281—98.64 (279,283,297,298) Physical plant and equipment levy (PPEL) fund. The physical plant and equipment levy (PPEL) consists of the regular PPEL not to exceed $0.33 per $1000 of assessed valuation and a voter-approved PPEL not to exceed $1.34 per $1000 of assessed valuation, for a total of $1.67. The authority to establish a PPEL fund is available to school districts but not to area education agencies.
	   98.64(1) Sources of revenue in the PPEL fund. Sources of revenue in the PPEL fund include a property tax, income surtax, and interest on the investment of those moneys, and proceeds from loan agreements in anticipation of the collection of the voter-approved property. Proceeds from the condemnation, sale or disposition of real property are revenue to the PPEL fund. Proceeds from loans for equipment pursuant to Iowa Code section 279.48, federal loans for asbestos projects pursuant to Iowa Code section 279.52, or loans for energy conservation projects pursuant to Iowa Code section 473.20 may be accounted for in the PPEL fund. If the school board intends to enter into a rental, lease, or loan agreement, only a property tax shall be levied for those purposes.
	   98.64(2) Appropriate uses of the PPEL fund. Appropriate expenditures in the PPEL fund include the following:
	      a.    	 Purchase of grounds including the legal costs relating to the property acquisition, costs of surveys of the property, costs of relocation assistance under state and federal law, and other costs incidental in the property acquisition.
	      b.    	 Improvement of grounds including grading, landscaping, paving, seeding, and planting of shrubs and trees; constructing sidewalks, roadways, retaining walls, sewers and storm drains, and installing hydrants; surfacing and soil treatment of athletic fields and tennis courts; exterior lighting, including athletic fields and tennis courts; furnishing and installing flagpoles, gateways, fences, and underground storage tanks which are not parts of building service systems; demolition work; and special assessments against the school district for public improvements.
	      c.    	 Construction of schoolhouses or buildings.
	      d.    	 Construction of roads to schoolhouses or buildings.
	      e.    	 Purchasing, leasing, or lease-purchasing equipment or technology exceeding $500 in value per purchase, lease, or lease-purchase transaction.
	       (1)  	 “Equipment” means both equipment and furnishings. The cost limitation for equipment does not apply to recreational equipment pursuant to paragraph 98.64(2)“n” or equipment that becomes an integral part of real property such as furnaces, boilers, water heaters, and central air-conditioning units that are included in repairs to a building pursuant to paragraph 98.64(2)“h.”
	       (2)  	 “Transaction” means a business deal or agreement between a school district and a provider of goods or services. Technology may be bundled for purposes of exceeding $500 per transaction.
	      f.    	 Transferring to debt service for payments, when due, of debts contracted for the erection or construction of schoolhouses or buildings, not including interest on bonds.
	      g.    	 Procuring or acquisition of library facilities.
	      h.    	 Repairing, remodeling, reconstructing, improving, or expanding the schoolhouses or buildings and the additions to existing schoolhouses. “Repairing” means restoring an existing structure or thing to its original condition, as near as may be, after decay, waste, injury, or partial destruction, but does not include maintenance. “Reconstructing” means rebuilding or restoring as an entity a thing which was lost or destroyed. “Maintenance” means to cause to remain in a state of good repair or to keep equipment in effective working condition and ready for daily use. Maintenance includes cleaning, upkeep, inspecting for needed maintenance, preserving the existing state or condition, preventing a decline in the existing state or condition, and replacing parts, unless otherwise a repair.
	      i.    	 Energy conservation projects.
	      j.    	 Transferring interest and principal to the debt service fund when due for loans to purchase equipment authorized under Iowa Code section 279.48, for loans in anticipation of the collection of the voter-approved property under Iowa Code section 297.36, and loans to be used for energy conservation measures under Iowa Code section 473.20, in the case of a school district, when the original proceeds were accounted for in the PPEL fund.
	      k.    	 The rental of facilities under Iowa Code chapter 28E.
	      l.    	 Purchase of transportation equipment for transporting students and for repairing such transportation equipment when the cost of the repair exceeds $2,500. “Repairing,” for purposes of this paragraph, means restoring an existing item of transportation equipment to its original condition, as near as may be, after gradual obsolescence of physical and functional use due to wear and tear, corrosion and decay, or partial destruction, and includes maintenance that meets the definition of equipment and repair and the cost of which exceeds $2,500.
	      m.    	 Purchase of buildings or lease-purchase option agreements for school buildings.
	      n.    	 Purchase of equipment for recreational purposes.
	      o.    	 Payments to a municipality or other entity as required under Iowa Code section 403.19, subsection 2.
	      p.    	 Asbestos projects including costs of inspection and reinspection, sampling, analysis, assessment, response actions, operations and maintenance, training, periodic surveillance, development of management plans and record-keeping requirements relating to the presence of asbestos in school buildings of the district and its removal or encapsulation.
	      q.    	 Purchase, erect, or acquire a building for use as a school meal facility, and equip a building for that use.
	      r.    	 Purchase of land as part of start-up costs for a new student construction program or if the sale proceeds of the previous student construction were insufficient to purchase land, but not for materials and supplies for a facility intended to be sold.
	      s.    	 Construction materials and supplies for a student-constructed building or shed intended to be retained by and used by the district.
	      t.    	 Demolition of a district-owned building.
	      u.    	 Improving buildings or sites for the purpose of accessing digital telecommunications over multiple channels, often referred to as broadband.
	   98.64(3) Inappropriate uses of the PPEL fund. Inappropriate expenditures in the PPEL fund include the following:
	      a.    	 Student construction materials and supplies for a facility intended to be sold.
	      b.    	 Salaries and benefits.
	      c.    	 Travel.
	      d.    	 Supplies.
	      e.    	 Facility, vehicle, or equipment maintenance.
	      f.    	 Printing costs or media services.
	      g.    	 Any other purpose not expressly authorized in the Iowa Code.
[ARC 8054B, IAB 8/26/09, effective 9/30/09; ARC 0012C, IAB 2/22/12, effective 3/28/12 (See Delay note at end of chapter); ARC 1967C, IAB 4/15/15, effective 5/20/15; ARC 2310C, IAB 12/9/15, effective 1/13/16]