79-10,110 Health and safety modifications, qualified zone academy, or American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 purpose; school board; powers and duties; hearing; tax levy authorized; issuance of
79-10,110. Health and safetymodifications, qualified zone academy, or American Recovery and ReinvestmentAct of 2009 purpose; school board; powers and duties; hearing; tax levy authorized;issuance of bonds authorized.(1) After making a determinationthat an actual or potential environmental hazard or accessibility barrierexists, that a life safety code violation exists, or that expenditures areneeded for indoor air quality or mold abatement and prevention within theschool buildings or grounds under its control, a school board may make anddeliver to the county clerk of such county in which any part of the schooldistrict is situated, not later than the date provided in section 13-508,an itemized estimate of the amounts necessary to be expended for the abatementof such environmental hazard, for accessibility barrier elimination, or formodifications for life safety code violations, indoor air quality, or moldabatement and prevention in such school buildings or grounds. The board shalldesignate the particular environmental hazard abatement project, accessibilitybarrier elimination project, or modification for life safety code violations,indoor air quality, or mold abatement and prevention for which the tax levyprovided for by this section will be expended, the period of years, whichshall not exceed ten years, for which the tax will be levied for such project,and the amount of the levy for each year of the period.(2) After a public hearing, a school board may undertake any qualifiedcapital purpose in any qualified zone academy under its control and may levya tax as provided in this section to repay a qualified zone academy bond issuedfor such undertaking. The board shall designate: (a) The particular qualifiedcapital purpose for which the qualified zone academy bond was issued and forwhich the tax levy provided for by this section will be expended; (b) theperiod of years for which the tax will be levied to repay such qualified zoneacademy bond, not exceeding the maximum term for such qualified zone academybond established pursuant to federal law or, for any such bond issued priorto May 20, 2009, fifteen years; and (c) the amount of the levy for each yearof the period. The hearing required by this subsection shall be held onlyafter notice of such hearing has been published for three consecutive weeksprior to the hearing in a legal newspaper published or of general circulationin the school district.(3) After a public hearing, a school board may undertake constructionof a new public school facility or the acquisition of land on which such afacility is to be constructed or any expansion, rehabilitation, modernization,renovation, or repair of any existing school facilities under its controland may levy a tax to repay any American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of2009 bond. The board shall designate: (a) The particular project or projectsfor which the bond will be issued and for which the tax levy provided by thissection will be expended; (b) the period of years for which the tax will belevied to repay such bond, not exceeding the maximum term established pursuantto federal law for the type of bond as permitted by the federal American Recoveryand Reinvestment Act of 2009 or, if no such term is established, thirty years;and (c) the amount of the levy for each year of such period. Prior to thepublic hearing, the school board shall prepare an itemized estimate of theamounts necessary to be expended for the project or projects. The hearingrequired by this subsection shall be held only after notice of such hearinghas been published for three consecutive weeks prior to the hearing in a legalnewspaper published or of general circulation in the school district. Thebond to be issued under this subsection may consist of any type or form ofbond permitted by the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009except qualified zone academy bonds, the use of which is authorized pursuantto subsection (2) of this section.(4) The board may designate more than one project under subsection (1)of this section, more than one qualified capital purpose under subsection(2) of this section, or more than one American Recovery and Reinvestment Actof 2009 purpose under subsection (3) of this section and levy a tax pursuantto this section for each such project, qualified capital purpose, or AmericanRecovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 purpose, concurrently or consecutively,as the case may be, if the aggregate levy in each year and the duration ofeach such levy will not exceed the limitations specified in this section.Each levy for a project, a qualified capital purpose, or an American Recoveryand Reinvestment Act of 2009 purpose which is authorized by this section maybe imposed for such duration as the board specifies, notwithstanding the contemporaneousexistence or subsequent imposition of any other levy for another project,qualified capital purpose, or American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009purpose imposed pursuant to this section and notwithstanding the subsequentissuance by the district of bonded indebtedness payable from its general fundlevy.