HOUSE BILL NO. 472

INTRODUCED BY R. BUZZAS

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT ALLOWING A SCHOOL DISTRICT TO PAY THE TRANSPORTATION COSTS FOR FIELD TRIPS OUT OF THE TRANSPORTATION FUND BUDGET; CLARIFYING THAT THE COSTS ARE NOT REIMBURSABLE; PROVIDING FOR COMPLIANCE WITH ARTICLE VIII, SECTION 17, OF THE MONTANA CONSTITUTION BY REQUIRING APPROVAL BY THE ELECTORATE OF A TAX INCREASE THAT MAY OCCUR AS A RESULT OF INCREASED EXPENDITURES FROM THE TRANSPORTATION FUND BUDGET; AMENDING SECTION 20-10-143, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE."

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

Section 1. Section 20-10-143, MCA, is amended to read:

"20-10-143. Budgeting for transportation and transmittal of transportation contracts. (1) The trustees of a district furnishing transportation to pupils who are residents of the district shall provide a transportation fund budget that is adequate to finance the district's transportation contractual obligations and any other transportation expenditures necessary for the conduct of its transportation program. The transportation fund budget must include:

(a) an adequate amount to finance the maintenance and operation of school buses owned and operated by the district;

(b) the annual contracted amount for the maintenance and operation of school buses by a private party;

(c) the annual contracted amount for individual transportation, including any increased amount because of isolation, which may not exceed the schedule amounts prescribed in 20-10-142;

(d) any amount necessary for the purchase, rental, or insurance of school buses; and

(e) any other amount necessary to finance the administration, operation, or maintenance of the transportation program of the district, as determined by the trustees.

(2) The trustees may include a contingency amount in the transportation fund budget for the purpose of enabling the district to fulfill an obligation to provide transportation in accordance with this title for:

(a) pupils not residing in the district at the time of the adoption of the final budget and who subsequently became residents of the district during the school fiscal year; or

(b) pupils who have become eligible transportees since the adoption of the final budget because their legal residence has been changed. The budgeted contingency amount may not exceed 10% of the transportation schedule amount as calculated under the provisions of 20-10-141 and 20-10-142 for all transportation services authorized by the schedules and provided by the district unless 10% of the transportation schedule amount is less than $100, in which case $100 is the maximum limitation for the budgeted contingency amount.

(3) The trustees may include in the transportation fund budget the expenditures for the transportation of district students in a school bus for curriculum-related field trips. The expenditures under this subsection are not eligible for a state or county reimbursement.

(4) A budget amendment to the transportation fund budget may be adopted subject to the provisions of 20-9-161 through 20-9-166.

(5) The transportation fund budgeted expenditures appropriated by the trustees must be reported on the regular budget form prescribed by the superintendent of public instruction in accordance with 20-9-103, and the adoption of the transportation fund budget must be completed in accordance with the school budgeting laws. When the adopted final budget is sent to the county superintendent, the trustees shall also send copies of all completed transportation contracts for school bus transportation and individual transportation to the county superintendent. The contracts must substantiate all contracted transportation services incorporated in the final budget, and after the county superintendent has used the contracts for that purpose but before the second Monday of August, the county superintendent shall send all transportation contracts received to the superintendent of public instruction.

(6) If the expenditures in subsection (3) result in the need for a tax increase, the tax increase must be approved by the electorate as required by Article VIII, section 17, of the Montana constitution."

NEW SECTION. Section 2. Contingent voidness. If Constitutional Initiative No. 75, enacting Article VIII, section 17, of the Montana constitution, is declared invalid, then 20-10-143(6) of [this act] is void.

NEW SECTION. Section 3. Effective date. [This act] is effective July 1, 1999.

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