SECTIONS 16700-16734 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 16700-16734

16700. This chapter may be cited as the "Urban School Construction
Aid Law of 1968."

16701. The Legislature hereby declares that it is in the interest
of the state and of the people thereof for the state to aid urban
school districts of the state in reconstructing, modernizing, or
replacing schoolsites and buildings for pupils of the public school
system who are now housed in substandard schools constructed prior to
1943.

16702. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Board" means the State Allocation Board.
(b) "Director" means the Director of Education.
(c) "Project" means the purpose or purposes for which a school
district has applied for an apportionment or apportionments.
(d) "Apportionment" means an apportionment made under this chapter
unless the context otherwise requires.
(e) "Urban district" means any school district, the boundaries of
which are substantially identical to or which encompass the
boundaries of a city having a population in 1960 of not less than
50,000 persons.

16703. The Director of General Services shall administer this
chapter and shall provide any assistance to the board that it may
require.

16704. The State Allocation Board is continued in existence for the
purposes of this chapter. The members of the board and the Members
of the Legislature meeting with the board shall receive no
compensation for their services under this chapter but shall be
reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in
connection with the performance of their duties hereunder, to be paid
out of the Urban School Construction Aid Fund.

16705. The board by the adoption of rules shall give priority in
allocating funds to urban districts to those districts where the
children will benefit most from schoolhouse facilities. This priority
shall be based upon the age of existing buildings and the acuteness
of overcrowding at the school or schools where the construction or
reconstruction will occur, the density of population in the
attendance areas affected, or any other factors that will insure that
the greatest need will be served.

16706. In addition to any other powers and duties that are granted
the board by this chapter, the board shall:
(a) Establish any qualifications not in conflict with other
provisions of this chapter that it deems will best serve the purposes
of this chapter for determining the eligibility of school districts
to apportionments of funds under this chapter.
(b) Establish any procedures and policies in connection with the
administration of, and the expenditure of funds made available for
the purpose of, this chapter that it deems necessary.
(c) Adopt any rules and regulations for the administration of this
chapter, requiring any procedure, forms, and information, that it
may deem necessary.

16707. The board shall prescribe instructions specifying the manner
in which property, real or personal, being replaced through the
apportionment, shall be disposed of, and compliance with the
instructions shall be a condition upon the making of the
apportionment. The net proceeds derived from the disposition shall be
contributed in reduction of any apportionment. Any school district
affected shall comply with instructions prescribed by the board. The
board may require a district to transfer to the state, by any
instruments deemed appropriate by the board, title to the replaced
property, whereupon, the board shall dispose of the property in any
manner it deems appropriate to insure the highest return to the
state, and apply the proceeds therefrom in reduction of
apportionments to the district. The district affected shall do all
things deemed necessary by the board to implement the disposition.

16708. Apportionments from the Urban School Construction Aid Fund
created by Section 16728 shall be limited to urban districts and
shall be made for the sole purpose of reconstructing or replacing
existing substandard buildings constructed prior to 1943. The
apportionments shall be made in the manner and subject to the
conditions herein provided and in accordance with policies adopted by
the board for the following purposes:
(1) The acquisition, by purchase or lease, and the installation
and equipping portable classrooms for instructional purposes.
(2) The acquisition and development of schoolsites.
(3) The construction and equipping of permanent school buildings
and facilities.
(4) The reconstruction, renovation, or remodeling of existing
school buildings and facilities.
(5) Any combination of the above.
As a part of these purposes, where a district is required by a
contract entered into between itself and a contractor, to obtain at
its own expense insurance covering risks incurred during any
construction, reconstruction, or alteration for which an
apportionment has been made, the cost thereof may be paid either
directly, or by way of reimbursement, to the district out of the
apportionment, or out of any apportionment made specifically covering
the insurance, provided that in other respects the apportionments
are eligible for payment under this chapter.
A leasehold or use permit interest held by a school district in
land owned in fee simple by the government of the United States may,
for all purposes of this chapter, be deemed a purchase of land by the
district and to vest title and ownership in the district.

