Section 3316.20 - School district solvency assistance fund; shared resource account; catastrophic expenditures account(A)(1) The school district solvency assistance fund is hereby created in the state treasury, to consist of such amounts designated for the purposes of the fund by the general assembly. The fund shall be used to provide assistance and grants to school districts to enable them to remain solvent and to pay unforeseeable expenses of a temporary or emergency nature that they are unable to pay from existing resources.(2) There is hereby created within the fund an account known as the school district shared resource account, which shall consist of money appropriated to it by the general assembly. The money in the account shall be used solely for solvency assistance to school districts that have been declared under division (B) of section 3316.03 of the Revised Code to be in a state of fiscal emergency.(3) There is hereby created within the fund an account known as the catastrophic expenditures account, which shall consist of money appropriated to the account by the general assembly plus all investment earnings of the fund. Money in the account shall be used solely for the following: (a) Solvency assistance to school districts that have been declared under division (B) of section 3316.03 of the Revised Code to be in a state of fiscal emergency, in the event that all money in the shared resource account is utilized for solvency assistance;(b) Grants to school districts under division (C) of this section.(B) Solvency assistance payments under division (A)(2) or (3)(a) of this section shall be made from the fund by the director of education and workforce in accordance with rules adopted by the director of budget and management, after consulting with the director, specifying approval criteria and procedures necessary for administering the fund. The fund shall be reimbursed for any solvency assistance amounts paid under division (A)(2) or (3)(a) of this section not later than the end of the second fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the solvency assistance payment was made, except that, upon the approval of the director of budget and management and the director of education and workforce, the fund may be reimbursed in another fiscal year designated by the director of budget and management and director of education and workforce that is not later than the end of the tenth fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the solvency assistance payment was made. If not made directly by the school district, such reimbursement shall be made by the director of budget and management from the amounts the school district would otherwise receive pursuant to Chapter 3317. of the Revised Code, or from any other funds appropriated for the district by the general assembly. Reimbursements shall be credited to the respective account from which the solvency assistance paid to the district was deducted.
(C) The director of education and workforce may make recommendations, and the controlling board may grant money from the catastrophic expenditures account to any school district that suffers an unforeseen catastrophic event that severely depletes the district's financial resources. The director of education and workforce shall make recommendations for the grants in accordance with rules adopted by the director of budget and management, after consulting with the director of education and workforce. A school district shall not be required to repay any grant awarded to the district under this division, unless the district receives money from this state or a third party, including an agency of the government of the United States, specifically for the purpose of compensating the district for revenue lost or expenses incurred as a result of the unforeseen catastrophic event. If a school district receives a grant from the catastrophic expenditures account on the basis of the same circumstances for which an adjustment or recomputation is authorized under section 3317.025, 3317.028, 3317.0210, or 3317.0211 of the Revised Code, the department of education and workforce shall reduce the adjustment or recomputation by an amount not to exceed the total amount of the grant, and an amount equal to the reduction shall be transferred, from the funding source from which the adjustment or recomputation would be paid, to the catastrophic expenditures account. Any adjustment or recomputation under such sections that is in excess of the total amount of the grant shall be paid to the school district.Amended by 135th General Assembly, HB 33,§130.100, eff. 10/3/2023.Amended by 132nd General Assembly, HB 49,§101.01, eff. 9/29/2017.Amended by 129th General Assembly, HB 153, §101.01, eff. 6/30/2011.Amended by 128th General Assembly, HB 1, §101.01, eff. 7/17/2009.Effective Date: 06-03-2002 .