cash balances.

A. A school district shall not expend money from its operational fund for the acquisition of a building site or for the construction of a new structure, unless the school district has bonded itself to practical capacity or the secretary determines and certifies to the legislative finance committee that the expending of money from the operational fund for this purpose is necessary for an adequate public educational program and will not unduly hamper the school district’s current operations.

B. A school district or charter school may budget out of cash balances carried forward from the previous fiscal year an amount not to exceed five percent of its proposed operational fund expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year as an emergency account. Money in the emergency account shall be used only for unforeseen expenditures incurred after the annual budget was approved and shall not be expended without the prior written approval of the secretary.

C. In addition to the emergency account, school districts or charter schools may also budget operational fund cash balances carried forward from the previous fiscal year for operational expenditures, exclusive of salaries and payroll, upon specific prior approval of the secretary. The secretary shall notify the legislative finance committee in writing of the secretary’s approval of such proposed expenditures.

D. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, the secretary shall reduce school districts’ and charter schools’ fiscal year 2017 state equalization guarantee distributions as credit for excess fiscal year 2016 operational fund cash balances in accordance with Section 2 of this 2017 act, and a school district or charter school whose distribution is accordingly reduced shall apply in the amount of that credit its audited fiscal year 2016 operational fund cash balance toward the school district’s or charter school’s fiscal year 2017 operations.