SF 2605

2nd Engrossment - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 03/27/2018 08:35am

A bill for an act
relating to education; elections; requiring certain information to be available in
the polling place for school district bond referendums; amending the ballot language
required for school district bond referendums; amending Minnesota Statutes 2016,
sections 205A.07, subdivision 2; 475.58, subdivision 4; Minnesota Statutes 2017
Supplement, section 475.59, subdivision 1.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 205A.07, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Sample ballot, posting.

(a) For every school district primary, general, or special
election, the school district clerk shall at least four days before the primary, general, or
special election, post a sample ballot in the administrative offices of the school district for
public inspection, and shall post a sample ballot in each polling place on election day.

(b) For a school district general or special election to issue bonds to finance a capital
project requiring review and comment under section 123B.71, the summary of the
commissioner's review and comment and supplemental information required under section
123B.71, subdivision 12, paragraph (a), shall be posted in the same manner as the sample
ballot under paragraph (a).

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for elections held on or after August 1,
2018.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 475.58, subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Proper use of bond proceeds.

The proceeds of obligations issued after approval
of the electors under this section may only be spent: (1) for the purposes stated in the ballot
language; or (2) to pay, redeem, or defease obligations and interest, penalties, premiums,
and costs of issuance of the obligations. The proceeds may not be spent for a different
purpose or for an expansion of or contraction that is materially different than the original
purpose without the approval by a majority of the electors voting on the question of changing
or expanding the purpose of the obligations.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2017 Supplement, section 475.59, subdivision 1, is amended
to read:

Subdivision 1.

Generally; notice.

(a) When the governing body of a municipality resolves
to issue bonds for any purpose requiring the approval of the electors, it shall provide for
submission of the proposition of their issuance at a general or special election or town or
school district meeting. Notice of such election or meeting shall be given in the manner
required by law and shall state the maximum amount and the purpose of the proposed issue.

(b) In any school district, the school board or board of education may, according to its
judgment and discretion, submit as a single ballot question or as two or more separate
questions in the notice of election and ballots the proposition of their issuance for any one
or more of the following, stated conjunctively or in the alternative: acquisition or enlargement
of sites, acquisition, betterment, erection, furnishing, equipping of one or more new
schoolhouses, remodeling, repairing, improving, adding to, betterment, furnishing, equipping
of one or more existing schoolhouses. The ballot question or questions submitted by a school
board must state the name of the plan or plans being proposed by the district as submitted
to the commissioner of education for review and comment under section 123B.71.

(c) In any city, town, or county, the governing body may, according to its judgment and
discretion, submit as a single ballot question or as two or more separate questions in the
notice of election and ballots the proposition of their issuance, stated conjunctively or in
the alternative, for the acquisition, construction, or improvement of any facilities at one or
more locations.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for elections held on or after August 1,
2018.