HB319

What it does

• Allows unified municipalities, boroughs, or home rule/first-class cities outside a borough to create educational service areas by passing an ordinance.
• Requires that any new educational service area covers a geographic region where at least 25 percent of the city's residents live.
• Mandates that officials publish details about existing debt and property values for three consecutive weeks before holding a bond election, with the first notice appearing at least 20 days before the vote.
• Sets rules stating voters in the specific school zone must approve bonds if only their area owes the money, while both city-wide voters and service-area voters must decide if the whole city guarantees payment.
• Clarifies that debts created by these service areas remain valid even if a court later finds errors in how the area was formed.