Bill Text: IL SB3237 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the School Construction Law. In provisions concerning grant award amounts and required local matches, provides that the required local match and grant award amount are calculated by multiplying the required local match percentage and the grant award percentage by the recognized project cost, provided that, for the first application in which an applicant is funded (instead of only during the first application cycle after June 30, 2022), the amounts may be adjusted. Provides that to receive an adjustment, a school district on the 2004, 2005, or 2006 School Construction Grant List must initially apply and be approved during the first 3 application cycles after June 30, 2024. Makes a conforming change. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-1)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-04-25 - Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. Linda Holmes [SB3237 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB3237-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Construction Law is amended by
changing Sections 5-5 and 5-15 as follows:
(105 ILCS 230/5-5)
Sec. 5-5. Definitions. As used in this Article:
"Conditional grant award" means the formal notification by
the Capital Development Board to a school district of its
conditional intent to award a grant to a school district to pay
a portion of the recognized project cost for a school
construction project. The grant award is conditioned upon
receiving proof from the school district that it has funds
available to cover the cost of the required local match.
"Grant award amount" means an amount equal to the
recognized project cost determined by the Capital Development
Board for a school construction project multiplied by the
grant award percentage and then adjusted as may be required
pursuant to subsection (d) of Section 5-15.
"Grant award percentage" means a percentage equal to one
minus the required local match percentage.
"Grant index" means a figure for each school district
equal to one minus the ratio of the district's equalized

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assessed valuation per pupil in average daily attendance to
the equalized assessed valuation per pupil in average daily
attendance of the district located at the 90th percentile for
all districts of the same category. This definition applies
only to completed or partially completed, as determined by the
Capital Development Board, school construction projects for
which a grant application was filed for the 2004, 2005, or 2006
application cycle by a school district included on the State
Board of Education's 2004, 2005, or 2006 School Construction
Project Application Cycle listing and only for the purpose of
determining the amount of any adjustment pursuant to
subsection (d) of Section 5-15 to a grant award amount for a
project funded during the first application cycle opened after
June 30, 2022. For the purpose of calculating the grant index,
school districts are grouped into 2 categories, Category I and
Category II. Category I consists of elementary and unit school
districts. The equalized assessed valuation per pupil in
average daily attendance of each school district in Category I
shall be computed using its grades kindergarten through 8
average daily attendance figure. A unit school district's
Category I grant index shall be used for projects or portions
of projects constructed for elementary school pupils. Category
II consists of high school and unit school districts. The
equalized assessed valuation per pupil in average daily
attendance of each school district in Category II shall be
computed using its grades 9 through 12 average daily

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attendance figure. A unit school district's Category II grant
index shall be used for projects or portions of projects
constructed for high school pupils. The changes made by this
amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly apply to all
grants made on or after the effective date of this amendatory
Act, provided that for grants not yet made on the effective
date of this amendatory Act but made in fiscal year 2001 and
for grants made in fiscal year 2002, the grant index for a
school district shall be the greater of (i) the grant index as
calculated under this Law on or after the effective date of
this amendatory Act or (ii) the grant index as calculated
under this Law before the effective date of this amendatory
Act. The grant index shall be no less than 0.35 and no greater
than 0.75 for each district; provided that the grant index for
districts whose equalized assessed valuation per pupil in
average daily attendance is at the 99th percentile and above
for all districts of the same type shall be 0.00.
The grant index shall be calculated for each of those
school districts forming a reorganized school district or
cooperative high school if one or more of the following happen
within the current or prior 2 fiscal years:
(1) a new school district is created in accordance
with Article 11E of the School Code;
(2) an existing school district annexes all of the
territory of one or more entire other school districts in
accordance with Article 7 of the School Code; or

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(3) a cooperative high school is formed in accordance
with Section 10-22.22c of the School Code.
The average grant index of those school districts shall be
used as the grant index for the newly reorganized district or
cooperative high school.
"Recognized project cost" means the total project cost for
a school construction project determined by the Capital
Development Board to be taken into account in calculating the
grant award amount and the required local match for a school
construction project.
"Required local match" means an amount equal to the
product of the recognized project cost determined by the
Capital Development Board multiplied by a school district's
required local match percentage, and then adjusted as may be
required pursuant to Section 5-15.
"Required local match percentage" means a percentage equal
to a school district's Local Capacity Percentage, as defined
in Section 18-8.15 of the School Code, and as calculated by the
State Superintendent of Education in the fiscal year in which
the school district applies for a grant to be awarded pursuant
to this Article, provided that the required local match
percentage shall be no less than 10% and no greater than 90%
for any district. With respect to a Type 40 area vocational
center cooperative, a special education cooperative, or a
cooperative high school, the required local match percentage
is calculated by first multiplying each cooperative member

