4 Alaska Admin. Code § 31.060 : Education and Early Development — School Facility Planning and Construction — Planning and Construction — State financial assistance

(a) A municipality that is a school district, or a regional school board, submitting a capital improvement project request for construction to the department under AS 14.11.011 or 14.11.100 shall make the request on a form prescribed by the commissioner.

(b) In accepting state aid from the department, the municipality or school district receiving the grant or debt reimbursement shall comply with all pertinent state statutes, codes, standards, and regulations related to construction of a public facility. Further, the recipient shall comply with conditions, requirements, and stipulations in the forms prescribed by the commissioner for the capital improvement project agreement.

(c) A school facility for which state aid is sought under AS 14.11.011 or 14.11.100 may be built jointly with municipal and state offices, health clinics, community libraries, and other spaces if approved by the commissioner as to compatibility and separation of funds. The commissioner has final authority to determine the proration of space and cost in a jointly built project.

(d) For a school construction project approved for debt retirement under AS 14.11.100, a school district shall

(1) provide for each incomplete project, by October 15 of each year during its life until completion, completed annual project summary, on a form prescribed by the department, that details all activity on the project from its inception to the preceding June 30; and

(2) for a project completed after June 30, 1989, that costs more than $300,000, submit as part of its annual report under 4 AAC 06.120, a statement from its auditors that the annual project summaries are consistent with the annual report.

(e) A municipality or school district shall submit a request for an allocation for debt retirement under AS 14.11.100 on a form prescribed by the commissioner. The request for allocation must be received by the department not later than October 15 of the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year in which reimbursement will be sought. A request for allocation must contain at least the following:

(1) bond sale date or proposed bond sale date;

(2) bond redemption schedule;

(3) education facility portion of the bond;

(4) department's project approval number;

(5) debt payment schedule or estimated debt service schedule;

(6) certification as to accuracy of request for allocation by a bonded official of the municipality; and

(7) a completed annual project summary form prepared under the provisions of this section.

(f) State aid under AS 14.11.100 to eligible municipalities will be calculated on the basis of applications received by the deadline imposed by this section and, upon receipt of a notice of payment by the municipality from the bond holder or paying agent, state aid will be issued except for the amount attributable to projects for which

(1) the department has withdrawn its approval under 4 AAC 31.075;

(2) repealed 6/17/2010;

(3) the bond election occurs after June 30, 1988 and the ballot proposition does not include the estimated total cost of the project, including total interest; estimated annual operating and maintenance costs; the estimated amounts that will be paid by the state and the municipality on the bonds that finance the project; and the estimated amount due in annual taxes on $100,000 in assessed value to retire the debt.

(g) Only cash disbursements from locally generated revenues are eligible for reimbursement under AS 14.11.100.

(h) Unless a claim is supported by financial schedules or prior year audit reports identifying the original source of revenue, only disbursements from revenues generated in the year for which the claim is made are eligible for reimbursement.

(i) Reimbursement for rehabilitation costs under AS 14.11.100 is limited to projects exceeding $200,000.

(j) The department will approve the cost of planning, design, and construction of a facility for debt retirement under AS 14.11.100 if

(1) the department verifies that the enrollment of a district or attendance area within a district will reach the design capacity of existing school facilities within two years;

(2) the situation cannot be reasonably relieved by adjusting the boundaries of the service area and transporting the children to nearby schools; and

(3) it can be demonstrated by commonly accepted demographic techniques, logically applied, that the new facility will reach and sustain design capacity within five years after the anticipated occupancy date.

(k) A request for debt retirement under AS 14.11.100

(1) must contain

(A) documented evidence, acceptable to the department, supporting enrollment, projections that are based upon the average survival method or an equivalent methodology offering equal validity; and

(B) other demographic information prepared by the district, the municipality, the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Department of Revenue, or other state or federal agencies that have prepared demographic information on the attendance area; and

(2) may include any additional information supporting the enrollment projection, including economic and social conditions affecting local growth patterns, school and preschool census, and business or industrial forecasts indicating increased population growth.

(l) Notwithstanding the provisions of (j) and (k) of this section, the cost of planning, design, and construction for a new facility, or the repair, rehabilitation, or remodeling of an existing facility will be approved for debt retirement under AS 14.11.100 if at least one of the following conditions exists, the means selected by the district to cure the condition is the most cost-effective method, and the department determines that the conditions, if unabated, might require that the facility cease being used to provide the educational program or in support of the educational program:

(1) a condition that is in violation of one or more of the nationally recognized building codes, fire codes, health or safety codes, or state or federal statutes or regulations, and the condition is verified by a means acceptable to the department; or

(2) a condition that, if unabated, presents an unreasonable risk to the structural integrity of the facility, or to an essential portion, significant purpose, or structural element of the facility.

(m) Nothing in AS 14.11.100(j)(4) exempts a school facility that proposes to construct new space, add space, or replace existing space from having to meet the eligibility requirements of 4 AAC 31.020(c).

(n) A district requesting financial assistance for a new school must demonstrate a minimum of 25 unhoused students in the attendance area during the five-year post-occupancy projection prepared under 4 AAC 31.010, unless the commissioner approves a smaller number in accordance with AS 14.11 and this chapter.

4 AAC 31.060

Eff. 3/1/78, Register 65; am 2/24/83, Register 85; am 12/2/83, Register 88; am 9/12/85, Register 96; am 2/8/86, Register 97; am 5/30/90, Register 114; am 4/17/98, Register 146; am 7/13/2000, Register 155; am 6/17/2010, Register 194; am 11/28/2019, Register 232, January 2020

Authority:AS 14.07.020

AS 14.07.060

AS 14.11.011

AS 14.11.020

AS 14.11.100

AS 14.11.102

AS 14.11.132