HB 191-FN – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
09Mar2005… 0018h
2005 SESSION
04/10
HOUSE BILL 191-FN
AN ACT relative to using school building aid for leased classrooms.
SPONSORS: Rep. Weyler, Rock 8; Rep. Alger, Graf 6; Sen. Barnes, Dist 17; Sen. Gatsas, Dist 16
This bill provides that temporarily leased classroom space shall be eligible for school building aid grant money.
This bill is a request of the department of education.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
09Mar2005… 0018h
05-0203
04/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five
AN ACT relative to using school building aid for leased classrooms.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 School Building Aid; Annual Grant for Leased Space. Amend RSA 198:15-hh to read as follows:
198:15-hh Annual Grant for Leased Space.
I. The amount of the annual grant for a lease or lease-purchase agreement to any school district duly organized, any city maintaining a school department within its corporate organization, any cooperative school district as defined in RSA 195:1, or any receiving district operating an area school as defined in RSA 195-A:1, shall be a sum equal to 30 percent of the amount of the annual payment of the lease incurred, for the cost of leasing or lease-purchasing permanent space in a building or buildings not owned by the school district or school administrative unit which is used for the operation of a [high school vocational technical] public school education program, to the extent approved by the state board of education, provided that the amount of the annual grant in the case of a cooperative school district, joint maintenance agreement, or a receiving district operating an area school, shall be 40 percent plus 5 percent for each pre-existing district in excess of 2 and each sending district, in excess of one, and provided further that no cooperative school district, joint maintenance agreement, or receiving district operating an area school, shall receive an annual grant in excess of 55 percent. For the purposes of this section, the amount of the annual grant for a lease or lease-purchase to a vocational technical education center shall be calculated in the same manner as a cooperative school district. Such [lease] agreements shall be eligible for grants under this section, provided all of the following conditions apply:
(a) A school district, city, cooperative school district, joint maintenance agreement, or receiving district operating an area school as defined in RSA 195-A:1, which receives grants under this section shall remain eligible to apply for, receive, and expend moneys from other state or federal sources made available for the purpose of purchasing new equipment, materials, or supplies necessary for the operation of the program. Moneys received from such other state or federal sources shall not be used to make permanent upgrades or renovations to the leased space.
(b) A lease or lease-purchase agreement for permanent space shall be adopted in the same manner as required by law for the passage of construction bonds in the school district, city, cooperative school district, joint maintenance agreement, or receiving district operating an area school as defined in RSA 195-A:1.
(c) An initial lease or lease-purchase agreement for a minimum term of [10] 5 years or less shall be eligible to receive grants under this section. Upon renewal, [a lease] such agreement may remain eligible to receive grants, provided the commissioner of the department of education determines that the [lease] agreement represents an efficient use of state and local resources.
(d) In any fiscal year where the state pays a pro rata share of school building aid grants, the state shall pay the same pro rata share for lease or lease-purchase agreements approved under this section.
(e) The cost of permanent improvements or repairs to space subject to a lease or lease-purchase agreement shall not be eligible for grants under this section. The cost of construction work on property owned by a school district, city, or cooperative school district following termination of a lease or lease-purchase agreement may be reimbursed subject to available funding.
II. Lease or lease-purchase agreements for the use of portable or modular classroom space, or space to be used by a school administrative unit, shall not be eligible for grants.
III. A school district, city, cooperative school district, joint maintenance agreement, or receiving district operating an area school as defined in RSA 195-A:1, shall submit details of the lease arrangement, including a copy of the proposed lease agreement, in writing to the [state board] department of education on such forms as the [state board] department may prescribe. Grant applications for leased space shall be submitted before January 1 of each year in order to be eligible for grants in the fiscal year following the year of submittal. The state board of education shall, no later than March 1, 2004, adopt rules pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to procedures for grant applications for leased space.
2 New Subparagraph; School Building Aid; Amount of Annual Grant. Amend RSA 198:15-b, IV by inserting after subparagraph (f) the following new subparagraph:
(g) Purchase or lease-purchase of mechanical, structural, or electrical equipment, including the cost of installation of such equipment, which is designed to improve energy efficiency or indoor air quality in school buildings. All grant amounts awarded under this subparagraph shall be returned to the state if such equipment is removed from the school building by the vendor due to the school district’s failure to meet the terms of the lease-purchase agreement. Lease-purchase agreements shall be subject to the requirements of RSA 33:7-e.
3 New Hampshire Building Code; Fees. Amend RSA 155-A:9 to read as follows:
155-A:9 Fees.
I. The municipality may establish fees to defray the costs of administration, implementation, and enforcement of the state building code and any local amendments. Such fees shall be for the general use of the municipality having responsibility over the local enforcement agency.
II. Fees for construction permits issued to school districts pursuant to RSA 155-A:4 shall be paid upon completion of the construction work and shall not be imposed in advance. The fees imposed upon school districts shall be limited to actual costs, including administrative overhead, incurred by the municipality for work performed by employees of the municipality in the review of construction documents or on-site inspections of construction work on property owned by the school district. Upon request of the school district, the municipality shall provide a detailed accounting of any work for which fees are charged. Such accountings shall include the names of municipal employees, the dates and times that those employees performed work connected with a school construction project, and a brief description of the work performed. School districts shall not be charged for the costs of a private consultant hired by the municipality to review construction documents or construction work.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
05-0203
12/15/04
HB 191-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to using school building aid for leased classrooms.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Education indicates this bill may decrease state general fund expenditures and local revenue and expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2006 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state and county revenue or county expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department indicates this bill changes the annual grant for leased space for the following.
• Space acquired under the terms of a lease-purchase agreement is now eligible.
• Extends the eligibility from high school vocational technical education programs to all public schools
• Excludes eligibility for space used by a school administrative unit.
The Department assumes that the above changes will not result in any additional building aid projects, therefore, state general fund expenditures and local revenue will neither increase nor decrease.
In addition, this bill expands the definition of construction under building aid to include the purchase or lease purchase of equipment designed to improve energy efficiency or indoor air quality. The Department currently pays for these equipment items but, only after the term of the lease-purchase. Under this legislation, the Department will pay for these items sooner. The Department assumes the cost of the accelerated payments will be minimal.
This bill also requires that fees for construction permits issued to school districts by municipalities shall be paid after construction is complete and that the fees shall be limited to actual costs incurred by the municipalities. The Department indicates this portion of the bill might decrease school district costs, and therefore, state building aid expenditures and municipal revenue by an indeterminable amount.