A. The governing board of a school district may contract for constructing, maintaining or otherwise improving any public way adjacent to any parcel of land owned by the school district or leased for school purposes by the school district, or an intersection of any public way adjoining a quarter block in which the parcel of land is situated, and for constructing sidewalks, sewers, utility lines, roadways and other related improvements in or along such streets and intersections, and to pay for such improvements by levying a special assessment on the taxable property in the school district. A school district shall not use any portion of the monies generated from the special assessment for any construction, maintenance or other improvements to the school district’s property except improvements necessary to ensure the safe ingress to and egress from public school property directly adjacent to the public way for buses and fire equipment. The assessment shall be made a part of the itemized statement that is regularly filed with the county school superintendent and that shows the amount of monies needed for the expenses of schools within the school district for the ensuing year. Each adjacent ways project proposal to be funded through this special assessment must be filed with the division of school facilities within the department of administration and include the project cost estimate. If the entire project cost for the adjacent ways project is greater than $50,000, the division shall approve or deny the project within sixty days after receiving the filing of the project proposal by the school district and the expenditure shall not be made unless the division validates both of the following within sixty days after receiving the filing of the proposal:

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

1. The project that is proposed to be funded by the assessment complies with state laws relating to adjacent ways projects.

2. The proposal selected by the school district does not contain additional work that is not listed in the adjacent ways proposal submitted by the school district.

B. If any property that is owned by a school district or leased by a school district for school purposes from any city or county, the state or the United States is included within the assessment district to be assessed to pay the costs and expenses of any public improvements initiated by a city, in order to make the assessments thereon payable by the city in which the improvement is initiated, the governing board may contract with the municipality or its improvement district to reimburse it for the amount of the assessment against the property and to pay the amount so contracted for by the levy of a special assessment as provided by subsection A of this section.

C. The governing board of the school district shall follow the truth in taxation notice and hearing requirements prescribed in Section 15-905.01, subsection B.

D. The portion of the primary tax rate to fund adjacent ways as provided in this section shall not be included in the computation of additional state aid for education as prescribed in section 15-972.