Senate Bill No. 244

Introduced By _______________________________________________________________________________

A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act allowing the transfer of a bus depreciation reserve fund balance only when a school district sells all of its buses; and amending section

20-10-147, MCA."

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:

Section 1.  Section 20-10-147, MCA, is amended to read:

"20-10-147.   Bus depreciation reserve. (1) The trustees of a district owning a bus or a two-way radio used for purposes of transportation, as defined in 20-10-101, or for purposes of conveying pupils to and from school functions or activities may establish a bus depreciation reserve fund to be used for the conversion, remodeling, or rebuilding of a bus or for the replacement of a bus or radio.

(2)  Whenever a bus depreciation reserve fund is established, the trustees may include in the district's budget, in accordance with the school budgeting provisions of this title, an amount each year that does not exceed 20% of the original cost of a bus or a two-way radio. The amount budgeted may not, over time, exceed 150% of the original cost of a bus or two-way radio. The annual revenue requirement for each district's bus depreciation reserve fund, determined within the limitations of this section, must be reported by the county superintendent to the county commissioners on the fourth Monday of August as the bus depreciation reserve fund levy requirement for that district, and a levy must be made by the county commissioners in accordance with 20-9-142.

(3)  Any expenditure of bus depreciation reserve fund money must be within the limitations of the district's final bus depreciation reserve fund budget and the school financial administration provisions of this title and may be made only to convert, remodel, or rebuild buses or to replace the buses or radios for which the bus depreciation reserve fund was created.

(4)  Whenever the trustees of a district maintaining a bus depreciation reserve fund sell all of the district's buses and consider it to be in the best interest of the district to transfer any portion or all of the bus depreciation reserve fund balance to any other fund maintained by the district, the trustees shall submit the proposition to the electors of the district. The electors qualified to vote at the election shall qualify under 20-20-301, and the election must be called and conducted in the manner prescribed by this title for school elections. If a majority of those electors voting at the election approve the proposed transfer from the bus depreciation reserve fund, the transfer is approved and the trustees shall immediately order the county treasurer to make the approved transfer."

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