16709. The board shall not make any apportionment with respect to
an application for replacing inadequate school facilities unless it
has first investigated and made a finding that it would not be
economical or good practice to rehabilitate the facilities.

16710. In addition to the purposes for which apportionments may be
made to school districts under Section 16708, apportionments may also
be made to school districts for the construction, repair,
attachment, or development of offsite facilities, utilities, or
improvements which the board determines are necessary to the proper
operation or functioning of the school facilities for which
apportionments are made, all of which purposes are hereby declared to
be, and are, public works.

16711. (a) In making applications for, and in expending
apportionments of funds under this chapter, a school district acts as
an agent of the state and all sites purchased and improved, all
equipment purchased, and all buildings constructed, reconstructed,
altered, or added to through the expenditure of funds apportioned
under this chapter, are declared to be, and are, the property of the
state.
(b) The Director of General Services shall file with the county
recorder of the county in which any site purchased or improved
through the expenditure of funds apportioned under this chapter is
located a certificate, properly acknowledged, indicating the state's
interest in real property of the district by virtue of this section,
without the necessity of particularizing the real property. The
recorder shall record and index the certificate in the same manner as
abstracts of judgments and the certificate shall constitute
constructive notice of the state's interest in the particular real
property affected. The certificate shall as to any party thereafter
acquiring real property or any interest therein in the county from
the school district have the same force, effect and priority as if it
had been a judgment lien imposed upon real property which was not
exempt from execution. That effect shall commence upon recordation
and continue until the certificate is discharged or released as
provided herein.
(c) Upon request, the Director of General Services shall issue
either of the following:
(1) A release of the state's interest in any real property or a
portion thereof that the district has been authorized by the board to
dispose of under this chapter, provided that delivery of the release
may be subject to any conditions that may be prescribed by the board
to protect the state's interest.
(2) A disclaimer of the state's interest in any real property or a
portion thereof of the district, the disposition of which the board
is not required to consent to under this chapter, provided that the
delivery of the disclaimer may be subject to any conditions that the
board deems appropriate to protect the interests of the state,
including conditions relating to the amount of consideration to be
received from the disposition if the board asserts an interest in the
proceeds of the disposition under other provisions of this chapter.
The release or disclaimer shall conclusively protect any third
party relying upon the same and shall be acknowledged to permit
recordation by the county recorder.
(d) Upon payment by the district of all amounts required to be
paid by it or on its behalf to the state under this chapter both of
the following shall occur:
(1) The Director of General Services shall file with the recorder
a release of any certificate. The release shall be recorded and
indexed in the same index as the certificate.
(2) The title to personal property purchased by such school
district with funds apportioned under this chapter shall revert
thereto without further action by the state.

16712. A school district shall not expend money apportioned under
this chapter unless the contracts under which the funds are expended
have been let after competitive bids thereafter pursuant to this
code.

16713. Each school district which desires an apportionment shall
submit through its governing board to the board an application
therefor in the form and number of copies as the board shall
prescribe. Each copy of the application shall be accompanied by a
statement of the estimated cost of the project certified by an
architect or structural engineer, and by layout plans showing the
entire construction project for which the district desires an
apportionment.
Estimates of costs for new construction or equipment appearing in
an application shall not exceed typical current costs of comparable
new construction or equipment by school districts in the same area
not receiving an apportionment under this chapter, as determined by
the Director of General Services, or if there has been no new
construction by school districts in the area, the estimates of costs
shall not exceed the reasonable current cost of similar construction
or equipment in the area as determined by the Director of General
Services.
A school district may at any time file an application or amend or
supplement an application. Upon receipt of any application, the
Director of General Services shall as promptly as possible prepare a
report and recommendation with respect to the application after
having received recommendations from the director in respect to any
matter which is subject to the jurisdiction or approval of the
director or State Department of Education. The board shall, subject
to the provisions of this chapter, approve, in whole or in part, or
reject each application referred to it by the Director of General
Services. If the board approves of the application, either in whole
or in part, it shall, by a resolution adopted by it, apportion to the
district from the Urban School Construction Aid Fund the amount
applied for, or a portion thereof as the board may determine
appropriate. However, it may order that the apportionment or any part
thereof shall be paid in progressive installments at times and under
conditions as it may then prescribe.

