WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From J. Burman, Public Affairs, NY State Education Depatment. October 18, 2006: On Wednesday, before the School District had made a statement on why the District Referendum passed with a simple majority, instead of a 60% plurality, WPCNR asked the State Education Department to clarify the 60% rule. A media spokesperson, provided the following background to WPCNR:

The following Q&As come from a book called "School Law," which is published jointly by the NYS School Boards Association and the NYS Bar Association. It's not an SED publication, but provides a good overview of the law.

Q:  Must a school board adopt a resolution to authorize the issuance of bonds and notes?

A:  Yes, according to section 31.00 of the Local Finance Law.

Q:  Must the school district's voters approve the issuance of bonds and capital notes?

A:  Yes. With limited exceptions, before a school board can adopt a resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds or capital notes, voters must approve a tax to be collected in installments for the bonds that are to be issued (§ 37.00; see also Educ. Law § 416). Different restrictions can be found in sections 37.00 and 104.00 of the Local Finance Law.

Q:   Does a school district need the consent of the Board of Regents or the state comptroller to issue bonds?

A:   The consent of the Board of Regents to issue bonds is necessary when a district, other than a city school district, having an aggregate assessed valuation of real property of $100,000 or more (excluding the payment of judgments or settled or compromised claims), proposes to issue bonds or bond anticipation notes, which would cause the school district's indebtedness, as determined pursuant to Local Finance Law section 137.00, to exceed 10 percent of the valuation of the real property subject to taxation by the school district. Moreover, under such circumstances, the tax voted to be collected in installments to satisfy the indebtedness, or the proposition for the approval of the bond resolution, must be approved by at least 60 percent of the qualified voters who vote at the election called for such purposes (§ 104.00(d)).
   
In school districts located wholly within the Adirondack Park that have within their boundaries state lands subject to taxation, the full valuation of which is more than 30 percent of the full valuation of real property subject to taxation by the school district, the consent of the state comptroller also is required (§ 104.00(d)(3)).
   
In city school districts, the consent of both the Board of Regents and the state comptroller is necessary before the district can contract indebtedness (including existing indebtedness) that exceeds 5 percent of the average valuation of real property in the school district. Under such circumstances, the tax voted to be collected in installments to satisfy the indebtedness, or the proposition for the approval of the bond resolution, must be approved by at least 60 percent of the qualified voters who vote at the election called for such purposes. The proposition presented to the voters must contain a statement indicating that the obligations to be issued may exceed the constitutional debt limit of the school district (§ 104.00(b)(8), (c); see also 19:76).