Source: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb2139%20intr.htm&yr=2011&sesstype=RS&i=2139
Timestamp: 2018-02-17 20:30:30
Document Index: 412645538

Matched Legal Cases: ['§18', '§18', '§18', '§18', '§18', '§18', '§18']

HB 2139 Text
Introduced Version House Bill 2139 History
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-5-9c; and to amend and reenact §18-9D-3 and §18-9D-15 of said code, all relating to allowing a county board of education to enter into lease-purchase agreements and allowing the School Building Authority to provide one-time grants to a county board of education for the purpose of entering into lease-purchase agreements for the construction of school facilities.
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-5-9c; and that §18-9D-3 and §18-9D-15 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
Notwithstanding section twenty-six, article eight, chapter eleven of this code or any other contrary provision of this code, a county board may enter into a lease-purchase agreement for land, buildings and capital improvements.
(3) To contract to acquire and to acquire, in the name of the authority, by purchase, lease-purchase or otherwise, not to exceed a term of twenty-five years, or otherwise, real property or rights or easements necessary or convenient for its corporate purposes, and to exercise the power of eminent domain to accomplish those purposes, and to accomplish the purposes as provided in subsection twelve of this section;
(6) To appoint, contract with and employ attorneys, bond counsel, accountants, construction and financial experts, underwriters, financial advisers, trustees, managers, officers and such other employees and agents as may be necessary in the judgment of the authority and to fix their compensation: Provided, That contracts entered into by the School Building Authority in connection with the issuance of bonds under this article to provide professional and technical services, including, without limitation, accounting, actuarial, underwriting, consulting, trustee, bond counsel, legal services and contracts relating to the purchase or sale of bonds are subject to the provisions of article three, chapter five-a of this code. Provided, however, That Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, any authority of the Attorney General of this state relating to the review of contracts and other documents to effectuate the issuance of bonds under this article shall be exclusively limited to the form of the contract and document. Provided further, That The Attorney General of this state shall complete all reviews of contracts and documents relating to the issuance of bonds under this article within ten calendar days of receipt of the contract and document for review;
(12) To assist any county board of education that chooses to acquire land, buildings and capital improvements to existing school buildings and property for use as public school facilities, by lease from a private or public lessor for a term not to exceed twenty-five years with an option to purchase pursuant to an investment contract with the lessor on such terms and conditions as may be determined to be in the best interests of the authority, the State Board of Education and the county board of education, consistent with the purposes of this article, by transferring funds to the state Board of Education county board of education as provided in subsection (d) subsections (f) and/or (g), section fifteen of this article for the use of the county board of education;
(f) If a county board proposes to finance a project that is authorized in accordance with section nine-c, article five of this chapter or section sixteen of this article through a lease with an option to purchase leased premises upon the expiration of the total lease period pursuant to an investment contract, the authority may not allocate moneys in the form of a grant to the county board in connection with the project: Provided, That the authority may transfer moneys to the state county board which, with the authority, shall lend the amount transferred to the county board to be used only for a one-time payment due at the beginning of the lease term, made for the purpose of reducing annual lease payments under the investment contract. In the event of default by the county board of the lease-purchase contract under this section, the authority shall have no liability on the lease-purchase contract: In such an event of default, the county board may fulfill the terms of the lease-purchase contract for up to two consecutive years from the event of default utilizing funds granted to the county pursuant to section ten, article nine-a of this chapter in order to fulfill the terms of the lease-purchase contract. At any time during the term of a lease-purchase contract under this section, the State Board of Education takes control of a county board pursuant to section five, article two-e of this chapter, the authority may, in the sole discretion of the authority, assume responsibility for the lease purchase contract.
