as enacted by SM 1987-88, c. 9 on July 17, 1987.
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R.S.M. 1987, c. P260
The Public Schools Finance Board Act
HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:
In this Act
"board" means The Public Schools Finance Board; ("Commission")
"fund" means The Government Support to Education Fund; ("Fonds")
"member" means a member of the board; ("commissaire")
"school division" means a school division as defined in The Public Schools Act; ("division scolaire")
"support" means support as defined in The Public Schools Act. ("aide")
The Public Schools Finance Board consisting of not more than five persons appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council is continued as a body corporate.
The Lieutenant Governor in Council shall appoint one of the members of the board, who is not a member of the board of trustees of a school district, school division or school area, who is not a member of a council of a municipality, and who is not a teacher, as chairman of the board and one member as the vice-chairman of the board.
The vice-chairman shall act as chairman on the request of the chairman or of the minister, or during any illness or absence of the chairman, or during any period when the chairman is unable for any reason, to discharge his duties.
The members of the board shall hold office for such term as may be fixed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council; and, unless his appointment is sooner revoked, or he sooner resigns or dies, a member shall hold office during the term fixed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council and thereafter until his successor is appointed.
The members shall be paid from the fund such remuneration as may be fixed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council and any reasonable out-of-pocket expenses that are necessarily incurred by them in discharging their duties and are approved by the Provincial Auditor.
Application of C.S.S.A., etc., to members.
Any member of the board who is employed on a full-time basis in the performance of his duties as a member of the board is an employee within the meaning of The Civil Service Superannuation Act and a public servant within the meaning of The Public Servants Insurance Act.
The majority of the members of the board constitute a quorum at meetings of the board.
The board is an agent of Her Majesty in right of Manitoba.
The purposes and objects of the board are to facilitate the financing of the education support program for school divisions and to assist boards of school divisions in the economic operation of the school system.
The board has such duties, functions, and powers as may be imposed on, or granted to, it under this Act or any other Act of the Legislature, or under regulations made under The Public Schools Act or under The Education Administration Act.
The board may make rules governing its own procedure.
There may be appointed as provided in The Civil Service Act such officers and employees as are necessary to carry out the business of the board and the administration of this Act.
Professional and expert assistants.
The board may obtain the advice and the services of such professional, technical and expert persons as it deems necessary to carry out the business of the board: but it shall not incur an indebtedness exceeding $1,000. in respect of any such person unless it has obtained the approval of the Minister of Education with respect thereto.
Transfer of employees in Department of Education.
The Minister of Education may temporarily transfer employees in The Department of Education to the board.
The board shall supervise the marketing of all debentures issued by a school division; and for that purpose may, with the consent of the appropriate minister, utilize the services and facilities of The Department of Education, The Department of Municipal Affairs and The Department of Finance.
The board shall continually review the operation and costs of the government support to education program for school divisions and, in particular, the costs of providing education in school divisions.
Powers of commissioners under Part V of Evidence Act.
The board has the protection and powers of commissioners appointed under Part V of The Manitoba Evidence Act; but section 85 of The Manitoba Evidence Act does not apply to the board and no notice of appointment, of the purpose and scope of the inquiries to be made by the board, or of the time and place of the holding of any meetings of the board, need be published as required under section 86 of The Manitoba Evidence Act.
Reports, etc., from school divisions.
The board may require a school division to prepare and submit to the board such reports and returns as the board deems advisable, and to submit to the board for inspection any contracts or documents relative to the affairs of the school division, and the board may make copies of such contracts or documents.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this or any other Act of the Legislature, the board may delay the payment of all or part of any grant payable to a school division under this or any other Act of the Legislature until the school division has complied with any requirement under subsection (3).
The Government Support to Education Fund, which shall be under the control and supervision of the board, is continued; and. subject to subsections (4) and (5), the moneys in the fund shall be deposited in a bank.
All moneys received by the board under this Act or The Public Schools Act shall be credited to the fund, and all payments made by the board under this Act or The Public Schools Act, including the costs of administering the board and the remuneration of members, officers, and employees of the board, shall be paid from the fund.
Fund not part of Consolidated Fund.
Notwithstanding The Financial Administration Act or any other Act, but subject to subsections (4), (5) and (6), the moneys in the fund do not form part of the Consolidated Fund, and the fund is not a division or part of the Consolidated Fund; but the moneys therein are the property of Her Majesty in right of the province.
If at any time the balance at the credit of the fund is in excess of the amount that is required for immediate purposes of the board, the board shall pay over the excess to the Minister of Finance for investment for and on behalf of the board.
With the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, and subject to any order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council in respect thereof, the board may establish and maintain reserves deemed necessary or advisable for its purposes; and any moneys set aside for the purposes of any such reserves shall be paid to the Minister of Finance for investment for and on behalf of the board.
Disposal of moneys held by Minister of Finance.
Moneys paid to the Minister of Finance for investment under subsection (4), (5) or (9) shall be held by him in the Consolidated Fund in trust for the purposes of this Act, and the Minister of Finance shall invest the moneys and investments so held by him in securities and investments in which he is authorized by law to invest such moneys and the interest thereon, and income therefrom shall be credited to the account of the board in the Consolidated Fund; and such earnings, either alone or with all or part of the principal sums invested for the board by the Minister of Finance hereunder, shall be paid over to the board by the Minister of Finance on the request of the board.