16714. The board may approve, in whole or in part, an application
submitted by a school district under Section 19263 and in any amount,
not exceeding the amount applied for, that the board may deem
appropriate.
The board may, upon approval of the application, in whole or in
part, and subsequently from time to time, make a conditional
apportionment or conditional apportionments not exceeding in the
aggregate the total amount approved in the application of the
district by the board to the applicant school district from the Urban
School Construction Aid Fund for any portion or portions of the
project that the board determines the district is ready to proceed
with. If the board has approved an application and made an
apportionment as to a portion or portions of a project, the board may
approve the remaining portion or portions of the project and make an
additional apportionment or apportionments as it deems appropriate.
If the board determines that the actual cost is in excess of the
estimated cost of the specific school plant facilities or sites for
which an apportionment to a district has been made, or for which a
district's application has been approved in whole or in part pursuant
to this section, the board may make an additional apportionment to
the district in an amount equal to the excess even though the
additional apportionment will result in the total apportionments to
the district exceeding the amount of the application originally
approved by the board.
Approval of an application under this section shall not be
construed as creating or implying any obligation, commitment or
promise on the part of the board or the state to make apportionments
under this chapter.

16715. No apportionment shall be made for new construction, the
area of which exceeds the area of the unsafe buildings being replaced
under Section 16708. The area of school buildings shall be computed
in a uniform manner as prescribed by the board.

16716. Payment shall be made in accordance with the terms of an
apportionment, either directly or by way of reimbursement, to a
school district for expenditures, or commitments therefor, which have
been made by the district subsequent to the effective date of this
chapter for any items approved by the board in the apportionment.
However, if expenditures were made for, or work was commenced with
respect to, any item so approved, prior to the time the application
of the district containing the item was received by the board,
payment or reimbursement for the item, either with state funds or
with district funds which the district is required to contribute by
the apportionment, shall be made only upon authorization of the board
by special resolution citing this section.

16717. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the board,
with the approval of the Director of General Services, shall,
pursuant to this section, fix the rate of interest to be paid by the
districts on the sums apportioned during that fiscal year. Beginning
each fiscal year the board shall compute the average of the rates of
interest which the state pays upon the state school reconstruction
and replacement bonds, sold at the three sales of state school
reconstruction and replacement bonds occurring immediately prior to
that fiscal year, or, if the board so determines, at all of the sales
of the bonds occurring in the two years immediately prior thereto,
giving effect to the price at which the state school reconstruction
and replacement bonds sold at the sales, and the premium, if any
paid, thereon. If an apportionment is made prior to the sale of state
school reconstruction and replacement bonds, the board shall use the
computed average rate of interest which the state paid on the last
sale of state school building bonds. The average rate shall be
adjusted to the next highest one-tenth of 1 percent to cover the cost
of sale and issuance of the bonds and costs of administration. The
adjusted average rate shall be the rate paid by districts on
apportionments received during that fiscal year, and shall be
compounded annually through the 30th day of June of each year.

16718. Apportionments may be made irrespective of whether there is
on deposit at the time thereof a sufficient amount in the Urban
School Construction Aid Fund to permit the payment of the
apportionments. Disbursements may be made under any apportionment
from any funds in the Urban School Construction Aid Fund irrespective
of whether there exists at the time of the disbursement a sufficient
amount in the fund to permit the payment in full of all
apportionments previously made. However, no disbursements shall be
made from any funds in the Urban School Construction Aid Fund
required by law to be transferred to the General Fund, or from any
moneys therein which the Controller deems necessary to satisfy
appropriations from the fund for purposes other than apportionments.

16719. No apportionment shall be made to a district for the
construction, reconstruction, or alteration of, or addition to,
school buildings if the requirements prescribed by this code for the
construction of school buildings are not met by the plans for the
entire building program of the district in connection with which the
district applied for an apportionment.

