(1) As used in this section:
"Charter school debt service reserve fund" means a reasonably required debt servicereserve fund or account that has been funded with proceeds derived from the issuance of qualified charter school bonds or other moneys of the qualified charter school.
"Investment grade" means debt obligations that are rated in one of the four highestinvestment rating categories by one or more nationally recognized rating agencies.
(b.5) "Maximum principal outstanding" means the aggregate outstanding principal amount of bonds for which moneys may be appropriated pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of this section.
"Qualified charter school" means a charter school that is described in section 2230.5-104 or an institute charter school as that term is defined in section 22-30.5-502 that has a stand-alone credit assessment or rating of at least investment grade by a nationally recognized rating agency at the time of issuance of any qualified charter school bonds on behalf of the charter school by the Colorado educational and cultural facilities authority pursuant to the "Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority Act", article 15 of title 23, C.R.S., and that has been certified as a qualified charter school by the state treasurer.
"Qualified charter school bonds" means bonds that are issued by the Colorado educational and cultural facilities authority for the purpose of financing a facility to be used for occupancy by pupils enrolled in a qualified charter school and are secured by the state charter school debt reserve fund created by section 22-30.5-407 (2) and the provisions of this section.
"Qualified charter school debt service reserve fund requirement" means the level offunding required for a qualified charter school debt service reserve fund as specified in the trust indenture or resolution pursuant to which qualified charter school bonds have been issued, which level of funding shall be no less than the maximum annual principal and interest requirement for the allocable portion of the qualified charter school bonds issued for the benefit of the qualified charter school; except that an amount equal to the qualified charter school debt service reserve fund may be subtracted from the final principal payment for the allocable portion of the qualified charter school bonds issued for the benefit of the qualified charter school when determining the maximum annual principal and interest requirement amount.
"Rating agency" means any nationally recognized statistical rating organization asdefined under rule 2a-7 of the "Securities Exchange Act of 1934", as amended, 17 CFR 270.2a-7 (a)(17).
(1.5) (a) The Colorado educational and cultural facilities authority shall develop and publicly disclose the application requirements for the qualified charter school, the application and processing timeline, and all issuer fees and expenses that will apply to the transaction.
(b) The Colorado educational and cultural facilities authority shall not charge a qualified charter school for which it issues bonds pursuant to section 22-30.5-407 an annual fee after the issuance of the bonds occurs; except that this paragraph (b) shall not be construed to prohibit the authority from charging a qualified charter school for fees and expenses incurred in the enforcement of covenants or remedies.
(2) (a) If the Colorado educational and cultural facilities authority has issued qualified charter school bonds on behalf of any qualified charter school that fails immediately to restore its qualified charter school debt service reserve fund to the applicable qualified charter school debt service reserve fund requirement, the board of directors of the authority shall submit to the governor a certificate certifying any amount of moneys required to restore the qualified charter school debt service reserve fund to the applicable qualified charter school debt service reserve fund requirement. The governor shall submit a request for appropriations in an amount sufficient to restore any or all qualified charter school debt reserve funds to their respective qualified charter school debt service reserve fund requirements and the general assembly may, but shall not be required to, appropriate moneys for said purpose. If, in its sole discretion, the general assembly appropriates any moneys for said purpose, the aggregate outstanding principal amount of bonds for which moneys may be appropriated for said purpose shall not exceed five hundred million dollars.
Any moneys appropriated for the purpose of restoring any qualified charter schooldebt service reserve fund to its qualified charter school debt service reserve fund requirement shall be deposited into the applicable qualified charter school debt service reserve fund.
(I) Upon the expenditure of moneys from the state charter school debt reserve fund orthe state charter school interest savings account of the fund by the state treasurer, the state treasurer may file a lien on behalf of the state on the property securing the bonds for which the qualified charter school debt reserve fund is expended in an amount equal to the amount of moneys expended from the state charter school debt reserve fund or the state charter school interest savings account; except that such lien shall not be on a parity with or superior to any lien then secured by the property, including any lien securing such qualified charter school bonds.
(II) Any net proceeds from the sale of property securing the bonds for which the qualified charter school debt reserve fund is established shall be used to reimburse the state treasurer for any costs incurred in connection with the sale of such property. The state treasurer shall credit any additional net proceeds from the sale of such property to the state charter school debt reserve fund to restore the fund to a balance of seven million five hundred thousand dollars. The state treasurer shall credit any remaining net proceeds from the sale of such property to the state charter school interest savings account in the state charter school debt reserve fund.
(d) Upon the expenditure of moneys from the state charter school debt reserve fund or the state charter school interest savings account of the fund by the state treasurer, a qualified charter school shall provide the state treasurer with at least the following information:
A copy of any official statement or other offering document for the issuance or incurrence of the financial obligation of the qualified charter school;
A copy of any filings or correspondence with the federal internal revenue servicewith respect to the issuance or incurrence, including, if applicable, a copy of each form 8038 or form 8038G;
A copy of the continuing disclosure undertaking; and
Any other information that is described in the state public financing policy promulgated pursuant to section 24-36-121 (5), C.R.S., related to the issuance or incurrence.
(2.7) A qualified charter school that has financed capital construction with qualified charter school bonds shall confirm a stand-alone credit assessment or rating of at least investment grade by a nationally recognized rating agency on its outstanding qualified charter school bonds at the time of the issuance of any new charter school bonds.
This section shall not be construed to create any debt of the state or any state financial obligation whatsoever within the meaning of any state constitutional provision or to create any state liability whatsoever.
The general assembly hereby finds and declares that its intent in enacting this sectionis to support charter schools and charter school capital construction by helping qualified charter schools that choose to have the Colorado educational and cultural facilities authority issue qualified charter school bonds on their behalf obtain more favorable financing terms for the bonds.
Source: L. 2002: Entire part added, p. 1763, § 31, effective June 7. L. 2003: (1)(b), (1)(c), (1)(d), (1)(e), and (2)(a) amended and (1)(c.5) and (4) added, pp. 1803, 1804, §§ 3, 4, effective May 21. L. 2004: (1)(b) amended, p. 1635, § 38, effective July 1. L. 2006: (2)(a) amended, p. 590, § 1, effective April 24; (1) amended, p. 1494, § 26, effective June 1. L. 2011: (1)(b.5), (1.5), (2)(c), and (2.7) added, (SB 11-188), ch. 186, pp. 713, 714, §§ 3, 5, 4, effective July 1. L. 2012: (2)(d) added, (SB 12-150), ch. 196, p. 786, § 3, effective May 24. L. 2014: (2)(a) and (2)(c)(II) amended, (HB 14-1292), ch. 243, p. 916, § 19, effective May 21.
Editor's note: Subsection (4) was originally enacted as subsection (3) in House Bill 031021, but has been renumbered on revision for ease of location.
Cross references: For the short title ("Student Success Act") in HB 14-1292, see section 1 of chapter 243, Session Laws of Colorado 2014.