Montana Code 20-10-146. County transportation reimbursement
20-10-146. County transportation reimbursement. (1) The apportionment of the county transportation reimbursement by the county superintendent for school bus transportation or individual transportation that is actually rendered by a district in accordance with this title, board of public education transportation policy, and the transportation rules of the superintendent of public instruction must be the same as the state transportation reimbursement payment, except that:
Terms Used In Montana Code 20-10-146
- Board of public education: means the board created by Article X, section 9, subsection (3), of the Montana constitution and 2-15-1507. See Montana Code 20-1-101
- County superintendent: means the county government official who is the school officer of the county. See Montana Code 20-1-101
- district: means the territory, regardless of county boundaries, organized under the provisions of this title to provide public educational services under the jurisdiction of the trustees prescribed by this title. See Montana Code 20-6-101
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- fund: means a separate detailed account of receipts and expenditures for a specific purpose as authorized by law or by the superintendent of public instruction under the provisions of subsection (2). See Montana Code 20-9-201
- Individual transportation: means transportation by which a district is relieved of actually conveying a pupil. See Montana Code 20-10-101
- school: means an institution for the teaching of children that is established and maintained under the laws of the state of Montana at public expense. See Montana Code 20-6-501
- School bus: means , except as provided in subsection (5)(b), any motor vehicle that complies with the bus standards established by the board of public education as verified by the department of justice's semiannual inspection of school buses and the superintendent of public instruction and:
(i)is owned by a district or other public agency and operated for the transportation of pupils to or from school or owned by a carrier under contract with a district or public agency to provide transportation of pupils to or from school; or
(ii)is district-owned, is designed to carry 10 or fewer passengers, has an overall safety rating of five stars from the national highway traffic safety administration at the time of purchase, and is insured in accordance with minimum coverage requirements set forth in 20-10-109. See Montana Code 20-10-101
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Superintendent of public instruction: means that state government official designated as a member of the executive branch by the Montana constitution. See Montana Code 20-1-101
- Transportation: means :
(a)a district's conveyance of a pupil by a school bus between the pupil's legal residence or an officially designated bus stop and the school designated by the trustees for the pupil's attendance; or
(b)individual transportation. See Montana Code 20-10-101
(a)if any cash was used to reduce the budgeted county transportation reimbursement under the provisions of 20-10-144(2)(b), the annual apportionment is limited to the budget amount;
(b)when the county transportation reimbursement for a school bus has been prorated between two or more counties because the school bus is conveying pupils of more than one district located in the counties, the apportionment of the county transportation reimbursement must be adjusted to pay the amount computed under the proration; and
(c)when county transportation reimbursement is required under the mandatory attendance agreement provisions of 20-5-321.
(2)The county transportation net levy requirement for the financing of the county transportation fund reimbursements to districts is computed by:
(a)totaling the net requirement for all districts of the county, including reimbursements to a special education cooperative or prorated reimbursements to joint districts or reimbursements under the mandatory attendance agreement provisions of 20-5-321;
(b)determining the sum of the money available to reduce the county transportation net levy requirement by adding:
(i)anticipated money that may be realized in the county transportation fund during the ensuing school fiscal year;
(ii)oil and natural gas production taxes;
(iii)coal gross proceeds taxes under 15-23-703;
(iv)any fund balance available for reappropriation from the end-of-the-year fund balance in the county transportation fund;
(v)federal forest reserve funds allocated under the provisions of 17-3-213; and
(vi)other revenue anticipated that may be realized in the county transportation fund during the ensuing school fiscal year; and
(c)subtracting the money available, as determined in subsection (2)(b), to reduce the levy requirement from the county transportation net levy requirement.
(3)The net levy requirement determined in subsection (2)(c) must be reported to the county commissioners on or before the later of the first Tuesday in September or within 30 calendar days after receiving certified taxable values by the county superintendent, and a levy must be set by the county commissioners in accordance with 20-9-142.
(4)The county superintendent of each county shall submit a report of the revenue amounts used to establish the levy requirements to the superintendent of public instruction on or before September 15. The report must be completed on forms supplied by the superintendent of public instruction.
(5)The county superintendent shall apportion the county transportation reimbursement from the proceeds of the county transportation fund. The county superintendent shall order the county treasurer to make the apportionments in accordance with 20-9-212(2) and after the receipt of the semiannual state transportation reimbursement payments.