A. The governing board of a school district may budget any budget balance in the maintenance and operation section of the budget, as provided in section 15-903, from the current fiscal year for use in the maintenance and operation section of the budget in the budget year. The amount that may be budgeted as the budget balance carryforward in any one fiscal year shall not include any budget balance attributable to any reduction in the district’s general budget limit, including reductions for items that are exempt from the revenue control limit and for which expenditures are limited to a designated purpose such as monies levied pursuant to section 15-910, subsection G. The amount budgeted as the budget balance carryforward is specifically exempt from the revenue control limit.

B. If the actual amount of the allowable budget balance carryforward is less than the amount budgeted for the budget balance carryforward, the governing board shall adjust the general budget limit and expenditures before May 15 based on the actual allowable budget balance carryforward. If the actual amount of the allowable budget balance carryforward is more than the amount budgeted for the budget balance carryforward, the governing board may adjust its budget before May 15 based on the actual amount of the allowable fund balance carryforward. Not later than May 18, the budget as revised shall be submitted electronically to the superintendent of public instruction.

C. If the governing board is eligible to budget for a budget balance carryforward as provided in subsection A of this section, the governing board may transfer an amount from the district’s ending cash balance of the maintenance and operations fund to the school opening fund. The school opening fund is a cash controlled fund as provided in section 15-905, subsection N, and may be spent only for the additional maintenance and operations expenses incurred in the first year of operation of a new school within the school district. The monies in the school opening fund are not subject to reversion, except that at the end of five years of no activity in the fund, any remaining monies revert to the maintenance and operations fund. Any monies so reverted may be considered additional budget balance for that fiscal year.

D. If a governing board transfers monies as provided in subsection C of this section, the amount so transferred in a fiscal year shall be subtracted from the amount the district would otherwise be eligible to budget for that fiscal year as provided in subsection A of this section. The difference, if any, is the maximum amount that may be budgeted for that fiscal year as a budget balance carryforward.

E. For the purposes of this section, "budget balance" means the difference between actual and budgeted expenditures.