New Montana MP Linda Reksten (HD12) witnessed a bill she sponsored to seek funding for a school capital improvement project, signed April 19 by Governor Greg Gianforte.
HB 192 was born from Reksten’s experience as superintendent of the Polson Schools, from which she retired nearly five years ago. During this time, efforts to replace the cauldron at Cherry Valley School were hampered by the lack of funding to raise capital and the schools’ inability to save funds to cover such large expenses.
“I started working with the legislature a month before I took office. So we pretty much had a bill before the session started,” said Reksten. This helped the bill to be taken into account earlier in the meeting than the one that came later. “Then it took me about a month to understand how the funding worked.”
“With this bill, the school district, if it still has any remaining funds in funds other than retirement and debt repayment funds, can invest them in a capital improvement fund. But they have to give the public a clear explanation, ”said Reksten.
The school facilities are partially financed with appropriate funds from the interest of the state severance tax fund, said Reksten. Another source of funding is the “eligible levy,” a capped, unselected levy that schools can levy to support tuition, adult education, building reserve, transportation and bus depreciation reserve budgets if they communicate so to the public.
Reksten stated that the new law requires the school to complete an extensive planning process to come up with a school safety or emergency preparedness plan, and increase the requirements for clear communication with the community about what the money is being saved for.
With this certified plan it then states, “If you as a school district put money aside in a capital improvement fund from your own budget and then have the allowable levy and the state that fits that funnel, then when you need more money and have to get out and about ask for a loan, then you can say, “We’ve saved so much money, but we’re so short. Would you support us with a loan? “
The bill slightly increases the allowable tax allowance, but also increases compliance with state coal tax funds so that property taxes have essentially no impact, Reksten said.
The bill will come into force in July for next year’s funds. The required public announcement must be made by March 31, prior to the school council elections, Reksten said. There will be approximately $ 13 million available.
Although she is no longer part of the decision-making team at the Polson Schools, Reksten said that replacing the boiler is still a priority: “This gives them the mechanism to do this. This will help all school districts across the state with things that are really necessary, like roofs and cauldrons, that have a problem and you need to do some shopping. “
Reksten said it was very exciting to join the governor in signing the law.
“It’s very interesting. You go there with a lot of predispositions, but then you learn the rest of it. It’s very complicated.”
HB 128, another bill from Reksten, would have created a renewable energy trust fund, similar to the coal tax trust fund.
Despite being submitted by the Tax Committee, “it opened the door to have you study the Coal Severance Tax Fund,” said Reksten. “Fifty percent of this fund directly finances things like nature reserves, economic development, and a lot of different things. But it’s losing money. ”
Legislature approved an interim study (between sessions) on the Coal Severance Tax Fund, she said.