(a) In addition to the amount provided in Section 17072.10, the board may provide funding for assistance in site development and acquisition if all of the following are met:

(1) The amount of the site acquisition and development assistance does not exceed 50 percent of the cost of site development to the school district, plus the lesser of the following:

(A) 50 percent of the site cost to the school district.

(B) 50 percent of the appraised value of the site within six months of the time the complete application is submitted.

(2) The school district certifies that there is no alternative available site, or that the district plans to sell an available site in order to use the proceeds of the sale for the purchase of the new site.

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the board may provide funding for assistance in site development and acquisition to a school district that uses land previously acquired by the school district in an amount equal to 50 percent of the cost of site development to the school district, plus 50 percent of the site’s appraised value at the time the application for site acquisition and development is submitted, provided all of the following are met:

(1) The site was acquired no less than five years prior to the date the application is submitted.

(2) The site had been productively used by the school district as other than a schoolsite for the five years immediately preceding the date the application is submitted.

(3) The board determines that the nonschool function currently taking place on the site must be discontinued or relocated in order to utilize the site as a schoolsite.

(c) A school district that receives assistance pursuant to subdivision (b) shall, within one year after the completion of the project, certify in writing to the board that the nonschool function was in fact relocated as set forth in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b).

(d) Pursuant to subdivision (b), an applicant school district shall include in its application to the board a cost-benefit analysis performed by the school district demonstrating how utilizing existing nonschoolsite district property pursuant to this section would be a more effective method of solving the school district’s pupil housing problems than any other method of funding under this chapter. The board shall review and approve the analysis if the board agrees with the findings and shall consider the analysis and findings in approving the project pursuant to this section.

(Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 647, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2002.)