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district's average student enrollment utilized to calculate
its latest Evidence-Based Funding, as defined in Section
18-8.15 of the School Code, by the respective district's
latest Local Capacity Percentage, as defined in Section
18-8.15 of the School Code, to obtain a weighted average
student enrollment. Then, the required local match percentage
is calculated by taking the sum of all the member districts'
weighted average student enrollment and dividing that sum by
the sum of all the member districts' average student
enrollment utilized to calculate the latest Evidence-Based
Funding.
"School construction project" means the acquisition,
development, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation,
improvement, architectural planning, and installation of
capital facilities consisting of buildings, structures,
durable equipment, and land for educational purposes.
"School district" means a school district or a Type 40
area vocational center or special education cooperative that
is jointly owned, if the joint agreement includes language
that specifies how the debt obligation is to be paid,
including in the event that an entity withdraws from the joint
agreement.
"School district" includes a cooperative high school, if
the cooperative agreement includes language that specifies how
the debt obligation is to be paid, including if an entity
withdraws from the cooperative agreement or the cooperative

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agreement is terminated.
"School maintenance project" means a project, other than a
school construction project, intended to provide for the
maintenance or upkeep of buildings or structures for
educational purposes, but does not include ongoing operational
costs.
(Source: P.A. 102-723, eff. 5-6-22.)
(105 ILCS 230/5-15)
Sec. 5-15. Grant award amounts and required local match.
(a) After June 30, 2022, any time there is an
appropriation of funds by the General Assembly from the School
Infrastructure Fund or School Construction Fund and a release
of the appropriated funds to the Capital Development Board for
expenditure on grant awards pursuant to the provisions of this
Article, the State Board of Education is authorized to open an
application cycle to receive grant applications from school
districts for school construction projects. No grant
application filed before the start of the first application
cycle after June 30, 2022 may be considered. After the close of
each application cycle, the State Board of Education shall
determine the approval of applications, the required local
match percentage for each approved application, and the
priority order for school construction project grants to be
made by the Capital Development Board and shall then notify
all applicants regarding their eligibility for a grant. Such

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notification shall include an estimate of the required local
match. The State Board of Education shall publish a list of
applicants eligible for grants and forward it to the Capital
Development Board.
(b) The Capital Development Board, to the extent that
appropriated funds have been released and proceeding through
the list of eligible applicants in the order of priority
determined by the State Board of Education, shall issue
conditional grant awards to eligible school districts. An
applicant that does not receive a conditional grant award
notification must submit a new application during another
application cycle in order to receive future consideration for
a grant award.
(c) The conditional grant award certifies to a school
district the recognized project costs for its school
construction project determined by the Capital Development
Board, the applicable required local match percentage and
grant award percentage, the required local match and grant
award amount calculated by multiplying the required local
match percentage and the grant award percentage by the
recognized project cost, and the required local match and
grant award amount as those amounts may be adjusted as
required in subsection (d).
(d) The required local match and grant award amount are
calculated by multiplying the required local match percentage
and the grant award percentage by the recognized project cost,

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provided that, for the first application in which an applicant
is funded only during the first application cycle after June
30, 2022, these amounts may be adjusted if the applicant had
previously expended funds on a school construction project on
the 2004, 2005, or 2006 School Construction Grant List. In
that case, the required local match shall be reduced (but not
below zero) and the grant award amount shall be increased (to
an amount no greater than the recognized project cost) by an
amount determined by the Capital Development Board to be equal
to the amount of the grant the applicant would have received
pursuant to Section 5-35 had it been awarded a grant in 2004,
2005, or 2006 based on the 2004, 2005, or 2006 School
Construction Grant List and the year in which the school
district applied for the grant. To receive an adjustment under
this subsection (d), a school district on the 2004, 2005, or
2006 School Construction Grant List must initially apply and
be approved during the first 3 application cycles after June
30, 2024.
(e) A school district shall have 2 years from the date the
school district was issued a conditional grant award from the
Capital Development Board to obtain the school district's
required local match and receive a final grant award from the
Capital Development Board. If the required local match is not
obtained within the 2-year time frame, the school district
shall be required to reapply in another application cycle,
after the 2-year time frame, to be considered for a grant

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award. The State share of the grant amount in a conditional
grant award that is not claimed by a school district within the
2-year time frame shall be reallocated to future application
cycles after the 2-year time frame expires.
(Source: P.A. 102-723, eff. 5-6-22; 103-154, eff. 6-30-23.)