1997 Minnesota Statutes

     124.2725 Cooperation and combination revenue. 

    Subdivision 1.    Eligibility.  A school district is 
 eligible for cooperation and combination revenue if it has a 
 plan approved by the commissioner according to section 122.243 
 and it levied under subdivision 3 for taxes payable in 1995.  

    Subd. 2.    Cooperation and combination revenue.  
 Cooperation and combination revenue equals $100 times the pupil 
 units served in the district.  For purposes of this section, 
 pupil units served means the number of resident and nonresident 
 pupil units in average daily membership receiving instruction in 
 the cooperating or combined district.  A district may not 
 receive revenue under this section if it levies under section 
 124.912, subdivision 4.  

    Subd. 3.    Cooperation and combination levy.  To obtain 
 cooperation and combination revenue, a district may levy an 
 amount equal to the cooperation and combination revenue 
 multiplied by the lesser of one or the following ratio: 

    (1) the quotient derived by dividing the adjusted net tax 
 capacity for the district in the year preceding the year the 
 levy is certified by the actual pupil units in the district for 
 the year to which the levy is attributable, to 

    (2) the amount specified in subdivision 4 for the school 
 year to which the levy is attributable. 

    Subd. 4.    Increasing levy.  (a) For districts that did 
 not enter into an agreement under section 122.541 at least three 
 years before the date of a successful referendum held under 
 section 122.243, subdivision 2, and that combine without 
 cooperating, the amount in subdivision 3, clause (2), shall be: 

    (1) $4,707.50 for the first year of combination; and 

    (2) $2,353.75 for the second year of combination. 

    (b) For districts that entered into an agreement under 
 section 122.541 at least three years before the date of a 
 successful referendum held under section 122.243, subdivision 2, 
 and combine without cooperating, the percentages in subdivision 
 3, clause (2), shall be: 

    (1) $9,415 for the first year of combination; 

    (2) $7,061.25 for the second year of combination; 

    (3) $4,707.50 for the third year of combination; and 

    (4) $2,353.75 for the fourth year of combination. 

    (c) For districts that combine after one year of 
 cooperation, the percentage in subdivision 3, clause (2), shall 
 be: 

    (1) $9,415 for the first year of cooperation; 

    (2) $7,061.25 for the first year of combination; 

    (3) $4,707.50 for the second year of combination; and 

    (4) $2,353.75 for the third year of combination. 

    (d) For districts that combine after two years of 
 cooperation, the percentage in subdivision 3, clause (2), shall 
 be: 

    (1) $9,415 for the first year of cooperation; 

    (2) $7,061.25 for the second year of cooperation; 

    (3) $4,707.50 for the first year of combination; and 

    (4) $2,353.75 for the second year of combination. 

    Subd. 5.    Cooperation and combination aid.  (a) 
 Districts that did not enter into an agreement under section 
 122.541 at least three years before the date of a successful 
 referendum held under section 122.243, subdivision 2, and 
 combine without cooperating shall receive cooperation and 
 combination aid for the first two years of combination.  
 Cooperation and combination aid shall not be paid after two 
 years of combining. 

    (b) Districts that entered into an agreement under section 
 122.541 at least three years before the date of a successful 
 referendum held under section 122.243, subdivision 2, and 
 combine without cooperating shall receive cooperation and 
 combination aid for the first four years of combination.  Aid 
 must not be paid after four years of combination. 

    (c) Districts that combine after one year of cooperation 
 shall receive cooperation and combination aid for the first year 
 of cooperation and three years of combination.  Aid shall not be 
 paid after three years of combining.  

    (d) Districts that combine after two years of cooperation 
 shall receive cooperation and combination aid for the first two 
 years of cooperation and the first two years of combination.  
 Aid shall not be paid after two years of combining. 

    (e) In each case, cooperation and combination aid is equal 
 to the difference between the cooperation and combination 
 revenue and the cooperation and combination levy. 

    Subd. 6.    Additional aid.  In addition to the aid in 
 subdivision 5, districts shall receive aid according to the 
 following: 

    (1) for districts that did not enter into an agreement 
 under section 122.541 at least three years before the date of a 
 successful referendum held under section 122.243, subdivision 2, 
 and combine without cooperating, $100 times the pupil units 
 served in the district in the first year of combination; or 

    (2) for districts that combine after one or two years of 
 cooperation, $100 times the actual pupil units served in each 
 district for the first year of cooperation and $100 times the 
 actual pupil units served in the combined district for the first 
 year of combination; or 

    (3) for districts that entered into an agreement under 
 section 122.541 at least three years before the date of a 
 successful referendum held under section 122.243, subdivision 2, 
 and combine without cooperating, $100 times the pupil units 
 served in the combined district for the first two years of 
 combination. 

    Subd. 7.    Proportional aid.  If a district does not 
 levy the entire amount permitted under subdivision 3, the aid in 
 subdivisions 5 and 6 must be reduced in proportion to the actual 
 amount levied.  