16720. Each district to which an apportionment or apportionments
has been made under this chapter shall repay a portion or all of the
principal amount of such apportionment or apportionments and the
accrued interest thereon in 30 equal annual payments, as shall be
determined by the Controller pursuant to this section. If more than
one apportionment is made the annual amount payable shall be the sum
of the amounts which would be payable on each apportionment if
computed separately.
The Controller shall determine the portion of the principal amount
of the apportionment or apportionments made to each district to be
repaid by the district by diminishing the principal amount by the
product of the ratio which the assessed valuation of the district per
unit of average daily attendance of pupils in the grades maintained
by the district during the preceding fiscal year bears to the
assessed valuation per unit of average daily attendance in the same
type of districts in the state and one-half of the principal amount
of the apportionment or apportionments, except that the amount to be
repaid shall not exceed the amount of the principal apportionment or
apportionments.
The Controller shall make the computation to determine the annual
repayment due in the next fiscal year following the fiscal year in
which the apportionment is made. In any year prior to the 1980-81
fiscal year in which the annual repayment exceeds the amount which
may be raised by a three-cent ($0.03) tax rate per one hundred
dollars ($100) of assessed valuation in the district, the governing
board of the school district shall so certify to the Controller
whereupon the Controller shall grant a deferment of the annual
repayment which is in excess of the amount that would be produced by
a tax rate of three cents ($0.03) per one hundred dollars ($100) of
assessed valuation of the district. In any year, beginning with the
1981-82 fiscal year, in which the annual repayment exceeds the amount
which may be raised by a levy of 0.0075 percent of the full value in
the district, the governing board of the school district shall so
certify to the Controller whereupon the Controller shall grant a
deferment of the annual repayment which is in excess of the amount
that would be produced by a tax of 0.0075 percent of the full value
of the district. The amount deferred shall be added to the annual
repayment for the next succeeding fiscal year.

16721. The Controller shall, during the next fiscal year following
that in which he determines the annual repayment as herein provided,
deduct the total amount of the annual repayment of each district in
equal amounts from each of the February, March, April, and May
installments of the apportionments made to the district from the
State School Fund and, on order of the State Controller, the amount
so deducted shall be transferred to the Urban School Construction Aid
Fund. All money transferred to the Urban School Construction Aid
Fund under this section shall be available only for transfer to the
General Fund.

16722. The Controller shall determine and maintain a record of the
amount due the state in connection with each apportionment made to a
district under this chapter. He or she shall compute interest, at the
rate fixed by the board, on each amount disbursed by the state
pursuant to the apportionment, from the date of issuance of the
Controller's warrant covering the payment to the county treasurer of
the amount until the first day of July of the fiscal year next
succeeding that in which the warrant was issued. Thereafter, interest
shall accrue to and be compounded as a part of the principal amount
due the state pursuant to the apportionment, through the 30th day of
the following June of each year, until the principal and interest
have been paid.

16723. Upon computing in any fiscal year the amount to be deducted
from the apportionments to the district from the State School Fund
during the succeeding fiscal year, the Controller shall notify the
governing board of the district and the county auditor of the county,
the county superintendent of which has jurisdiction over the
district, of the amount to be deducted.

16724. The board of supervisors of the county, the county
superintendent of which has jurisdiction over any district which
under this chapter will have moneys withheld by the Controller from
the apportionments to be made to it from the State School Fund during
any fiscal year, shall annually at the time the board of supervisors
makes the levy of taxes for county purposes, levy a tax upon the
property in the district sufficient to raise for the district the
amount of money to be withheld by the Controller during the fiscal
year in which the tax is levied. The tax, when collected, shall be
paid into the county treasury of the county, the county
superintendent of schools of which has jurisdiction over the district
for which the tax was levied, to the credit of the general fund of
the district.

16725. The board shall prescribe in the detail that it deems
necessary, the purposes for which moneys apportioned by it or which
it requires the district to contribute toward, or in reduction of the
cost of a project, may be expended, and the prescription shall be
binding upon the governing board of the district, except that it may
be changed or modified by the board for any cause that it sees fit.

