The California Department of Education has announced that 43 school districts have been selected via lottery as recipients of a combined $700 million in Qualified School Construction Bond tax credits. The lottery selection process was necessary because the number of applications exceeded the allocation available.
The new QSCB tax credit program is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. ARRA allows tax credits on $22 billion nationwide to QSCB for this year and next. California’s share is an estimated $2.7 billion over the same two-year period.
Of this sum, $582 million was previously directly allocated to the state’s 11 largest school districts; $700 million was available through the recent lottery process to qualifying school districts; and $73 million is available to allocate this year to qualifying charter schools. The remaining estimated $1.3 billion will be allocated in 2010.
QSCB provides federal income tax credits in lieu of interest to lenders who purchase bonds from eligible school districts. The United States Treasury Department established state allocation limits and set a tax credit rate for QSCB that, on average, equals the amount of interest schools would ordinarily pay on debt.
ACSA and Total School Solutions can assist districts that were selected in the recent Quality School Construction Bond lottery.
“This is a very unique opportunity for the districts that made the list,” said ACSA Management Services Executive Brett McFadden. “It’s a silver lining in an otherwise very dark cloud.”
The bonds are intended for construction-ready projects and must be sold by Dec. 31. LEAs must have contracts signed within six months and must have work done within three years.
“The QSCB program provides California school districts with the ability to extend the local tax dollar with interest-free bonds,” said Dennis Dunston of TSS. “This is a benefit to the district’s building program, the taxpayers and, most importantly, the students of California by providing additional funding for school facilities.”
Among the services that ACSA and TSS can provide are:
• A program manager to manage the process and make sure deadlines are met.
• A program manager/project manager to make sure the projects are bid and constructed in a timely manner. In this capacity the person would act as the owner’s representative during preconstruction, construction and close out of the project.
• Development of project budgets including soft costs and contingencies that fit within the bond limitations.
• Assisting the district in determining all necessary soft costs, including DSA fees; CDE fees; architectural fees; testing and inspection costs (preconstruction and construction); furniture and equipment costs; and opening costs.
• Assisting with high performance standards and elements in the design.
• Assisting with the commissioning of the project.
• Helping to explain the requirements and options in the QSCB program to the district.
• Assisting in determining operating costs such as personnel, utilities and materials.
For more information, contact Brett McFadden at bmcfadden@acsa.org or visit www.totalschoolsolutions.net.