Rep. BAMBERG proposes the following Amendment No. to S. 771 (COUNCIL\ZW\771C001.BH.ZW21):

Reference is to Printer's Date 5/4/21--S.

Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking SECTION 2 and inserting:

/ SECTION2. ( A)The Bamberg County School District must be governed initially by a board of trustees of nine members to be appointed by a majority of the Bamberg County Legislative Delegation. The nine members initially appointed by the legislative delegation after the effective date of this act must be qualified electors of either Bamberg-Ehrhardt School District One or Denmark-Olar School District Two, and these appointed members shall serve on the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees until four trustees have been duly elected and qualify in school district elections held at the same time as the 2024 general election pursuant to the provisions of this section. These four trustees must be elected from defined single-member election districts to be established in subsequent legislation enacted after the release of pertinent demographic data obtained in the 2020 decennial census, but prior to the opening of the filing period for the 2024 school district elections.

(B)(1) Beginning in 2024, four members of the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees must be elected from single member districts provided for by the General Assembly in nonpartisan elections to be conducted at the same time as the general election and every four years thereafter, except as may be provided to stagger the members ' terms. The four candidates elected in the 2024 school district elections must be elected from election districts 2, 4, 6, and 8 and shall serve four-year terms and until their successors are elected and qualify. Each of these four members and their successors must be a qualified elector of the election district from which he is elected. Beginning in 2026, five additional members of the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees must be elected from election districts 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 in nonpartisan elections to be conducted at the same time as the general election and every four years thereafter, except as may be provided to stagger the members' terms. The five candidates elected in the 2026 school district elections shall serve four-year terms and until their successors are elected and qualify. Each of these five members and their successors must be a qualified elector of the election district from which he is elected. In order to provide continuity of experienced leadership to the district, when the four duly elected trustees from election districts 2, 4, 6, and 8 take office following the 2024 school district elections, a majority of the Bamberg County Legislative Delegation shall select five members from the initial nine-member appointed board of trustees to serve as school district trustees together with the four elected members, and the terms of the remaining appointed trustees not selected to serve with the four elected members must be terminated. The five members of the initial nine-member appointed board selected to serve alongside the four elected members shall serve until their successors are elected in school district elections conducted at the same time as the 2026 general election and qualify.

(2)(a) The four trustees elected from districts 2, 4, 6, and 8 in the 2024 school district elections shall serve four-year terms and until their successors are elected and qualify, and the successors to these members must be elected in nonpartisan school district elections to be conducted at the same time as the 2028 general election. The trustees elected in the 2028 school district election and their successors shall serve four-year terms and until their successors are elected and qualify.

(b) Pursuant to item (1) of this subsection, the five members of the initial nine-member appointed board selected by the Bamberg County Legislative Delegation to serve alongside the four elected members shall serve until their successors are elected from districts 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 in school district elections conducted at the same time as the 2026 general election and qualify. At such time, the terms of the five appointed members shall terminate. The five trustees elected from districts 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 in the 2026 school district elections and their successors shall serve four-year terms and until their successors are elected and qualify. Thereafter, members of the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees must be elected in nonpartisan school district elections to be conducted at the same time as the general election for terms of four years and until their successors are elected and qualify.

(3) Whenever a vacancy occurs in office, by reason of death, resignation, or removal, the vacancy in office shall be filled by a special election to complete the term of office, which special election shall be held in accordance with Section 7-13-190.

(C) All persons desiring to qualify as a candidate for the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees shall file written notice of candidacy with the Bamberg County Board of Voter Registration and Elections on forms furnished by the board. The filing period shall open at 12:00 p.m. on August first or, if August first falls on Saturday or Sunday, then 12:00 p.m. on the following Monday and shall run until 12:00 p.m. on August fifteenth or, if August fifteenth falls on Saturday or Sunday, no later than 12:00 p.m. on the following Monday. This notice of candidacy must be a sworn statement and shall include the candidate's name, age, address, voting precinct, period of residence in the county, and other information that the board requires. The Bamberg County Board of Voter Registration and Elections shall conduct and supervise the elections for members of the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees in the manner governed by the election laws of this State, mutatis mutandis. The board shall prepare the necessary ballots, appoint managers for the voting precincts, and do all things necessary to carry out the elections, including the counting of ballots and declaring the results. The board shall publish notices of the elections pursuant to Section 7-13-35. The results of the elections must be determined by the nonpartisan plurality method contained in Section 5-15-61. The members of the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees elected in these nonpartisan elections shall take office one week following certification of their election pursuant to Section 59-19-315. /

Amend the bill further, as and if amended, by striking SECTION 5 and inserting:

/SECTION 5. (A) For purposes of determining the 2022 property tax millage levy of the Bamberg County School District upon its creation, the millage levy for the district must be determined and calculated by the Department of Revenue based on the 2021 levy of the two present school districts and the value of a mill in each district. Thereafter, the millage levy for property tax years 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 must be the millage levy for the previous year. To the allowed millage levy may be added any millage determined by the Department of Revenue necessary to comply with educational mandates imposed by federal or state law.

(B) Beginning in 2027, the Bamberg County School District is vested with total fiscal autonomy. In order to obtain funds for school purposes the board of trustees is authorized to impose an annual tax levy, exclusive of any millage imposed for bond debt service. Upon certification by the board of trustees to the county auditor of the tax levy to be imposed, the auditor shall levy and the county treasurer shall collect the millage so certified upon all taxable property in the district. The consolidated school district may raise its millage by no more than two mills over that levied for the previous year, in addition to any millage needed to adjust for the EFA inflation factor and sufficient to meet the requirements of Section 59-21-1030. An increase above this two mills for operations may be levied only after a majority of the registered electors of the district vote in favor of the millage increase in a referendum called by the district board of trustees and conducted by the county board of voter registration and elections. If the school district calls for the referendum provided for in this subsection to be held at any time other than at the general election conducted pursuant to Section 7-13-10 then the school district shall pay the cost of the referendum. To the extent the provisions of this section relating to increases in school millages conflict with the provisions of Section 6-1-320, relating to the millage rate increase limitation, the provisions of Section 6-1-320 control. /

Amend the bill further, as and if amended, SECTION 7, subsection (C)(1)(B), page 9, by striking subitem (b) and inserting:

/(b) seek election to the Bamberg County School District Board of Trustees. /