(a) This section shall apply only to a school district in which the electorate authorizes an increase in the maximum tax rate of the district pursuant to this article for the lease of one or more schools, and there exists at the time of the election on a site owned by the district a school facility not owned by the district meeting all of the requirements of Article 3 (commencing with Section 17280) of this chapter, which site and school facility are designated and described in the ballot proposition approved by the voters.

(b) Notwithstanding any other law, a school district may lease from a California nonprofit corporation an existing school and may pay rentals therefor from funds derived from the increase in the maximum tax rate approved by the voters at an election. The purchase price of the school paid by the nonprofit corporation to the owners of the school shall not exceed the actual audited cost of construction thereof including actual interest paid on money borrowed to finance such construction. Prior to the purchase of the school by the nonprofit corporation, an independent certified public accountant shall be retained by the school district to verify the actual cost of construction and any interest paid to finance the construction, and the nonprofit corporation may conclusively rely upon any certificate or opinion setting forth the actual cost of construction and the interest prepared by the independent certified public accountant.

(c) A school district, the electorate of which, prior to the effective date of this section, authorized an increase in the maximum tax rate in the manner, for the purposes, and under the circumstances specified in subdivision (a), may avail itself of the authority afforded by subdivision (b).

(Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 277, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 1997. Operative January 1, 1998.)