An Act To Expand and Improve State-approved School Construction Projects
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 1266
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: STEARNS, LANGLEY, FOLEY, GILLWAY, HUBBELL, MALABY, TURNER
Amends: 20-A MRSA §15907, 20-A MRSA §15919

Legislative Document 
No. 1266 
H.P. 866 
House of Representatives, April 7, 2015 
An Act To Expand and Improve State-approved School 
Construction Projects 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative STEARNS of Guilford. 
Cosponsored by Senator LANGLEY of Hancock and 
Representatives: FOLEY of Wells, GILLWAY of Searsport, HUBBELL of Bar Harbor, 
MALABY of Hancock, TURNER of Burlington. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §15907, as amended by PL 1997, c. 787, §10, is further 
amended by adding a new first paragraph to read: 
For a school construction project approved in accordance with this chapter for a 
school year beginning on or after July 1, 2016, the amounts of the state and local shares 
for the approved major capital costs of the school construction project must be based on 
the same percentages as the state and the school administrative unit's contributions to the 
total cost of education as determined by the school administrative unit's state share 
percentage as calculated in accordance with section 15672, subsection 31 for the initial 
fiscal year specified in the school administrative unit's debt retirement schedule. 
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §15919 is enacted to read: 
§15919.  Reserve fund 
1.  Establishment.  For a school construction project approved for state funding in 
accordance with this chapter for school years beginning on or after July 1, 2016, a school 
administrative unit shall establish a reserve fund to finance the acquisition or 
reconstruction of a specific item or type of capital improvement or to finance the 
acquisition of a specific item or type of capital equipment by including a request in the 
school administrative unit budget and receiving voter approval as set forth in section 
15904.  The school board is the trustee of the reserve fund.  The reserve fund must be 
deposited or invested by the treasurer of the school administrative unit under the direction 
of the school board. 
2.  Deposit or investment.  A school administrative unit that receives a state share 
percentage of 20% or more for a school construction project approved for state funding in 
accordance with this chapter shall annually deposit or invest at least 2% of the total 
current value of the school administrative unit facility in the reserve fund established 
pursuant to subsection 1.  Any funds expended by the school administrative unit in the 
prior fiscal year from the school administrative unit's regular budget for capital 
improvements to the facility must be counted toward the 2% deposit or investment in the 
reserve fund.  All school administrative unit funds deposited or invested under this 
subsection, including reserve funds and trust funds to the extent not prohibited by the 
terms of the instrument or vote creating the fund, must be deposited or invested by the 
treasurer of the school administrative unit under the direction of the school board 
according to the requirements for the deposit or investment of municipal funds contained 
in Title 30-A, chapter 223, subchapter 3-A. 
3.  Expending money from reserve fund.  The school board may expend the sum in 
the reserve fund established pursuant to subsection 1 when authorized to do so by a vote 
of the school administrative unit at a school administrative unit meeting or a school 
administrative unit budget meeting when an article for that purpose is set out in the 
warrant calling the meeting. 
Sec. 3.  Rules.  The Department of Education and the State Board of Education 
shall amend the rules adopted pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, chapter 
in order to align the school construction rules with the school construction funding 
provisions amended by this Act.  Rules adopted pursuant to this section are major 
substantive rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the education statutes related to the method by which the 
Department of Education determines the state and local shares of the major capital costs 
for a state-approved school construction project.  The bill requires that the amount of the 
state and local shares for the approved major capital costs of the school construction 
project approved for a school year beginning on or after July 1, 2016 must be based on 
the same percentages as the state and the school administrative unit's contributions to the 
total cost of education as determined by the school administrative unit's state share 
percentage as calculated in accordance with the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, 
section 15672, subsection 31.  The bill also requires that a school administrative unit 
establish a reserve fund to finance capital improvement or capital equipment for a state-
approved school construction project approved for a school year beginning on or after 
July 1, 2016.