1994 Legislative Session: 3rd Session, 35th Parliament
FIRST READING


The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.


HONOURABLE ARTHUR CHARBONNEAU
MINISTER OF EDUCATION

BILL 10 -- 1994

SCHOOL AMENDMENT ACT, 1994

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 Section 1 (1) of the School Act, S.B.C. 1989, c. 61, is amended in the definition of "capital expenses" by repealing paragraph (d) and substituting the following:

(d) expenses incurred in acquiring buses and their accessories, and .

2 The following section is added:

Passage of bylaws

87.1 (1) Before it is passed, a bylaw of the board must be given 3 distinct readings.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), at each of the readings of a bylaw, the bylaw must be read in full.

(3) The second and third readings of a bylaw may, if all of the trustees have in their possession a written or printed copy of the bylaw, consist of a description of the bylaw by

(a) its title, and

(b) a summary of its contents.

(4) The board shall not give a bylaw more than 2 readings at any one meeting unless the members of the board who are present at the meeting unanimously agree to give the bylaw all 3 readings at that meeting.

3 Section 126 is repealed and the following substituted:

Financial information

126 (1) On or before March 15 of each year, a board shall submit to the minister

(a) the board’s estimate of the debt service surplus or deficit it will experience in that fiscal year, and

(b) any other information that the minister requests respecting revenue or other financial matters.

(2) On or before March 30 of each year, the minister shall prepare, approve and provide to each board the estimate of the board’s debt service expenses for the next fiscal year.

(3) A board shall include the estimate provided to it under subsection (2) in

(a) its final budget for the fiscal year adopted under section 129 (1) (a), and

(b) its preliminary budget for the next fiscal year adopted under section 129 (1) (b).

4 Section 129 is amended

(a) by repealing subsection (1) and substituting the following:

(1) A board shall by bylaw adopt,

(a) on or before February 28 in a year, its final budget for that fiscal year, and

(b) on or before April 27 in a year, its preliminary budget for the next fiscal year. ,

(b) in subsection (2) by striking out "subsection (1)" and substituting "subsection (1) (b)", and

(c) by repealing subsection (3) and substituting the following:

(3) The bylaws referred to in subsection (1) shall be in the form specified by the minister and the board shall, immediately after adopting a bylaw referred to in subsection (1), send a certified copy of that adopted bylaw

(a) to the minister, and

(b) if the bylaw is one adopted under subsection (1) (b) and includes the information referred to in subsection (2), to

(i) the council of each municipality in the school district, and

(ii) the Surveyor of Taxes in respect of the rural area of the school district.

5 Section 152 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(3) The board shall pay out of the amount of the Provincial block that is allocated to the board in a fiscal year, any interest charges that are payable in that fiscal year as the result of borrowings under subsection (1).

6 Section 157 (2) (c) is repealed and the following substituted:

(c) is not valid unless it is adopted by a majority of the board, .

7 Section 158 is amended

(a) by repealing subsection (1) (a) and substituting the following:

(a) the board has adopted a capital bylaw in accordance with section 157, and , and

(b) by repealing subsection (2) and substituting the following:

(2) An approval of a capital plan by the minister under section 156 (5) is not an authorization for the purpose of subsection (1) (b).

8 Section 159 is amended

(a) in subsection (1) by striking out "25" and substituting "30", and

(b) by repealing subsection (2) (a) and substituting the following:

(a) the board shall set aside in each fiscal year during the term of the debentures, a sum that, together with interest compounded annually on it at a rate determined by the British Columbia School Districts Capital Financing Authority, would be sufficient to provide a sinking fund for

(i) the full repayment of the debentures at their maturity, or

(ii) with the approval of the British Columbia School Districts Capital Financing Authority, the partial repayment of the debentures at their maturity, and .

9 Section 176 (1) is repealed and the following substituted:

(1) The auditor shall report in writing to the board and the minister

(a) any expenditure that has not been recorded by the board in accordance with the requirements imposed under section 170 (9),

(b) any irregularity respecting the assets, liabilities, accounts, funds or financial obligations of the board,

(c) the name of any person that the auditor considers responsible for an irregularity referred to in paragraph (b), and

(d) any sum that ought to have been but was not brought into account.

10 Section 182 (2) is amended by striking out "and" at the end of paragraph (j.3) and by adding the following:

(j.4) respecting the appointment of auditors under section 172 (1),

(j.5) respecting the accounting records referred to in section 170 (1) and (9), and .

 
Explanatory Notes

SECTION 1: clarifies that the only expenses to acquire vehicles and related accessories that qualify as capital expenses are those relating to buses.

SECTION 2: clarifies the manner in which bylaws are to be passed.

SECTION 3: provides the minister with the ability to prepare estimates of a board’s debt service expenses for inclusion in the board’s budget bylaw.

SECTION 4: requires boards to adopt a preliminary budget for a school year in April of the prior year and a final budget in February of the school year in the form required by the minister.

SECTION 5: requires boards to pay out of their allocation any interest charges incurred as a result of borrowings.

SECTIONS 6 and 7: remove the necessity for the minister to approve the capital bylaw.

SECTION 8: permits boards to borrow for a term of up to 30 years and permits the board to secure its borrowings with sinking fund debentures that need not, if the approval of the British Columbia School Districts Capital Financing Authority is first obtained, be fully paid out at maturity.

SECTION 9: requires an auditor to report on any expenditure not recorded by the board in accordance with section 170 (9) of the School Act.

SECTION 10: permits the minister to make orders relative to the appointment of auditors for and the accounting records of boards.


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