Where in any fiscal year of the board there is a surplus or deficit in the fund, that surplus or deficit shall be carried over to and apportioned among subsequent fiscal years of the board, but in any case not more than three such fiscal years, and treated as a revenue or an expense, as the case may be, in those subsequent fiscal years.
Receipt of money from other sources.
The board may receive moneys from any person for purposes relating to education in the public schools, and shall credit moneys received under this section to the fund and account therefor in accordance with any terms under which the moneys are received.
Deposit with Minister of Finance.
Where moneys received under subsection (8) are not required immediately for the purposes for which they were received, the board shall pay the moneys over to the Minister of Finance as provided in subsection (4).
The board shall establish and maintain adequate accounting records.
The fiscal year of the board and of the fund shall be a period fixed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
The accounts of the board shall be audited and reported on by the Provincial Auditor, and the costs thereof shall be paid by the board.
Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may at any time order, in addition to the audits made under subsection (1), an audit or investigation into the affairs of the board and require a report thereon.
The board shall annually, within four months after the end of the fiscal year of the board, make a report to the Minister of Education upon all transactions of the board during its last preceding fiscal year; and the report shall include an audited balance sheet of the board and an audited statement of its operating revenues and expenditures together with such other information as the Lieutenant Governor in Council may require.
The Minister of Education shall lay a copy of the report of the board before the Legislative Assembly forthwith, if it is then in session, and if not, then within 15 days of the commencement of the next ensuing session thereof.
Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), the Minister of Education may, at such times and as often as he deems necessary, require the board to furnish to him, in addition to the reports made under subsection (1), reports or information respecting all or any part of the business and operations of the board, and the board shall comply with such requirement.
The board may, through the Minister of Finance who shall be its agent in that behalf, borrow money on the credit of the corporation for its purposes, and give notes as security therefor; but all moneys so borrowed shall be repaid within one year of the date on which they were borrowed.
Power of government to guarantee.
With the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, and on such terms as may be prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council the Minister of Finance, for and on behalf of the government, may guarantee the repayment of any moneys borrowed by the board together with any interest payable in respect thereof: and the form and manner of any such guarantee shall be such as the Lieutenant Governor in Council may approve.
The guarantee under subsection (2) shall be in writing signed by the Minister of Finance, or such other officer or officers as may be designated by the Lieutenant Governor in Council; and, upon being signed, the government is liable for the payment of the principal and interest thereon in accordance with the terms of the loan.
Discharge of liability under guarantee.
The Lieutenant Governor in Council may discharge any liability resulting from a guarantee given under this section from and out of the Consolidated Fund: but any payments made for the purposes of discharging the liability shall be deemed to be advances made to the board in respect of moneys required under The Public Schools Act to be paid to the board from and out of the Consolidated Fund.
Purchase of notes by province.
The Minister of Finance may purchase notes issued by the board as investments for any account in the Consolidated Fund.
For the purposes of providing the board with working capital, the Minister of Finance, with the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, may make advances to the board in such amounts, at such times, and on such terms and conditions as the Lieutenant Governor in Council may deem expedient.
Payments from Consolidated Fund.
Moneys advanced under subsection (1) shall be paid from the Consolidated Fund with moneys authorized by an Act of the Legislature to be so paid and applied.
Assumption of certain agreements by government.
Where the government has entered into, or enters into, an agreement under which it undertakes to deduct from support to be provided to a school district, school division or school area, certain amounts for the benefit or protection of holders of debentures or other securities issued by the school district, school division, or school area, or for the payment, in whole or in part, of amounts payable to holders of such debentures or other securities, and a school division is liable for the payments under those debentures or securities, the board
(a) shall deduct from the support to be provided to that school division the amount set out in the agreement in accordance with the terms of the agreement:
(b) shall otherwise comply with the terms and conditions of the agreement; and
(c) is liable under the agreement;
to the same extent as though it were a party to the agreement; and performance or satisfaction by the board of any obligation or liability of the government under the agreement shall be conclusively deemed to be a performance or satisfaction by the government.
Compliance with assignments accepted by government.
Where a school district, school division, or school area, has, by written order, accepted in writing by the Minister of Finance, assigned all or part of the support to be provided to it under The Public Schools Act, and a school division is liable for the liabilities of that school district, school division, or school area, the board, upon being notified of the order, shall comply therewith as though the order had been directed to it; and compliance by the board with the provisions of the order shall be conclusively deemed to be compliance by the government.
Limitation on assignments of support.
Subject to subsection (1), no order or assignment of any support due or accruing due, or to be provided, to a school division by the board is valid or binding upon the board until accepted in writing by the board.
The board may purchase or arrange for the purchase by school divisions of any equipment, furnishings, and supplies suitable for use by a school division.
Where the board has purchased equipment, furnishings or supplies under subsection (1), it may sell, rent or give the equipment, furnishings or supplies to school divisions, subject to such conditions as it may deem advisable.