16726. An urban school construction fund is hereby created in the
county treasury in each county for each school district in the
county. The county treasurer of each county shall pay into the urban
school construction fund of each school district, exactly as
apportioned by the board, all moneys received by him or her under
this chapter with respect to each school district.

16727. Interest earned on those portions of deposits in an urban
school construction fund representing allocations from the proceeds
of state school reconstruction and replacement bonds received by the
county treasurer for the benefit of a school district under this
chapter shall be paid into the Urban School Construction Fund created
by Section 16728.

16728. A fund in the State Treasury is hereby created, to be known
as the Urban School Construction Aid Fund. All money in the Urban
School Construction Aid Fund, including any money deposited the fund
from any source whatsoever is hereby continuously appropriated
without regard to fiscal years for expenditure pursuant to
apportionments made under the provisions of this chapter.

16729. The governing board of each school district to which an
apportionment has been made under this chapter shall expend the
moneys in the urban school construction fund of the school district
exactly as apportioned by the board and only for the purposes for
which the moneys were apportioned to the district, and for no other
purpose, and shall make the reports relating to the expenditure of
the moneys that the board and the Controller shall require.

16731. It shall be the duty of the Controller to make any audit or
audits of the books and records of counties and school districts
receiving apportionments under this chapter, that he or she may deem
necessary from time to time, for the purpose of determining that the
money received by school districts as apportionments hereunder has
been expended for the purposes and under the conditions authorized by
this chapter.

16732. Whenever the Controller determines that any money
apportioned to a school district has been expended by the school
district for purposes not authorized by this chapter, or exceeds the
final cost of the project which is authorized by this chapter to be
paid therefrom, the Controller shall furnish written notice to the
board, the governing board of the school district, the county
superintendent of schools, the county auditor, and the county
treasurer of the county whose county superintendent of schools has
jurisdiction over the school district, directing the school district
and the county treasurer to pay into the State Treasury the amount of
the unauthorized expenditures, or the amount of the excess
apportionment, as the case may be. Upon receipt of the notice, the
governing board shall order the county treasurer to pay to the
Treasurer, out of any moneys in the county treasury available to the
school district for that purpose, the amount set forth in the notice.
The amount shall, upon order of the Controller, be deposited in the
State Treasury to the credit of the Urban School Construction Aid
Fund, to be reapportioned by the board.
It shall be the duty of the governing body and the county
treasurer to make the payments to the Treasurer as provided in this
section, and it shall be the duty of the Controller to enforce the
collection on behalf of the state.
If the district fails to make the payment specified within one
year after written notice of the amount due, the Controller shall
deduct the amount thereof with interest from date of the notice from
the February payment made to the district under Section 14041 in the
next succeeding fiscal year.

16733. (a) As used in this chapter:
(1) "State-aided district" means a district to which an
apportionment has been made under this chapter.
(2) "Acquiring district" means a district in which all or a part
of, a state-aided district or an applicant district has been
included.
(3) "Original district" means a state-aided or applicant district
included in whole or in part in an acquiring district.
(b) For the purposes of this article as it applies to an original
district or to an acquiring district, the effective date of any
change of boundaries, annexation, formation of a new district, or
other reorganization shall be the date the action became effective
for the purposes of Section 4060.

16734. Whenever, subsequent to the date of an apportionment to a
district, the state-aided district is included in whole or in part in
another district, the acquiring district in which a state-aid
project is located shall, on the effective date of the inclusion,
succeed to and be vested with all of the duties, powers, purposes,
jurisdiction, and responsibilities of the state-aided district with
respect to any apportionment or apportionments for such project and
the property acquired or to be acquired from funds provided thereby,
and all funds in the urban school construction fund of the
state-aided district shall be transferred to the urban school
construction fund of the acquiring district. All amounts which would,
after the effective date of the inclusion, have been otherwise paid
to the state-aided district under the terms of or pursuant to the
apportionment, shall be paid to the acquiring district. In addition,
the acquiring district shall, on the effective date of the inclusion
of the state-aided district in the acquiring district become liable
for the annual repayments and other payments due the state under this
chapter.