New Jersey § 18a:20-4

§ 18a:20-4.

The board of education of any school district may, for school purposes: (a) Purchase, take and condemn lands within the district and lands not exceeding 50

acres in extent without the district but situate in a municipality or municipalities

adjoining the district, but no more than 25 acres may be so acquired in any one such

municipality, without the district, except with the consent, by ordinance, of such

municipality; (b) Grade, drain and landscape lands owned or to be acquired by it and improve the

same in like manner; (c) Erect, lease for a term not exceeding 50 years, enlarge, improve, repair or furnish

buildings; (d) Borrow money therefor, with or without mortgage; in the case of a type II district

without a board of school estimate, when authorized so to do at any annual or special

school election; and in the case of a type II district having a board of school estimate,

when the amount necessary to be provided therefor shall have been fixed, determined

and certified by the board of school estimate; and in the case of a type I district,

when an ordinance authorizing expenditures for such purpose is finally adopted by

the governing body of a municipality comprised within the district; provided, however,

that no such election shall be held nor shall any such resolution of a school estimate

board or ordinance of a municipal governing body be introduced to authorize any lease

of any building for a term exceeding one year, until the proposed terms of such lease

have been reviewed and approved by the Commissioner of Education and the Local Finance

Board in the Department of Community Affairs; (e) Construct, purchase, lease or otherwise acquire a building with the federal government,

the State, a political subdivision thereof or any other individual or entity properly

authorized to do business in the State; provided that: (1) the noneducational uses

of the building are compatible with the establishment and operation of a school, as

determined by the Commissioner of Education; (2) the portion of the building to be

used as a school meets regulations of the Department of Education; (3) the board

of education has complied with the provisions of law and regulations relating to the

selection and approval of sites; and (4) in the case of a lease, that any lease in

excess of five years shall be approved by the Commissioner of Education and the Local

Finance Board in the Department of Community Affairs; (f) Acquire, with the approval of either the commissioner, or voters or board of school

estimate, as applicable, improvements or additions to school buildings through lease

purchase agreements not in excess of five years. The agreement shall be recorded as an expenditure of the General Fund of the district. The commissioner shall approve the agreement only upon a demonstration by the district

that the lease purchase payments and any operating expenses related to the agreement

can be included within the district's tax levy growth limitation and will not result in the need for approval by the voters

or board of school estimate, as appropriate, of additional spending proposals to maintain

existing instructional programs and extracurricular activities . If the commissioner cannot approve the agreement, the board of education may frame

a separate question to authorize the lease purchase agreement and obtain voter or

board of school estimate approval to enter into the agreement. A district may, without separate prior approval of the commissioner, also acquire

equipment through a lease purchase agreement not in excess of five years or in the

case of a lease purchase agreement entered into for the acquisition of school buses

not in excess of 10 years, provided that the amount of the first installment and each

subsequent installment for the lease purchase payments is included in the budget that

is advertised and submitted for approval to the voters of the district or the board

of school estimate, as appropriate. As used herein, a “ lease purchase agreement ” refers to any agreement which gives the board of education as lessee the option

of purchasing the leased equipment or improvements or additions to existing school

buildings during or upon termination of the lease, with credit toward the purchase

price of all or part of rental payments which have been made by the board of education

in accordance with the lease. As part of such a transaction, the board of education may transfer or lease land

or rights in land, including any building thereon, after publicly advertising for

proposals for the transfer for nominal or fair market value, to the party selected

by the board of education, by negotiation or otherwise, after determining that the

proposal is in the best interest of the taxpayers of the district, to construct or

to improve and to lease or to own or to have ownership interests in the site and the

school building to be leased pursuant to such lease purchase agreement, notwithstanding

the provisions of any other law to the contrary. The land and any building thereon which is described in a lease purchase agreement

entered into pursuant to this amendatory act, shall be deemed to be and treated as

property of the school district, used for school purposes pursuant to R.S.54:4-3.3 , and shall not be considered or treated as property leased to another whose property

is not exempt, and shall not be assessed as real estate pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1949,

c. 177 ( C.54:4-2.3 ). Any lease purchase agreement authorized by this section shall contain a provision

making payments thereunder subject to the annual appropriation of funds sufficient

to meet the required payments or shall contain an annual cancellation clause and shall

require all construction contracts let by public school districts or let by developers

or owners of property used for school purposes to be competitively bid, pursuant to N.J.S.18A:18A-1 et seq. ; (g) Establish with an individual or entity authorized to do business in the State

a tenancy in common, condominium, horizontal property regime or other joint ownership

arrangement on a site contributed by the school district; provided the following

conditions are met: (1) The individual or entity agrees to construct on the site, or provide for the construction

thereon, a building or buildings for use of the board of education separately or jointly

with the individual or entity, which shall be subject to the joint ownership arrangement; (2) The provision of the building shall be at no cost or at a reduced cost to the

board of education; (3) The school district shall not make any payment for use of the building other than

its pro rata share of costs of maintenance and improvements; (4) The noneducational uses of the building are compatible with the establishment

and operation of a school, as determined by the Commissioner of Education; (5) The portion of the building to be used as a school, and the site, meet regulations

of the Department of Education; and (6) Any such agreement shall be approved by the Commissioner of Education and the

Local Finance Board in the Department of Community Affairs; (h) Acquire through sale and lease-back textbooks and non-consumable instructional

materials provided that the sale price and principal amount of the lease-back do not

exceed the fair market value of the textbooks and instructional materials and that

the interest rate applied in the lease-back is consistent with prevailing market rates

or is less.