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Committee introduces bill to ease rural school facilities funding, removes state supervisor for projects under $5 million
Summary
The House Committee on Education introduced RS32537 C1, a proposal to make a dormant public school facilities fund more accessible to rural Idaho districts by removing a state-appointed district supervisor requirement for projects under $5 million and clarifying payback and priority rules.
Representative Doug Pickett introduced RS32537 C1 to the House Committee on Education, saying the draft would change how the Public School Facilities Cooperative Fund is used and make it easier for rural districts to access the money. Representative Pickett said the RS updates a 2006 law originally tied to litigation and accountability and would remove the requirement that the state appoint a district supervisor for projects under $5,000,000.
The change is intended to lower a barrier that has kept the fund largely unused since it was created, Representative Pickett said. Under the existing law, a state-appointed district supervisor would have authority during construction to approve, modify or reject actions by the local school board; RS32537 would waive that requirement for projects at or below $5 million to encourage smaller districts to apply.
Pickett also described how the proposal preserves the original payback index (the bond level equalization value index) for calculating district payback obligations: the index blends per-support-unit property value, unemployment rate and average income. Under the proposal, districts with an index value below the statewide average would pay a proportionally reduced share of construction costs and the fund would cover the balance — Pickett used the example of a district at 0.8 of the statewide index paying back 80% of costs.
The draft moves one seat on the review panel so that the superintendent of public instruction replaces another executive director seat. It also clarifies priorities for state payments: existing indebtedness remains first in priority, obligations due to this program second, and future obligations third. RS32537 sets a 20-year amortization for payback consistent with the bond terms voters would approve.
Representative Pickett said the change is meant to free up about $25 million that has sat unused for roughly 20 years and to combine that amount with other funds so the program would effectively provide about $50.5 million in fiscal capacity. He described the bill as a collaborative effort and stood for questions from the committee.
Committee members moved to introduce RS32537 C1; the motion passed on a voice vote.
