school districts; property; bonding authority

Plain English Breakdown

The official source confirms the bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, but does not list a specific calendar date for when it becomes effective.

HB4103: Limits on School Bond Elections When Buildings Are Underused

This law stops school district boards from holding bond elections if their student enrollment is less than half of the space available in their buildings.

What This Bill Does

• Prohibits a school district board from calling an election to issue new bonds or change existing bond projects if the district's enrollment ratio is below 50 percent.
• Defines the enrollment ratio as the prior year's average daily membership divided by the number of students the current buildings can hold based on state guidelines calculated by the School Facilities Oversight Board (SFOB).
• Excludes leased school buildings used for kindergarten through grade 12 instruction from the calculation of available building space.
• Adds a new section to Arizona Revised Statutes, specifically A.R.S. 15-492.

Who It Names or Affects

• School district governing boards
• The School Facilities Oversight Board (SFOB)
• Voters in school districts with low enrollment ratios

Terms To Know

Bond election

A vote by the public to decide if a school district can sell bonds to raise money for building projects.

Average daily membership

The total enrollment of fractional and full-time students, minus withdrawals, calculated over specific days at the start of the year as defined in A.R.S. 15-901.

Enrollment capacity ratio

A number showing how many students are currently attending compared to how many the buildings can hold according to state rules calculated by the SFOB.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill becomes effective on the general effective date, but no specific calendar date is provided in the text.
• The law applies only if a district's enrollment is less than half of its calculated capacity; districts above this threshold are not restricted by this specific rule.

Official Summary Text

HB4103 - 572R - Senate Fact Sheet

Assigned to
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COMMITTEE

ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Fifty-Seventh
Legislature, Second Regular Session

FACT SHEET FOR
H.B. 4103

school districts;
property; bonding authority

Purpose

Prohibits a
school district governing board (governing board) from calling an election to
issue or modify bonds, if the ratio of the school district's student enrollment
to enrollment capacity is less than 50 percent.

Background

A governing
board may, and on petition of 15 percent of the school district electors must,
hold an election to decide whether school district bonds will be sold to raise
monies for specified purposes in the number and amount provided and payable
from the school district's debt service fund. Monies to redeem bonds and pay
interest are raised by assessing secondary property taxes in the school
district. A ballot for an election to decide whether a district may issue bonds
must contain outlined information, including the total amount of monies that
will be raised by issuing the bonds (
A.R.S.
� 15-491
).

The School
Facilities Oversight Board (SFOB) must adopt rules establishing minimum school
facility adequacy guidelines, which must provide the minimum quality and
quantity of school buildings and facilities necessary and appropriate to enable
pupils to achieve statutorily prescribed academic standards. A school district
must have facilities with a minimum cumulative classroom square footage per
pupil, with the required square footage per pupil changing based on grade level
(
A.R.S.
� 41-5711
;
A.A.C. R7-6-210
).

Average daily
membership
means the total enrollment of fractional students and full-time
students, minus withdrawals, of each school day through the first 100 days or 200
days in session, as applicable, for the current year (
A.R.S.
� 15-901
).

There is no
anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this
legislation.

Provisions

1.

Prohibits
a governing board, notwithstanding statute authorizing a governing board to
call a bond election and only if the school district's enrollment to enrollment
capacity is less than 50 percent, from calling an election to either:

a)

determine whether bonds may be issued and sold; or

b)

change
the list of capital projects or the purposes authorized by prior voter approval
to issue bonds.

2.

Specifies that the ratio of a school district's enrollment to enrollment
capacity is equal to the district's average daily membership for the prior year
divided by the number of students who can be educated in the district's
existing school buildings, as calculated by the SFOB consistent with the
minimum school facility adequacy guidelines.

3.

Prohibits the SFOB from including in the enrollment to enrollment
capacity calculation any existing building that the school district leases, if
the lessee uses the building to provide instruction to students in kindergarten
programs or any of grades 1 through 12.

4.

Becomes effective on the general effective date.

House Action

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Prepared by Senate Research

March 11, 2026

MG/hk

Current Bill Text

HB4103 - 572R - H Ver

House Engrossed

school districts;
property; bonding authority

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HOUSE BILL 4103

AN
ACT

amending title 15, chapter 4, article 5,
Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 15-492; relating to school
facilities.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section
1.
Title
15, chapter 4, article 5, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding
section 15-492, to read:

START_STATUTE
15-492.

School
buildings; enrollment to enrollment capacity ratio; election eligibility

A. Notwithstanding
section 15-491, if the ratio of a school district's

enrollment
to the school district's
enrollment capacity is less than

fifty
percent
,
the school district governing board may not Call an election to either:

1. Determine
whether bonds of the school district may be issued and sold.

2. Change
the list of capital projects or the purposes authorized by prior voter approval
to issue bonds.

B.
The ratio of
A school district's

enrollment
to the school district's
enrollment capacity is equal to the school district's
average daily membership as prescribed in section 15-901 for the prior
year divided by the number of students who can be educated in the school
district's existing school buildings, as calculated

by the school
facilities oversight board cONSISTENT WITH THE MINIMUM SCHOOL FACILITY ADEQUACY
GUIDELINES ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO SECTION 41-5711
.�
THE SCHOOL
FACILITIES OVERSIGHT BOARD MAY NOT INCLUDE IN THE CALCULATION PURSUANT TO THIS
SUBSECTION ANY EXISTING BUILDING THAT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT LEASES AS LESSOR IF
THE LESSEE USES THE BUILDING TO PROVIDE INSTRUCTION TO STUDENTS IN KINDERGARTEN
PROGRAMS OR ANY OF GRADES ONE THROUGH TWELVE.
END_STATUTE