2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 20. Education › Chapter 9. Finance › Part 4. School Bonds › 20-9-471. Issuance of obligations -- authorization -- conditions

20-9-471. Issuance of obligations -- authorization -- conditions.
(1) The trustees of a school district may, without a vote of the electors of the district, secure loans from or issue and sell to the board of investmentsor, as provided in subsection (2), a bank, building and loan association, savings and loan association, or credit union that is a regulated lender, as defined in 31-1-111, obligations for the purpose of financing all or a portion of:
(a) the costs of vehicles and equipment and construction of buildings used primarily for the storage and maintenance of vehicles and equipment;
(b) the costs associated with renovating, rehabilitating, and remodeling facilities, including but not limited to roof repairs, heating, plumbing, electrical systems, and cost-saving measures as defined in 90-4-1102;
(c) the costs of nonpermanent modular classrooms necessary for student instruction when existing buildings of the district are determined to be inadequate by the trustees;
(d) any other expenditure that the district is otherwise authorized to make, subject to subsection (5), including the payment of settlements of legal claims and judgments; and
(e) the costs associated with the issuance and sale of the obligations.
(2) (a) Before seeking to secure a loan or issue and sell obligations to a regulated lender specified in subsection (1), the trustees shall first offer the board of investments a written notice of the board's right of first refusal.
(b) If the board of investments accepts the offer to issue a loan or purchase obligations, the board shall provide a written response to the trustees by the later of:
(i) 120 days following delivery of the trustees' offer to the board; or
(ii) the day after the next meeting of the board of investments.
(c) If the trustees have not received a written acceptance by the deadline provided for in subsection (2)(b), the trustees may seek to secure a loan or issue and sell an obligation to a regulated lender specified in subsection (1).
(3) The term of the obligation, including an obligation for a qualified energy project, may not exceed 15 fiscal years. For the purposes of this subsection, a "qualified energy project" means a project designed to reduce energy use in a school facility and from which the resulting energy cost savings are projected to meet or exceed the debt service obligation for financing the project, as determined by the department of environmental quality.
(4) (a) At the time of issuing the obligation, there must exist an amount in the budget of an applicable budgeted fund of the district for the current fiscal year available and sufficient to make the debt service payment on the obligation coming due in the current year. The budget of an applicable budgeted fund of the district for each following year in which any portion of the principal of and interest on the obligation is due must provide for payment of that principal and interest.
(b) For an obligation sold under subsection (1)(d) for the purposes of paying a tax protest refund, a district may pledge revenue from a special tax protest refund levy for the repayment of the obligation, pursuant to 15-1-402(7).
(5) Except as provided in 20-9-502, 20-9-503, and subsections (1)(a) and (1)(c) of this section, the proceeds of the obligation may not be used to acquire real property or construct a facility unless:
(a) the acquisition or construction project does not constitute more than 20% of the square footage of the existing real property improvements made to a facility containing classrooms;
(b) the 20% square footage limitation may not be exceeded within any 5-year period; and
(c) the electors of the district approve a proposition authorizing the trustees to apply for funds through the board of investments or a bank, building and loan association, savings and loan association, or credit union that is a regulated lender, as defined in 31-1-111, for the construction project. The proposition must be approved at an election held in accordance with all of the requirements of 20-9-428, except that the proposition is considered to have passed if a majority of the qualified electors voting approve the proposition.
(6) The school district may not submit for a vote of the electors of the district a proposition to impose a levy to pay the principal or any interest on an obligation that is payable from the guaranteed cost savings under energy performance contracts as defined in 90-4-1102.
(7) Except as provided in subsection (4)(b), the obligation must state clearly on its face that the obligation is not secured by a pledge of the school district's taxing power but is payable from amounts in its general fund or other legally available funds.
(8) An obligation issued is payable from any legally available fund of the district and constitutes a general obligation of the district.
(9) The obligation may bear interest at a fixed or variable rate and may be sold to the board of investments or a bank, building and loan association, savings and loan association, or credit union that is a regulated lender, as defined in 31-1-111, at par, at a discount, or with a premium and on any other terms and conditions that the trustees determine to be in the best interests of the district.
(10) The principal amount of the obligation, when added to the outstanding bonded indebtedness of the district, may not exceed the debt limitation established in 20-9-406.
History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 264, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 719, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 38, Ch. 767, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 37, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 23, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 499, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 25, L. 2011; amd. Sec. 211, Ch. 49, L. 2015; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 344, L. 2015; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 1, L. 2017; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 96, L. 2019.