1. (a) Before a school corporation may use money in the operations fund for replacing school buses, a resolution approving the school bus replacement plan or amended plan must be submitted to the department of local government finance.

2. (b) The department of local government finance shall prescribe the format of the plan. A plan must apply to at least the five (5) budget years immediately following the year the plan is adopted and include at least the following:

   1. (1) An estimate for each year to which it applies of the nature and amount of proposed expenditures from the fund.

   2. (2) If the school corporation is seeking to:

      1. (A) acquire; or

      2. (B) contract for transportation services that will provide;

         additional school buses or school buses with a larger seating capacity as compared with the number and type of school buses from the prior school year, evidence of a demand for increased transportation services within the school corporation. Clause (B) does not apply if contracted transportation services are not paid from the fund.

   3. (3) If the school corporation is seeking to require a contractor to replace a school bus, evidence that the need exists for the replacement of the school bus. This subdivision does not apply if contracted transportation services are not paid from the operations fund.
   4. (4) Evidence that the school corporation that seeks to acquire additional school buses under this section is acquiring or contracting for the school buses only for the purposes specified in subdivision (2) or for replacement purposes.

3. (c) If a school corporation wants to use money in the operations fund during the year to pay for school bus replacement, the governing body must adopt a resolution approving the bus replacement plan or amended plan. The school corporation shall post the proposed plan or proposed amended plan on the school corporation's website before the hearing. The governing body must hold a hearing on the adoption of the resolution as follows:

   1. (1) For a school corporation that has not elected to adopt a budget under IC 6-1.1-17-5.6 or for which a resolution adopted under IC 6-1.1-17-5.6 (d) is in effect, the school corporation must hold the hearing and adopt the resolution after January 1 and not later than November 1 of the immediately preceding year.

   2. (2) For a school corporation that elects to adopt a budget under IC 6-1.1-17-5.6 , the school corporation must hold the hearing and adopt the resolution after January 1 and not later than April 1 of the immediately preceding school fiscal year.

      The governing body shall submit the proposed school bus replacement plan or amended plan to the department of local government finance's computer gateway at least ten (10) days before the hearing on the adoption of the resolution. The department of local government finance shall make the proposed plan available to taxpayers, at least ten (10) days before the hearing, through the department's computer gateway. The department of local government finance's computer gateway must allow a taxpayer to search for the proposed plan under this section by the taxpayer's address. If an amendment to a bus replacement plan is being proposed, the governing body must declare the nature of and the need for the amendment in the resolution to adopt the amendment to the plan. The plan, as proposed to be amended, must comply with the requirements for a plan under this section.

4. (d) If a governing body adopts the resolution specified in subsection (c), the school corporation must then submit the resolution to the department of local government finance in the manner prescribed by the department. In addition, the governing body shall submit the school bus replacement plan or amended plan that is approved in the resolution to the department of local government finance's computer gateway not later than thirty (30) days after adoption of the resolution. The department of local government finance shall immediately make the adopted plan available to taxpayers through the department's computer gateway.
5. (e) The operations fund must be used to pay for the replacement of school buses, either through a purchase agreement or under a lease agreement.

6. (f) Before the last Thursday in August in the year preceding the first school year in which a proposed contract commences, the governing body of a school corporation may elect to designate a part of a:

   1. (1) transportation contract (as defined in IC 20-27-2-12 );
   2. (2) fleet contract (as defined in IC 20-27-2-5 ); or

   3. (3) common carrier contract (as defined in IC 20-27-2-3 );

      as an expenditure payable from the fund. An election under this subsection must be included in the resolution approving the school bus replacement plan or amended plan. The election applies throughout the term of the contract.

7. (g) The amount that may be paid from the fund under this section in a school year is equal to the fair market lease value in the school year of each school bus, school bus chassis, or school bus body used under the contract, as substantiated by invoices, depreciation schedules, and other documented information available to the school corporation.
8. (h) The allocation of costs under this section to the fund must comply with the accounting standards prescribed by the state board of accounts.

As added by P.L.244-2017, SEC.86. Amended by P.L.140-2018, SEC.17; P.L.238-2019, SEC.15; P.L.23-2026, SEC.209.