Current through 2024-13, March 27, 2024
A.
Purpose
The School Revolving Renovation Fund is established to make
loans for school renovation projects that contribute to safe, healthy,
efficient, and adequate school facilities in which an SAU can deliver its
educational program.
B.
Eligible Renovation Projects
All projects must receive Department of Education and BGS
approval prior to construction in order to be eligible for funding
consideration. Projects in the following categories shall be eligible for
consideration for loans from the School Revolving Renovation Fund, provided
that the application for funding a renovation project is submitted to the
Department and is approved by the Department prior to the commencement of work
on the renovation project.
1)
Priority Onea) Repair or
replacement of a roof on a school building;
b) Bringing a school building into compliance
with the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act, 42
United States Code, Section 12101 et
seq.;
c) Improving air
quality in a school building;
d)
Removing or abating hazardous materials in a school building; and
e) Other health, safety and compliance
repairs.
2)
Priority Two
a) School building
structures;
b) Windows and doors;
and
c) Water and septic systems
including waste disposal systems.
3)
Priority Three
a) Building insulation;
b) Variable speed electric motors;
c) Efficient lighting systems and
controls;
d) Alternative energy
installations; and
e) Other energy
and water conservation projects.
4)
Priority Four
a) Upgrades of learning spaces in school
buildings.
5)
Priority Five: Other projects approved by the
Commissioner.
C.
Priority of Funding
Approved projects must be funded based on the availability
of funds and in priority order from Priority One to Priority Five. The
Commissioner of Education may approve funding for renovation projects as an
exception to the Priority One to Priority Five funding rule if
category-specific funds become available from sources other than principal and
interest received from the repayment of loans made from the fund, interest
earned from the investment of fund balances and funds from school construction
audit recoveries.
D.
Application
1) A Department
approved application form will be accepted on a schedule set by the
Department.
2) A separate
application must be submitted for each individual project
3) All applications submitted to the
Department must provide supporting materials appropriate to the project. These
materials may include but are not limited to the following:
a) Educational program and maintenance and
capital improvement plans;
b)
Engineering studies, including Renovation vs. New Construction analyses, to be
conducted by licensed engineers, architects or firms licensed to provide such
services;
c) Life-cycle studies for
renovation, energy and water conservation projects;
d) A payback schedule for avoided costs in
energy and water conservation projects; and
e) Any other materials requested by the
Department.
E.
Application Review
1) Applications will be reviewed by the
Department and assigned priority status in accordance with the rating system
contained in these rules. Funds will be distributed based on funding
availability and a school administrative unit's readiness to proceed.
2)
Rating System. Emergency
projects will be funded before non-emergency projects.
3)
Emergency. An emergency
situation posing imminent danger to the health and safety of students and
staff. Projects necessitated by an emergency will be dealt with on a case by
case basis as determined by the Department in cooperation with the
BGS.
4) The following criteria will
be applied to rating of Priority One and Priority Two projects:
(i) Percentage of student population
impacted;
(ii) Extent or severity
of the problem;
(iii) Location
within the facility;
(iv) Code
violations; and
(v) Structural
condition of the facility.
5) The following criteria will be applied to
rating of Priority Three projects:
(i) Number
of years of avoided costs necessary to pay for project;
(ii) Percentage of energy saved annually
based on gallons of oil, cubic feet of natural gas, kWh of electricity,
etc.;
(iii) Percentage of annual
dollar savings for energy costs in the affected facility;
(iv) Life of the facility following the
proposed project; and
(v) Other
benefits gained.
6)
Priority Four projects will be rated based on State of Maine Board of Education
Rules Chapter 61, "Rules for Major Capital School Construction
Projects".
7)
Bureau of
General Services review. All projects, as required by 5 M.R.S.A.
§1742(7), will be reviewed by BGS and only those projects approved by BGS
under rules developed by the Bureau pursuant to Chapter 787 will be eligible
for submission by the Department to the Bank.
8) Any project with an estimated value of
$100,000 or more shall be awarded by competitive bid unless the bidding
provision is waived by the Department.
F.
Forgiveness Rates
1) The Bank will forgive a portion of the
principal payments of a loan for an eligible school administrative unit
determined by the Department based on the school administrative unit's State
share percentage as determined in 20-A M.R.S.A. §15672, subsection 31, for
the most recent year of enacted General Purpose Aid. Notwithstanding these
guidelines, the loan forgiveness shall be no more than 70% and not less than
30%.
2) The Department will provide
the Bank with the eligible administrative unit's State share
percentage.
3) Funds allocated to
an eligible school administrative unit will not be included in that unit's debt
service allocation under 20-A M.R.S.A. §15683-A.
G.
Notification to the Bank. The
Department will develop a list of priority projects approved for funding based
on the Department's application review and BGS's approval and submit it to the
Bank for funding. This list will be updated annually. Each eligible school
administrative unit and the Bank shall receive an eligibility certificate which
shall include the following:
1) name of school
administrative unit that is eligible;
2) amount of the loan;
3) amount and percentage to be
forgiven;
4) length of the loan;
and
5) time limit for completion of
the project.
H.
Maximum Loan. The maximum total loans for repairs, renovations,
and improvement projects (for Priority One, Two, Three, Four, and Five projects
as described in Section 4(B)(5) of this rule) for a school building from the
fund will be $4 million.
School administrative units may raise additional local funds
to support the project. Local funds will not be subject to the forgiveness
provisions and are not eligible for State participation.
The maximum loan amount from the fund to address each
priority in a school building will be $1 million within any 5-year
period.
I. All construction
projects supported through the Revolving Renovation Loan Fund for construction
of new facilities, additions to existing buildings, renovations or remodeling
of existing buildings shall be designed and constructed with materials that
provide long-term durability and meet energy efficiency standards as defined in
5 M.R.S.A. §§ 1762-1769. Prior approval of the Department is required
before changes including changes which reduce the durability of materials may
be made. Approval or disapproval by the Department shall be in response to
recommendations from BGS.
J.
Length of Loan. Loans from the fund are subject to the following
time limits for repayment:
1) Loans of
$500,000 or less = 5 years or less than 5 years if accelerated by mutual
agreement of the parties; and
2)
Loans of $500,001 or more = 10 years or less than 10 years if accelerated by
mutual agreement of the parties.
K.
Disbursement of loan
proceeds. For projects approved by the Department and BGS for funding,
the Bank shall make payment from that unit's Revolving Renovation Fund loan
upon presentation of a requisition form with supporting invoices approved by
the school administrative unit. With the final requisition form, certifications
from the school administrative unit, designer and contractor confirming project
completion are required.
