Montana Code 20-9-104. General fund operating reserve
20-9-104. General fund operating reserve. (1) At the end of each school fiscal year, the trustees of each district shall designate the portion of the general fund end-of-the-year fund balance that is to be earmarked as operating reserve for the purpose of paying general fund warrants issued by the district from July 1 to November 30 of the ensuing school fiscal year. Except as provided in subsections (6) and (7), the amount of the general fund balance that is earmarked as operating reserve may not exceed 10% of the final general fund budget for the ensuing school fiscal year.
Terms Used In Montana Code 20-9-104
- BASE: means base amount for school equity. See Montana Code 20-9-306
- Budget authority: Authority provided by law to enter into obligations that will result in outlays of Federal funds. Budget authority may be classified by the period of availability (one-year, multiyear, no-year), by the timing of congressional action (current or permanent), or by the manner of determining the amount available (definite or indefinite).
- district: means the territory, regardless of county boundaries, organized under the provisions of this title to provide public educational services under the jurisdiction of the trustees prescribed by this title. See Montana Code 20-6-101
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- fund: means a separate detailed account of receipts and expenditures for a specific purpose as authorized by law or by the superintendent of public instruction under the provisions of subsection (2). See Montana Code 20-9-201
- Maximum general fund budget: means a district's general fund budget amount calculated from the basic entitlement for the district, the total per-ANB entitlement for the district, the total quality educator payment, the total at-risk student payment, the total Indian education for all payment, the total American Indian achievement gap payment, the total data-for-achievement payment, and the greater of the district's special education allowable cost payment multiplied by:
(a)175%; or
(b)the ratio, expressed as a percentage, of the district's special education allowable cost expenditures to the district's special education allowable cost payment for the fiscal year that is 2 years previous, with a maximum allowable ratio of 200%. See Montana Code 20-9-306
- Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
- school: means an institution for the teaching of children that is established and maintained under the laws of the state of Montana at public expense. See Montana Code 20-6-501
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Trustees: means the governing board of a district. See Montana Code 20-1-101
(2)The amount held as operating reserve may not be used for property tax reduction in the manner permitted by 20-9-141(1)(b) for other receipts.
(3)Excess reserves as provided in subsection (6) may be appropriated to reduce the BASE budget levy or the over-BASE budget levy.
(4)Except as provided in subsection (9), any portion of the general fund end-of-the-year fund balance, including any portion attributable to a tax increment remitted under 7-15-4286(3) or 7-15-4291, that is not reserved under subsection (2) or reappropriated under subsection (3) is fund balance reappropriated and must be used for property tax reduction as provided in 20-9-141(1)(b) up to an amount not exceeding 15% of a school district’s maximum general fund budget.
(5)Except as provided in subsection (9), any unreserved fund balance in excess of 15% of a school district’s maximum general fund budget must be remitted to the state and allocated as follows:
(a)70% of the excess amount must be remitted to the state to be deposited in the guarantee account provided for in 20-9-622; and
(b)30% of the excess amount must be remitted to the school facility and technology account.
(6)The limitation of subsection (1) does not apply when the amount in excess of the limitation is equal to or less than the unused balance of any amount:
(a)received in settlement of tax payments protested in a prior school fiscal year;
(b)received in taxes from a prior school fiscal year as a result of a tax audit by the department of revenue or its agents; or
(c)received in delinquent taxes from a prior school fiscal year.
(7)The limitation of subsection (1) does not apply when the amount earmarked as operating reserve is $10,000 or less.
(8)Any amounts remitted to the state under subsection (5) are not considered expenditures to be applied against budget authority.
(9)Any portion of a tax increment remitted under 7-15-4286(3) or 7-15-4291 and deposited in the district’s general fund is not subject to the:
(a)15% fund balance limit provided for in subsection (4); or
(b)provisions of subsection (5).