against the school corporation’s combined levy for all the school corporation’s funds or the amount of the increment from the debt service fund to the operations fund.

As added by P.L.229-2011, SEC.221. Amended by P.L.244-2017, SEC.105.