HB0459eng 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB0459 Engrossed LRB100 05361 NHT 15372 b

AN ACT concerning education.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the School District Debt Control and Taxpayer Protection Act.

Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Capital appreciation bond" means debt issued without annual or semiannual payments of principal, interest, or both.

"Entire debt service" means principal, interest, and issuance costs of all debt and bonds.

"Equalized assessed value" means the assessed value as equalized by the Illinois Department of Revenue.

"Tax anticipation warrants" means tax anticipation warrants drawn and issued under the School Code.

Section 10. Refinancing debt. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a school district may not refinance debt past the repayment period of the debt when issued.

Section 15. Debt serviced more than 20 years. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a school district may not issue debt to be serviced over a period greater than 20 years.

Section 20. Equalized assessed value. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, for the purpose of calculating the debt limit of a school district in relation to its equalized assessed value, debt shall include all debt issued and its associated interest and issuance costs.

Section 25. Debt limitation. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, no school district may become indebted in any manner or for any purpose in an amount, including the entire debt service, in the aggregate exceeding 13.8% for a unit district or 6.9% for an elementary or high school district of the value of the taxable property therein to be ascertained by the last assessment for State and county taxes or, if greater, the sum that is produced by multiplying the school district's 2016 equalized assessed value by the debt limitation percentage in effect on the effective date of this Act, previous to the incurring of such indebtedness.

Section 30. New debt prohibited.

(a) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary and on and after the effective date of this Act, a school district that exceeds the debt limitation of Section 25 of this Act may not incur any new debt, including, but not limited to, tax anticipation warrants, until the school district's aggregate debt limitation is below the debt limitation of Section 25.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a school district may issue new debt on or after the effective date of this Act if a referendum allowing new debt to be issued was passed before the effective date of this Act.

Section 35. Capital appreciation bonds. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary and on and after the effective date of this Act, no school district may issue capital appreciation bonds.

Section 40. Additional debt. Nothing in this Act shall authorize any school district to issue additional debt above and beyond what is otherwise authorized by law.

Section 45. Bond referendum information. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the referendum question allowing a school district to issue bonds must include the following:

(1) a description of the project for which the bonds will be issued;

(2) an estimate of the number of years during which the bonds will be outstanding; and

(3) an estimate of the total debt service to be paid on the bonds, including principal, interest, and costs of issuing the bonds.

Section 50. Bond issuance information. If a school district presents information to the public about a bond issuance, then that information must include an estimate of the average annual property tax needed to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds extendable against property containing a median-priced home in the school district's boundaries at a fair market value.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.