(5) The county clerk shall levy such taxes, not to exceed five and one-fifthcents per one hundred dollars of taxable valuation for Class II, III, IV,V, and VI districts, and not to exceed the limits set for Class I districtsin section 79-10,124, on the taxable property of the district necessary to(a) cover the environmental hazard abatement or accessibility barrier eliminationproject costs or costs for modification for life safety code violations, indoorair quality, or mold abatement and prevention itemized by the board pursuantto subsection (1) of this section and (b) repay any qualified zone academybonds or American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 bonds pursuant tosubsection (2) or (3) of this section. Such taxes shall be collected by thecounty treasurer at the same time and in the same manner as county taxes arecollected and when collected shall be paid to the treasurer of the districtand used to cover the project costs.(6) If such board operates grades nine through twelve as part of anaffiliated school system, it shall designate the fraction of the project orundertaking to be conducted for the benefit of grades nine through twelve.Such fraction shall be raised by a levy placed upon all of the taxable valueof all taxable property in the affiliated school system pursuant to subsection(2) of section 79-1075. The balance of the project or undertaking to be conductedfor the benefit of grades kindergarten through eight shall be raised by alevy placed upon all of the taxable value of all taxable property in the districtwhich is governed by such board. The combined rate for both levies in thehigh school district, to be determined by such board, shall not exceed fiveand one-fifth cents on each one hundred dollars of taxable value.(7) Each board which submits an itemized estimate shall establish anenvironmental hazard abatement and accessibility barrier elimination projectaccount, a life safety code modification project account, an indoor air qualityproject account, or a mold abatement and prevention project account, eachboard which undertakes a qualified capital purpose shall establish a qualifiedcapital purpose undertaking account, within the qualified capital purposeundertaking fund, and each board which undertakes an American Recovery andReinvestment Act of 2009 purpose shall establish an American Recovery andReinvestment Act of 2009 purpose undertaking account. Taxes collected pursuantto this section shall be credited to the appropriate account to cover theproject or undertaking costs. Such estimates may be presented to the countyclerk and taxes levied accordingly.(8) For purposes of this section:(a) Abatement includes, but is not limited to, any inspection and testingregarding environmental hazards, any maintenance to reduce, lessen, put anend to, diminish, moderate, decrease, control, dispose of, or eliminate environmentalhazards, any removal or encapsulation of environmentally hazardous materialor property, any restoration or replacement of material or property, any relatedarchitectural and engineering services, and any other action to reduce oreliminate environmental hazards in the school buildings or on the school groundsunder the board's control, except that abatement does not include the encapsulationof any material containing more than one percent friable asbestos;(b) Accessibility barrier means anything which impedes entry into, exitfrom, or use of any building or facility by all people;(c) Accessibility barrier elimination includes, but is not limited to,inspection for and removal of accessibility barriers, maintenance to reduce,lessen, put an end to, diminish, control, dispose of, or eliminate accessibilitybarriers, related restoration or replacement of facilities or property, anyrelated architectural and engineering services, and any other action to eliminateaccessibility barriers in the school buildings or grounds under the board'scontrol;(d) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 bond means any typeor form of bond permitted by the federal American Recovery and ReinvestmentAct of 2009, as such act orbond may be amended and supplemented, including the Hiring Incentives to RestoreEmployment Act, as amended and supplemented, for use by schools,except qualified zone academy bonds;(e) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 purpose means anyconstruction of a new public school facility or the acquisition of land onwhich such a facility is to be constructed or any expansion, rehabilitation,modernization, renovation, or repair of any existing school facilities financedin whole or in part with an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009bond;(f) Environmental hazard means any contamination of the air, water,or land surface or subsurface caused by any substance adversely affectinghuman health or safety if such substance has been declared hazardous by afederal or state statute, rule, or regulation;(g) Modification for indoor air quality includes, but is not limitedto, any inspection and testing regarding indoor air quality, any maintenanceto reduce, lessen, put an end to, diminish, moderate, decrease, control, disposeof, or eliminate indoor air quality problems, any restoration or replacementof material or related architectural and engineering services, and any otheraction to reduce or eliminate indoor air quality problems or to enhance airquality conditions in new or existing school buildings or on school groundsunder the control of a school board;(h) Modification for life safety code violation includes, but is notlimited to, any inspection and testing regarding life safety codes, any maintenanceto reduce, lessen, put an end to, diminish, moderate, decrease, control, disposeof, or eliminate life safety hazards, any restoration or replacement of materialor property, any related architectural and engineering services, and any otheraction to reduce or eliminate life safety