    Subd. 8. MS 1992 Repealed, 1993 c 224 art 6 s 32; 1993 c 
 374 s 15 

    Subd. 9.    Subsequent districts.  If a district 
 subsequently cooperates or combines with districts that have 
 previously received revenue under this section, the new district 
 shall receive revenue, according to subdivision 4 or 6, as 
 follows: 

    (1) if the districts previously received revenue under 
 subdivisions 4, paragraph (a), 5, paragraph (a), and 6, clause 
 (1), the new district will receive two years of revenue under 
 those provisions; 

    (2) if the districts previously received revenue under 
 subdivisions 4, paragraph (b), (c), or (d), 5, paragraph (b), 
 (c), or (d), and 6, clause (2) or (3), the new district shall 
 receive four years of revenue under the applicable provisions of 
 subdivisions 5, 6, and this subdivision.  The previously 
 cooperating or combined districts may not receive revenue, 
 according to subdivision 6 or 10, as though parties to a new 
 agreement. 

    As of the effective date of a cooperation and combination 
 agreement between districts that have previously received 
 revenue under this section and a new district, the new group of 
 districts may not receive revenue in excess of the limit 
 specified in subdivision 10. 

    Subd. 10.    Revenue limit.  Revenue under this section 
 shall not exceed the revenue received by cooperating districts 
 or a combined district with 2,000 pupil units served.  Revenue 
 for cooperating districts subject to the limitation in this 
 subdivision shall be allocated according to the number of pupil 
 units served in the districts. 

    Subd. 11.    Use of revenue.  Revenue under this section 
 shall be used for expenses of cooperating and combining school 
 districts, including, but not limited to: 

    (1) secondary course offerings in communications, 
 mathematics, science, social studies, foreign languages, 
 physical education, health, and career education if the courses 
 have specific learner outcomes; 

    (2) participation by teachers in determining the learner 
 outcomes; 

    (3) staff in-service related to cooperation and 
 combination; 

    (4) any of the purposes set forth in section 124A.22, 
 subdivision 11, clauses (3), (4), (15), (18), (19), (20), (21), 
 and (22), if the purposes are related to courses offered 
 cooperatively; and 

    (5) incentives for superintendents, principals, teachers, 
 and other licensed and nonlicensed employees, such as early 
 retirement, severance pay, and health insurance benefits. 

    Subd. 12.    Joint purposes.  Cooperating district 
 revenue may only be used for purposes of joint efforts between 
 cooperating districts.  The revenue shall be in a separate 
 account.  School boards shall mutually determine cooperative 
 expenditures. 

    Subd. 13.    Failure to combine.  A district has failed 
 to combine if the commissioner disapproves of the plan according 
 to section 122.243, subdivision 1, or if a third referendum 
 fails under section 122.243, subdivision 2, or if the 
 commissioner of children, families, and learning determines that 
 the districts involved are not making sufficient progress toward 
 combination. 

    (a) If a district has failed to combine, cooperation and 
 combination aid under subdivisions 5 and 6 shall not be paid and 
 the authority to levy under subdivision 4 ceases.  The 
 commissioner shall reduce other aids due the district to recover 
 an amount equal to the aid paid under subdivision 6 plus the 
 difference between the aid paid under subdivision 5 and the aid 
 that would have been paid if the revenue had been $50 times the 
 pupil units served.  

    (b) If a district has failed to combine, the authority to 
 levy for reorganization operating debt under section 122.531, 
 subdivision 4a, and for severance pay or early retirement 
 incentives under subdivision 15 ceases. 

    Subd. 14.    Cessation of revenue.  At any time the 
 districts cease cooperating, aid shall not be paid and the 
 authority to levy ceases.  If a district ceases to cooperate for 
 all or a portion of a fiscal year for which a levy has been 
 certified under subdivision 3, the department of children, 
 families, and learning shall adjust the next levy certified by 
 the district by an amount in proportion to the part of the 
 fiscal year that the district did not cooperate. 

    Subd. 15.    Retirement and severance levy.  A 
 cooperating or combined district that levied under subdivision 3 
 for taxes payable in 1995 may levy for severance pay or early 
 retirement incentives for licensed and nonlicensed employees who 
 retire early as a result of the cooperation or combination. 

    Subd. 16.    Exclusion from fund balance.  Revenue 
 received by a district under this section for each year of 
 cooperation and the first three years of combination shall be 
 excluded from the net unreserved operating fund balance, for the 
 purposes of sections 124A.03, subdivision 3b, paragraph (c), and 
 124A.26.  

    HIST: 1989 c 329 art 6 s 37; 1990 c 562 art 6 s 22-26; 1991 c 
 130 s 37; 1991 c 265 art 6 s 34-38; 1992 c 499 art 6 s 16,17; 
 art 12 s 29; 1993 c 224 art 6 s 9-15; art 13 s 37,38; 1994 c 647 
 art 1 s 11; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 6 s 6-9; art 16 s 13; 1997 c 7 art 1 
 s 53