H-1018              _______________________________________________

                                                    HOUSE BILL NO. 432

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Representatives Fisch and Cole

Read first time 2/1/85 and referred to Committee on Education.

AN ACT Relating to reimbursement for school bus repairs; and amending RCW 28A.41.540.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 6, chapter 265, Laws of 1981 and RCW 28A.41.540 are each amended to read as follows:

          The superintendent shall determine the vehicle acquisition allocation in the following manner:

          (1) By May 1st of each year, the superintendent shall develop preliminary categories of student transportation vehicles to ensure adequate student transportation fleets for districts.  The superintendent shall take into consideration the types of vehicles purchased by individual school districts in the state.  The categories shall include, but not be limited to, variables such as vehicle capacity, type of chassis, type of fuel, engine and body type, special equipment, and life of vehicle.  The categories shall be developed in conjunction with the local districts and shall be applicable to the following school year.  The categories shall be designed to produce minimum long-range operating costs, including costs of equipment and all costs incurred in operating the vehicles.  Each category description shall include the estimated state-determined purchase price, which shall be based on the actual costs of the vehicles purchased for that comparable category in the state during the preceding twelve months and the anticipated market price for the next school fiscal year.  By June 15th of each year, the superintendent shall notify districts of the preliminary vehicle categories and state-determined purchase price for the ensuing school year.  By October 15th of each year, the superintendent shall finalize the categories and the associated state-determined purchase price and shall notify districts of any changes.  While it is the responsibility of each district to select each student transportation vehicle to be purchased by the district, each district shall be paid a sum based only on the amount of the state-determined purchase price and inflation as recognized by the reimbursement schedule established in this section as set by the superintendent for the category of vehicle purchased.

          (2) The superintendent shall develop a reimbursement schedule to pay districts for the cost of student transportation vehicles purchased after September 1, 1982.  The accumulated value of the payments and the potential investment return thereon shall be designed to be equal to the replacement value of the vehicle less its salvage value at the end of its anticipated lifetime.  The superintendent shall revise at least annually the reimbursement payments based on the current and anticipated future cost of comparable categories of transportation equipment.  Reimbursements to school districts for approved transportation equipment shall be placed in a separate vehicle transportation fund established for each school district under RCW 28A.58.428.

          (3) To the extent possible, districts shall operate vehicles acquired under this section not less than the number  of years or useful lifetime now, or hereafter, assigned to the class of vehicles by the superintendent.  School districts shall properly maintain the transportation equipment acquired under the provisions of this section, in accordance with rules established by the office of the superintendent of public instruction.  If a district fails to follow generally accepted standards of maintenance and operation, the superintendent of public instruction shall penalize the district by deducting from future reimbursements under this section an amount equal to the original cost of the vehicle multiplied by the fraction of the useful lifetime or miles the vehicle failed to operate.

          (4) The superintendent shall develop a reimbursement schedule to pay districts for the cost of rebuilding or major repairs of school buses:  PROVIDED, That reimbursement shall not be available for on-going maintenance costs.

(5) The superintendent shall annually develop a depreciation schedule to recognize the cost of depreciation to districts contracting with private carriers for student transportation.  Payments on this schedule shall be a straight line depreciation based on the original cost of the appropriate category of vehicle.