(g) If a county board proposes to finance a project that is authorized in accordance with section nine-c, article five of this chapter or section sixteen of this article through a lease with an option to purchase leased premises upon the expiration of the total lease period pursuant to an investment contract, the authority may allocate moneys in the form of a loan to the county board in connection with the project. The authority may lend moneys to the county board to be used only for a one-time payment due at the beginning of the lease term, made for the purpose of reducing annual lease payments under the investment contract, subject to the following conditions:
(1) The loan shall be secured in the manner required by the authority, in consultation with the state board, and shall be repaid in a period and bear interest at a rate as determined by the state board and the authority and shall have any terms and conditions that are required by the authority, all of which shall be set forth in a loan agreement among the authority the state board and the county board;
(E) If the loan becomes due and payable immediately, the authority, in consultation with the state board, shall may use all means available under the loan agreement and law to collect the outstanding principal balance of the loan, together with all unpaid interest accrued to the date of payment of the outstanding principal balance. and
(3) The loan agreement shall provide for the state board and the authority to forgive all principal and interest of the loan upon the county board purchasing the leased premises pursuant to the investment contract and performance of the investment contract in its entirety; and
(4) In the event of default by the county board of the lease-purchase contract under this section, the authority has no liability on the lease-purchase contract. In such an event of default, the county board may fulfill the terms of the lease-purchase contract for up to two consecutive years from the event of default utilizing funds granted to the county purusant to section ten, article nine-a of this chapter in order to fulfill the terms of the lease-purchase contract At any time during the term of a lease-purchase contract under this section the State Board of Education takes control of a county board pursuant to section five, article two-e, of this chapter, the authority may, in the sole discretion of the authority, assume responsibility for the lease-purchase contract.
(g) (h) To encourage county boards to proceed promptly with facilities planning and to prepare for the expenditure of any state moneys derived from the sources described in this section, any county board or other entity to whom moneys are allocated by the authority that fails to expend the money within three years of the allocation shall forfeit the allocation and thereafter is ineligible for further allocations pursuant to this section until it is ready to expend funds in accordance with an approved facilities plan: Provided, That the authority may authorize an extension beyond the three-year forfeiture period not to exceed an additional two years. Any amount forfeited shall be added to the total funds available in the School Construction Fund of the authority for future allocation and distribution. Funds may not be distributed for any project under this article unless the responsible entity has a facilities plan approved by the state board and the School Building Authority and is prepared to commence expenditure of the funds during the fiscal year in which the moneys are distributed.
(h) (i) The remaining moneys that are determined by the authority to be available for distribution during the then current fiscal year from moneys paid into the School Major Improvement Fund pursuant to section six of this article shall be allocated and distributed on the basis of need and efficient use of resources for projects authorized in accordance with the provisions of section sixteen of this article, subject to the following:
(i) (j) Local matching funds may not be required under the provisions of this section. However, this article does not negate the responsibilities of the county boards to maintain school facilities. To be eligible to receive an allocation of school major improvement funds from the authority, a county board must have expended in the previous fiscal year an amount of county moneys equal to or exceeding the lowest average amount of money included in the county board's maintenance budget over any three of the previous five years and must have budgeted an amount equal to or greater than the average in the current fiscal year: Provided, That the state board shall promulgate rules relating to county boards' maintenance budgets, including items which shall be included in the budgets.
(j) (k) Any county board may use moneys provided by the authority under this article in conjunction with local funds derived from bonding, special levy or other sources. Distribution to a county board, or to the state board or the administrative council of an area vocational educational center pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, may be in a lump sum or in accordance with a schedule of payments adopted by the authority pursuant to guidelines adopted by the authority.
(k) (l) Funds in the School Construction Fund shall first be transferred and expended as follows:
(l) (m) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage county boards to explore and consider arrangements with other counties that may facilitate the highest and best use of all available funds, which may result in improved transportation arrangements for students or which otherwise may create efficiencies for county boards and the students. In order to address the intent of the Legislature contained in this subsection, the authority shall grant preference to those projects which involve multicounty arrangements as the authority shall determine reasonable and proper.
(m) (n) County boards shall submit all designs for construction of new school buildings to the School Building Authority for review and approval prior to preparation of final bid documents. A vendor who has been debarred pursuant to the provisions of sections thirty-three-a through thirty-three-f, inclusive, article three, chapter five-a of this code may not bid on or be awarded a contract under this section.
(n) (o) The authority may elect to disburse funds for approved construction projects over a period of more than one year subject to the following:
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow a county board of education to enter into a lease-purchase agreement for land, buildings and capital improvements and to allow the School Building Authority to provide one-time grants to a county board of education for these same purposes.
§18-5-9c is new; therefore, it has been completely underscored.