SECTIONS 19955-19967 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 19955-19967

19955. The proceeds of bonds issued and sold pursuant to this
chapter shall be deposited in the California Library Construction and
Renovation Fund, which is hereby created. Notwithstanding Section
13340 of the Government Code, the fund shall be continuously
appropriated without regard to fiscal year.

19956. All moneys deposited in the fund shall be available for
grants to any city, county, city and county, or district that is
empowered at the time of the project application to own and maintain
a facility for the acquisition, construction, remodeling, or
rehabilitation of facilities for public library services.

19957. The grant funds authorized pursuant to Section 19956 and the
matching funds provided pursuant to Section 19962 shall be used by
the recipient for any of the following purposes:
(a) Acquisition or construction of new facilities or additions to
existing facilities.
(b) Acquisition of land necessary for purposes of subdivision (a).
(c) Remodeling of existing facilities for energy conservation
purposes.
(d) Remodeling of existing facilities to provide access for the
disabled.
(e) Rehabilitation of existing facilities to bring them into
compliance with current health and safety requirements for public
facilities.
(f) Procurement and installation of shelving fastened to the
structure, and built-in equipment required to make a facility fully
operable.
(g) Payment of fees charged by architects, engineers, and other
design professionals whose services are required to plan and execute
a project authorized pursuant to this chapter.

19957.5. (a) An applicant for a grant for the acquisition,
construction, remodeling, or rehabilitation of public library
facilities under this chapter, as opposed to an application for a
grant to acquire land pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 19957,
shall be eligible to apply for that grant if that applicant has an
order issued by a court for possession of property in an eminent
domain action pursuant to Section 1255.410 of the Code of Civil
Procedure.
(b) The terms "purchase of land" or "acquisition of land," as used
in this chapter, or in any rule, regulation, or policy adopted by
the state librarian pursuant to Section 19960, shall include, but
shall not be limited to, the acquisition of land by eminent domain
and the eligible cost of acquisition of land by eminent domain shall
be the fair market value of the property as defined by Sections
1263.310 to 1263.330, inclusive, of the Code of Civil Procedure.
However, the eligible cost of the land for a library project's site
acquired by eminent domain, if title to the land will not be
transferred until after the grant application is submitted, shall be
limited to the appraised value of the land.

19958. No grant funds authorized pursuant to Section 19956 or
matching funds provided pursuant to Section 19962 shall be used by a
recipient for any of the following purposes:
(a) Books and other library materials.
(b) Administration costs of the project, including, but not
limited to, the costs of all of the following:
(1) Preparation of the grant application.
(2) Procurement of matching funds.
(3) Conducting an election for obtaining voter approval of the
project.
(4) Plan checking and code compliance inspections.
(c) Interest or other carrying charges for financing the project,
including, but not limited to, costs of loans or lease-purchase
agreements in excess of the direct costs of any of the authorized
purposes specified in Section 19957.
(d) Any ongoing operating expenses for the facility, its
personnel, supplies, or any other library operations.

19959. All construction contracts for projects funded in part
through grants awarded pursuant to this chapter shall be awarded
through competitive bidding pursuant to Part 3 (commencing with
Section 20100) of the Public Contract Code.

19960. This chapter shall be administered by the State Librarian,
who shall adopt rules, regulations, and policies for the
implementation of this chapter.

19961. A city, county, city and county, or district may apply to
the State Librarian for a grant pursuant to this chapter, as follows:
(a) Each application shall be for a project for a purpose
authorized by Section 19957.
(b) The applicant shall request not less than thirty-five thousand
dollars ($35,000) per project.
(c) No application shall be submitted for a project for which
construction bids already have been advertised.

19962. (a) Each grant recipient shall provide matching funds from
any available source in an amount equal to 35 percent of the costs of
the project. The remaining 65 percent of the costs of the project
shall be provided through allocations from the fund.
(b) Qualifying matching funds shall be cash expenditures in the
categories specified in Section 19957 which are made no earlier than
three years prior to the submission of the application to the State
Librarian. Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (c), in-kind
expenditures shall not qualify as matching funds.
(c) Land donated or otherwise acquired for use as a site for the
facility, including, but not limited to, land purchased more than
three years prior to the submission of the application to the State
Librarian, may be credited towards the 35 percent matching funds
requirement at its appraised value as of the date of the application.
(d) Cash expenditures not to exceed 10 percent for furnishings
required to make the facility fully operable may be credited towards
the 35 percent matching funds requirement. The recipient shall
certify to the board that these furnishings have an estimated useful
life of not less than 10 years.
(e) Architect fees for plans and drawings for library renovation
and new construction, including plans and drawings purchased more
than three years prior to the submission of the application to the
State Librarian, may be credited towards the 35 percent matching
funds requirement.

19963. An amount not to exceed 1 percent of the cost of
construction of the project may be used for appropriate works of art
to enhance the facility.

19964. (a) The estimated costs of a project for which an
application is submitted shall be consistent with normal public
construction costs in the applicant's area.
(b) An applicant wishing to construct a project with costs which
exceed normal public construction costs in the applicant's area may
apply for a grant in an amount not to exceed 65 percent of the normal
costs if the applicant certifies that it is capable of financing the
remainder of the project costs from other sources.

19965. Once an application has been approved by the board and
included in the State Librarian's request to the committee, the
amount of funding to be provided to the applicant shall not be
increased. Any actual changes in project costs shall be the full
responsibility of the applicant. In the event that the amount of
funding which is provided is greater than the cost of the project,
the applicant shall return that portion of the funding which exceeds
the cost of the project to the State Librarian.

19966. In reviewing applications, the board shall consider all of
the following factors:
(a) Needs of urban and rural areas.
(b) Projected population growth.
(c) Changing concepts of public library service.
(d) Distance of the proposed project from other existing and
proposed facilities.
(e) Age and condition of the facility.

19967. (a) A facility, or the part thereof, acquired, constructed,
remodeled, or rehabilitated with grants received pursuant to this
chapter shall be dedicated to public library direct service use for a
period of not less than 20 years following completion of the
project, or the useful life of the building, whichever is longer.
(b) If the facility, or part thereof, acquired, constructed,
remodeled, or rehabilitated with grants received pursuant to this
chapter ceases to be used for public library direct service prior to
the expiration of the period specified in subdivision (a), the board
shall be entitled to recover from the grant recipient or the
recipient's successor in the maintenance of the facility, an amount
which bears the same ratio to the value of the facility, or the
appropriate part thereof, at the time it ceased to be used from
public library direct service as the amount of the grant bore to the
cost of the facility or appropriate part thereof. For purposes of
this subdivision, the value of the facility, or the appropriate part
thereof, shall be determined by the mutual agreement of the parties,
or through an action brought for that purpose in the superior court.
(c) The board may release the grant recipient or the recipient's
successor in the maintenance of the facility from its obligation
under subdivision (a), and waive the requirements of subdivision (b),
if the board determines that so doing would not diminish the quality
of public library service in the community served by the facility.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (f) of Section 16724 of the
Government Code, moneys recovered pursuant to subdivision (b) shall
be deposited in the fund, and shall be available for the purpose of
awarding grants for other projects.