hazards in new or existing schoolbuildings or on school grounds under the control of a school board;(i) Modification for mold abatement and prevention includes, but isnot limited to, any inspection and testing regarding mold abatement and prevention,any maintenance to reduce, lessen, put an end to, diminish, moderate, decrease,control, dispose of, or eliminate mold problems, any restoration or replacementof material or related architectural and engineering services, and any otheraction to reduce or eliminate mold problems or to enhance air quality conditionsin new or existing school buildings or on school grounds under the controlof a school board;(j) Qualified capital purpose means (i) rehabilitating or repairingthe public school facility in which the qualified zone academy is establishedor (ii) providing equipment for use at such qualified zone academy;(k) Qualified zone academy has the meaning found in (i) 26 U.S.C. 1397E(d)(4),as such section existed on October 3, 2008, for qualified zone academy bondsissued on or before such date, and (ii) 26 U.S.C. 54E(d)(1), as such sectionexisted on October 4, 2008, for qualified zone academy bonds issued on orafter such date;(l) Qualified zone academy allocation means the allocation of the qualifiedzone academy bond limitation by the State Department of Education to the qualifiedzone academies pursuant to (i) 26 U.S.C. 1397E(e)(2), as such section existedon October 3, 2008, for allocations relating to qualified zone academy bondsissued on or before such date, and (ii) 26 U.S.C. 54E(c)(2), as such sectionexisted on October 4, 2008, for allocations relating to qualified zone academybonds issued on or after such date; and(m) Qualified zone academy bond has the meaning found in (i) 26 U.S.C.1397E(d)(1), as such section existed on October 3, 2008, for such bonds issuedon or before such date, and (ii) 26 U.S.C. 54E(a), as such section existedon and after October4, 2008, for such bonds issued on or after such date, as such section or bonds may be amended or supplemented.(9) Accessibility barrier elimination project costs includes, but isnot limited to, inspection, maintenance, accounting, emergency services, consultation,or any other action to reduce or eliminate accessibility barriers.(10) For the purpose of paying amounts necessary for the abatement ofenvironmental hazards, accessibility barrier elimination, or modificationsfor life safety code violations, indoor air quality, mold abatement and prevention,or for an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 purpose, the boardmay borrow money, establish a sinking fund, and issue bonds and other evidencesof indebtedness of the district, which bonds and other evidences of indebtednessshall be secured by and payable from an irrevocable pledge by the districtof amounts received in respect of the tax levy provided for by this sectionand any other funds of the district available therefor. Bonds and other evidencesof indebtedness issued by a district pursuant to this subsection shall notconstitute a general obligation of the district or be payable from any portionof its general fund levy.(11) The total principal amount of bonds for modifications to correctlife safety code violations, for indoor air quality problems, for mold abatementand prevention, or for an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 purpose which may be issued pursuant to this section shall not exceed the total amountspecified in the itemized estimate described in subsections (1) and (3) ofthis section.(12) The total principal amount of qualified zone academy bonds whichmay be issued pursuant to this section for qualified capital purposes withrespect to a qualified zone academy shall not exceed the qualified zone academyallocation granted to the board by the department. The total amount that maybe financed by qualified zone academy bonds pursuant to this section for qualifiedpurposes with respect to a qualified zone academy shall not exceed seven andone-half million dollars statewide in a single year. In any year that theNebraska qualified zone academy allocations exceed seven and one-half milliondollars for qualified capital purposes to be financed with qualified zoneacademy bonds issued pursuant to this section, (a) the department shall reducesuch allocations proportionally such that the statewide total for such allocationsequals seven and one-half million dollars and (b) the difference between theNebraska allocation and seven and one-half million dollars shall be availableto qualified zone academies for requests that will be financed with qualifiedzone academy bonds issued without the benefit of this section.Nothing in this section directs the State Department of Education togive any preference to allocation requests that will be financed with qualifiedzone academy bonds issued pursuant to this section.(13) The State Department of Education shall establish procedures forallocating bond authority to school boards as may be necessary pursuant toan American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 bond. SourceLaws 1983, LB 624, § 2; Laws 1985, LB 405, § 1; Laws 1987, LB 212, § 1; Laws 1988, LB 1073, § 19; Laws 1989, LB 487, § 8; Laws 1989, LB 706, § 9; Laws 1992, LB 1001, § 19; Laws 1993, LB 348, § 22; Laws 1994, LB 1310, § 6; R.S.1943, (1994), § 79-4,207; Laws 1996, LB 900, § 756; Laws 1996, LB 1044, § 817; Laws 1997, LB 710, § 24; Laws 1999, LB 813, § 34; Laws 2001, LB 240, § 1; Laws 2001, LB 797, § 42; Laws 2002, LB 568, § 10; Laws 2003, LB 67, § 23; Laws 2003, LB 540, § 10; Laws 2009, LB545, § 24; Laws 2009, LB549, § 37; Laws 2010, LB1071, § 25.Operative Date: July 15, 2010