Montana Code 20-9-406. Limitations on amount of bond issue — definition of federal impact aid basic support payment — oil and natural gas payment
20-9-406. Limitations on amount of bond issue — definition of federal impact aid basic support payment — oil and natural gas payment. (1) (a) Except as provided in subsection (1)(c), the maximum amount for which an elementary district or a high school district may become indebted by the issuance of general obligation bonds, including all indebtedness represented by outstanding general obligation bonds of previous issues, registered warrants, outstanding obligations under 20-9-471, oil and natural gas revenue bonds to which a deficiency tax levy is pledged, and any other loans or notes payable that are held as general obligations of the district, is 100% of the taxable value of the property subject to taxation, as ascertained by the last assessment for state, county, and school taxes previous to the incurring of the indebtedness.
Terms Used In Montana Code 20-9-406
- ANB: means the average number of regularly enrolled, full-time pupils physically attending a school of the district or an offsite instructional setting or receiving remote instruction from the public schools of a district. 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
- federal impact aid basic support payment: means the annual impact aid revenue received by a district under 20 U. See Montana Code 20-9-406
- 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
- General obligation bonds: means bonds that pledge the full faith and credit and the taxing power of a school district. See Montana Code 20-9-408
- Impact aid revenue bonds: means bonds that pledge and are payable solely from federal impact aid basic support payments received and deposited to the credit of the fund established in 20-9-514. See Montana Code 20-9-408
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Oil and natural gas revenue bonds: means bonds that pledge and are payable from a first lien on oil and natural gas production taxes received by a school district pursuant to 20-9-310. See Montana Code 20-9-408
- Principal: means a person who holds a valid class 3 Montana teacher certificate with an applicable principal's endorsement that has been issued by the superintendent of public instruction under the provisions of this title and the policies adopted by the board of public education and who has been employed by a district as a principal. See Montana Code 20-1-101
- Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
- 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
- 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
(b)Except as provided in subsection (1)(c), the maximum amount for which a K-12 school district, as formed pursuant to 20-6-701, may become indebted by the issuance of general obligation bonds, including all indebtedness represented by outstanding general obligation bonds of previous issues, registered warrants, outstanding obligations under 20-9-471, oil and natural gas revenue bonds to which a deficiency tax levy is pledged, and any other loans or notes payable that are held as general obligations of the district, regardless of whether the general obligation bonds finance elementary program improvements or high school program improvements, is the sum of 100% of the taxable value of the property in its elementary program subject to taxation and 100% of the taxable value of the property in its high school program subject to taxation, as ascertained by the last assessment for state, county, and school taxes previous to the incurring of the indebtedness.
(c)(i) Unless the maximum amount calculated under subsection (1)(a) yields a greater amount, the maximum amount for which an elementary district or a high school district with a district mill value per elementary ANB or per high school ANB that is less than the facility guaranteed mill value per elementary ANB or high school ANB under 20-9-366 may become indebted by the issuance of general obligation bonds, including all indebtedness represented by outstanding general obligation bonds of previous issues, registered warrants, outstanding obligations under 20-9-471, oil and natural gas revenue bonds to which a deficiency tax levy is pledged, and any other loans or notes payable that are held as general obligations of the district, is the corresponding facility guaranteed mill value per ANB times 1,000 times the ANB of the district. For a K-12 district, unless the maximum amount calculated under subsection (1)(b) yields a greater amount, the maximum amount for which the district may become indebted is the sum of the facility guaranteed mill value per elementary ANB times 1,000 times the elementary ANB of the district and the facility guaranteed mill value per high school ANB times 1,000 times the high school ANB of the district. For the purpose of calculating ANB under this subsection, a district may use the greater of the current year ANB or the 3-year ANB calculated under 20-9-311.
(ii)If mutually agreed upon by the affected districts, for the purpose of calculating its maximum bonded indebtedness under this subsection (1)(c), a district may include the ANB of the district plus the number of students residing within the district for which the district or county pays tuition for attendance at a school in an adjacent district. The receiving district may not use out-of-district ANB for the purpose of calculating its maximum indebtedness if the out-of-district ANB has been included in the ANB of the sending district pursuant to the mutual agreement. For the purpose of calculating ANB under this subsection, a district may use the greater of the current year ANB or the 3-year ANB calculated under 20-9-311.
(2)The maximum amounts determined in subsection (1) do not pertain to indebtedness imposed by special improvement district obligations or assessments against the school district or to general obligation bonds issued for the repayment of tax protests lost by the district. All general obligation bonds issued in excess of the amount are void, except as provided in this section.
(3)The maximum amount of impact aid revenue bonds that an elementary district, high school district, or K-12 school district may issue may not exceed a total aggregate amount equal to three times the average of the school district’s annual federal impact aid basic support payments for the 5 years immediately preceding the issuance of the bonds. However, at the time of issuance of the bonds, the average annual payment of principal of and interest on the impact aid bonds each year may not exceed 35% of the total federal impact aid basic support payments of the school district for the current year.
(4)The maximum amount of oil and natural gas revenue bonds that an elementary district, high school district, or K-12 school district may issue may not exceed a total aggregate amount equal to three times the average of the school district’s annual oil and natural gas production taxes received pursuant to 15-36-331, 15-36-332, and 20-9-310 for the 2 fiscal years immediately preceding the issuance of the bonds. At the time of the issuance of the bonds, the average annual payment of principal of and interest on the oil and natural gas revenue bonds each year may not exceed 35% of the total oil and natural gas production taxes received by the school district under the limitations in 20-9-310 for the immediately preceding fiscal year. If the oil and natural gas revenue bonds are also secured by a deficiency tax levy as provided in 20-9-437, the debt limitation provided in subsection (1) of this section applies to the bonds.
(5)When the total indebtedness of a school district has reached the limitations prescribed in this section, the school district may pay all reasonable and necessary expenses of the school district on a cash basis in accordance with the financial administration provisions of this chapter.
(6)Whenever bonds are issued for the purpose of refunding bonds, any money to the credit of the debt service fund for the payment of the bonds to be refunded is applied toward the payment of the bonds and the refunding bond issue is decreased accordingly.
(7)As used in this part, “federal impact aid basic support payment” means the annual impact aid revenue received by a district under 20 U.S.C. § 7703(b) but excludes revenue received for impact aid special education under 20 U.S.C. § 7703(d) and impact aid construction under 20 U.S.C. § 7707.