§ 70-1-117. General fund - Capital and noncapital expenditures.

A.  The general fund of any school district is hereby defined as a current expense fund and shall consist of all revenue or monies that can legally be expended within a certain specified fiscal year, but shall not be considered as including any money derived from a special building fund levy made in accordance with the provisions of Section 10 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution, nor shall it include any monies derived from the sale of bonds issued under the provisions of Section 26 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution.  All monies derived from the proceeds of the school levies made pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution shall be placed in the general fund provided by this section.  Expenditures from the general fund shall be noncapital in nature.  All monies derived from state-dedicated revenue, state-appropriated revenue unless otherwise provided for by law, and county sources shall be placed in the general fund provided for by this section.  Except as provided for in subsections K and L of this section, a district shall not be authorized to make capital expenditures as defined by this section from the general fund.

B.  For purposes of this section, state-dedicated revenue shall be any registration or license fees, taxes, or penalties collected at the state level and distributed to common school districts.  County sources shall be all funds collected by the county and distributed to common school districts but shall not include any funds derived from the building fund levy made in accordance with the provisions of Section 10 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution or funds derived from the sinking fund levy made in accordance with the provisions of Section 26 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution.

C.  For the purposes of this section, a capital expenditure shall be an expenditure which results in the acquisition of fixed assets or additions to fixed assets.  Capital expenditures shall include, but shall not be limited to, purchases of land or existing buildings, purchases of real property, improvements of grounds and sites for construction purposes, all expenditures for construction of buildings unless authorized by the State Board of Education or the State Board of Career and Technology Education upon application to the appropriate state board pursuant to subsection F of this section, additions to buildings, remodeling of buildings if such remodeling involves changes to roof structures or load-bearing walls, professional services, salaries and expenses of architects and engineers hired or assigned to capital projects except for such services, salaries and expenses as are applicable in preparation for a bond issue, expenditures for the initial installation and extension of service systems and built-in heat or air equipment to existing buildings, expenditures for the replacement of a building which has been destroyed, installments and lease payments on property, including interest, that have a terminal date and result in the acquisition of property, and expenditures for preliminary studies made prior to the time that authority to proceed with a construction project is given if authority is received within the same fiscal year that the expenditure was made.

D.  Noncapital expenditures shall include, but shall not be limited to expenditures for maintenance, repair and replacement of property and equipment, initial or additional purchases of furniture and equipment, direct expenses for maintenance of plant, including grounds, salaries for maintenance of plant, including salaries for the upkeep of grounds, and repair and replacement of building structures which do not add to existing facilities and which do not involve changes in roof structures or load-bearing walls and which are not classified as a capital expenditure by this section.

E.  The State Board of Education shall adopt and amend regulations regarding the classification, definition and financial administration of funds, accounts and expenditures in accordance with the requirements of this section.

F.  A school district shall be authorized to make capital expenditures from the general fund to defray the cost of rebuilding a school building only if a school building or facility has been destroyed by a fire or natural disaster, such as flood, tornado or other act of God, or by an act of a public enemy of the United States or this state and monies received by the district through insurance coverage, federal reimbursement, contributions and allocation from the State Board of Education from the State Public Common School Building Equalization Fund are insufficient to rebuild the facility.  Capital expenditures from the general fund pursuant to this subsection shall be limited to an amount necessary to defray the cost of rebuilding the facility which exceeds monies received by the school district through insurance, federal reimbursement, contributions and state allocations.

G.  Schools which receive gifts or donations or state-appropriated monies for the purpose of capital expenditures or projects shall place such monies in the building fund, as provided by Section 1-118 of this title, and not in the general fund.  School districts which receive gifts, grants, or donations of monies for noncapital expenditures may place the monies in the general fund, and such monies shall not be required to be used during the year in which the money was received but may accumulate from year to year and shall not be considered a part of the general fund collections when calculating the general fund carryover as provided for in subsection G of Section 18-200.1 of this title.

H.  School districts which receive monies from rental, sale, or lease of buildings, impact aid monies, or grants, gifts or donations for capital purposes, whether from state, federal, or other sources, may place such monies in the building fund authorized by Section 1-118 of this title or the general fund authorized by this section.

I.  Any construction of a building included as a capital expenditure from the general fund of a school district which is authorized and has had a contractual agreement concerning such construction executed prior to July 1, 1991, may be proceeded with and completed as authorized prior to July 1, 1991, as a capital expenditure from such general fund.

J.  School districts receiving revenues authorized by Section 9B of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution shall be authorized to make capital expenditures from the general revenue fund no greater than the amount levied by the incentive millage.

K.  Upon the approval of the State Board of Education, a school district shall be authorized to make capital expenditures as defined in this section from its general fund if:

1.  A bond issue has been rejected at an election by the school district electors voting on that question within the current school year, as certified by the secretary of the county election board; or

2.  The school district has voted indebtedness at any time within the preceding three (3) school years through the issuance of bonds or through approval by voters of issuance of new bonds for more than eighty-five percent (85%) of the maximum allowable pursuant to the provisions of Section 26 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution as shown on the school district budget filed with the State Board of Equalization for the current school year and certifications by the Attorney General prior to April 1 of the current school year.  The State Board of Education shall establish the rules to administer the provisions of this subsection which shall include, but not be limited to, specification of a maximum amount of general fund monies to be used for capital expenditures, the purposes for which such funds may be expended and the period of time in which such funds shall be encumbered.

L.  Other provisions of this section notwithstanding, a school district shall be authorized to make capital expenditures from the general fund if the total assessed property valuation per average daily attendance is less than sixty percent (60%) of the state average total assessed property valuation per average daily attendance and if, for each year in which general fund revenue is used for capital expenditures, the district has voted the five-mill building fund levy authorized in Section 10 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution and has voted indebtedness through the issuance of new bonds for at least eighty-five percent (85%) within the last three (3) years of the maximum allowable pursuant to the provisions of Section 26 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution as shown on the school district budget filed with the State Board of Equalization for the current school year and certifications by the Attorney General prior to April 1 of the school year.  Provided, the maximum amount of general fund revenue used for capital expenditures pursuant to this subsection shall not exceed five percent (5%) of the total yearly revenue to the general fund.  Said fund may not be used for capital expenditures for more than five (5) consecutive years and may only be utilized for remodeling or construction of classroom facilities and such ancillary facilities to said classrooms as may be necessary.  Provided, further, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction shall certify in writing, prior to the expenditure of the funds for which provision is made in this subsection, that such expenditures are in compliance with the provisions of this subsection.

Added by Laws 1971, c. 281, § 1-117, eff. July 2, 1971.  Amended by Laws 1989, 1st Ex. Sess., c. 2, § 114, emerg. eff. April 25, 1990; Laws 1991, c. 209, § 2, eff. July 1, 1991; Laws 1992, c. 324, § 6, eff. July 1, 1992; Laws 1995, c. 153, § 2, emerg. eff. May 2, 1995; Laws 2001, c. 33, § 65, eff. July 1, 2001; Laws 2002, c. 89, § 1, eff. July 1, 2002; Laws 2003, c. 173, § 1, eff. July 1, 2003; Laws 2009, c. 250, § 1, eff. July 1, 2009.