Qualified School Construction Bond Program

School districts and charter schools can use qualified school construction bonds (QSCBs)听to save money on bonds issued to finance school construction, land acquisition, and renovation projects. The QSCB program is a federal program that provides听bond holders with听tax credits听that are approximately equal to the interest that states and communities would ordinarily pay the holders of taxable bonds.

The program does not grant funding. No monetary payments or awards are issued from the state to the school district or charter school. This program allows the state to grant program authorization to a limited number of qualifying school districts and charter schools. This authorization allows those school districts and charter schools to issue QSCB bonds that benefit qualifying projects.

A QSCB is any bond issued after February 17, 2009, and before January 1, 2018, by a state or local government as a qualified school construction bond and 100% of the available project proceeds are used for the construction, rehabilitation, or repair of a public school facility or for the acquisition of land on which the bond-financed facility is to be constructed.

Applications are not being accepted at this time. Previously for a school district or charter school to gain QSCB program authorization, it would need to submit a program application that satisfied all requirements of the application process. Applications must receive authorization听before听a school district or charter school could issue its QSCB debt.听Additional requirements would then have to be met after receipt of an authorization to comply with federal tax law regarding this authorization. For more information on those possible additional requirements,听consult a听bond counsel.

Sequestration affected听the subsidy received for interest payments听from March 1, 2013, through September 30, 2013,听for the school districts and charter schools who held Direct Pay Subsidy Bonds. Payments were reduced by 8.7% under Sec. 6431 (which allows the issuer of certain qualified bonds to receive the interest payments directly for Build America Bonds, Qualified School Construction Bonds, Qualified Zone Academy Bonds, New Clean Renewable Energy Bonds, and Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds).

Law

听QSCB听Program - 2010

听QSCB Program - 2009 (closed)