(a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b) or (e), the price at which land described in Section 17486, excluding that portion of a schoolsite retained by the governing board pursuant to Section 17490, is sold pursuant to this article shall not exceed the school district’s cost of acquisition, calculated as a pro rata cost of acquiring the entire parcel comprising the schoolsite, adjusted by a factor equivalent to the percentage increase or decrease in the cost of living from the date of purchase to the year in which the offer of sale is made, plus the cost of any improvement to the recreational and open-space portion of the land which the school district has made since its acquisition of the land. In no event shall the price be less than 25 percent of the fair market value of the land described in Section 17486 or less than the amount necessary to retire the share of local bonded indebtedness plus the amount of the original cost of the approved state aid applications on the property, excluding that portion of a schoolsite retained by the governing board pursuant to Section 17489, at the time of the offer.

These provisions shall apply to land that the school district acquired by gift or for consideration.

(b) A school district that offers a portion of a schoolsite for sale may offer such portion of property for sale at its fair market value, provided the school district offers an equivalent size alternative portion of that schoolsite for school playground, playing field, or other recreational and open-space purposes.

(c) Land which is leased pursuant to this article shall be leased at an annual rate of not more than 1/20th of the maximum sales price determined pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section, adjusted annually by a factor equivalent to the percentage increase or decrease in the cost of living for the immediately preceding year.

(d) The percentage of annual increase or decrease in the cost of living shall be the amount shown for January 1st of the appropriate year by the then current Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumers Price Index for the area in which the schoolsite is located.

(e) Whenever a school district closes a schoolsite and sells any land described in Section 17486 pursuant to this article to help pay only for capital outlay costs incurred directly as a result of the transfer of pupils from the closed school to another school or other schools of the district, the sale price of the property determined pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be increased by an amount equal to the additional costs incurred due to the school closure.

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