Senate File 2106 - Introduced



                                  SENATE FILE       
                                  BY  BEALL, IVERSON, GRONSTAL,
                                      WARNSTADT, QUIRMBACH, HATCH,
                                      DEARDEN, DOTZLER, DVORSKY,
                                      DANIELSON, WOOD, KIBBIE,
                                      BLACK, MULDER, WARD, and SHULL


    Passed Senate, Date               Passed House,  Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act allowing counties to jointly employ a county assessor.
  2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  3 TLSB 5679SS 81
  4 sc/je/5

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 441.1, Code 2005, is amended to read as
  1  2 follows:
  1  3    441.1  OFFICE OF ASSESSOR CREATED.
  1  4    In Except as otherwise provided in section 441.16A, in
  1  5 every county in the state of Iowa the office of assessor is
  1  6 hereby created.  A city having a population of ten thousand or
  1  7 more, according to the latest federal census, may by ordinance
  1  8 provide for the selection of a city assessor and for the
  1  9 assessment of property in the city under the provisions of
  1 10 this chapter.  A city desiring to provide for assessment under
  1 11 the provisions of this chapter shall, not less than sixty days
  1 12 before the expiration of the term of the assessor in office,
  1 13 notify the taxing bodies affected and proceed to establish a
  1 14 conference board, examining board, and board of review and
  1 15 select an assessor, all as provided in this chapter.  A city
  1 16 desiring to abolish the office of city assessor shall repeal
  1 17 the ordinance establishing the office of city assessor, notify
  1 18 the county conference board and the affected taxing districts,
  1 19 provide for the transfer of appropriate records and other
  1 20 matters, and provide for the abolition of the respective
  1 21 boards and the termination of the terms of office of the
  1 22 assessor and members of the respective boards.  The abolition
  1 23 of the city assessor's office shall take effect on July 1
  1 24 following notification of the abolition unless otherwise
  1 25 agreed to by the affected conference boards.  If notification
  1 26 of the proposed abolition is made after January 1, sufficient
  1 27 funds shall be transferred from the city assessor's budget to
  1 28 fund the additional responsibilities transferred to the county
  1 29 assessor for the next fiscal year.
  1 30    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  441.16A  COUNTIES JOINING IN
  1 31 EMPLOYMENT OF MULTICOUNTY ASSESSOR.
  1 32    The conference boards of two or more adjacent counties may
  1 33 enter into an agreement to jointly employ a county assessor.
  1 34 Such agreement shall be written and entered in their
  1 35 respective minutes and a copy of the agreement transmitted to
  2  1 the conference board of each county that is a party to the
  2  2 agreement.  The written agreement shall provide for the manner
  2  3 of allocation of the budget of the assessor's office.  The
  2  4 provisions of chapter 28E shall be applicable to this section,
  2  5 except that such agreement shall not be applicable for a
  2  6 period of less than six years beginning from the date the
  2  7 multicounty assessor is appointed by a conference board.
  2  8    A multicounty conference board shall be established with
  2  9 representation as provided for in section 441.2 from each
  2 10 county that is a party to the agreement.  The multicounty
  2 11 conference board shall appoint one examining board.
  2 12    The term of the multicounty assessor shall begin on July 1
  2 13 following the date of the agreement and the terms of the
  2 14 incumbent assessor in each county that is a party to the
  2 15 agreement shall expire on that date, notwithstanding the term
  2 16 specified in section 441.8.
  2 17    Sec. 3.  Section 441.47, Code 2005, is amended to read as
  2 18 follows:
  2 19    441.47  ADJUSTED VALUATIONS.
  2 20    1.  The director of revenue on or about August 15, 1977,
  2 21 and every two years thereafter shall order the equalization of
  2 22 the levels of assessment of each class of property in the
  2 23 several assessing jurisdictions by adding to or deducting from
  2 24 the valuation of each class of property such percentage in
  2 25 each case as may be necessary to bring the same to its taxable
  2 26 value as fixed in this chapter and chapters 427 to 443.  The
  2 27 director shall adjust to actual value the valuation of any
  2 28 class of property as set out in the abstract of assessment
  2 29 when the valuation is at least five percent above or below
  2 30 actual value as determined by the director.
  2 31    2.  For purposes of such value adjustments and before such
  2 32 equalization the director shall adopt, in the manner
  2 33 prescribed by chapter 17A, such rules as may be necessary to
  2 34 determine the level of assessment for each class of property
  2 35 in each county.  The rules shall cover all of the following:
  3  1    (1)  a.  The proposed use of the assessment=sales ratio
  3  2 study set out in section 421.17, subsection 6;.
  3  3    (2)  b.  the The proposed use of any statewide income
  3  4 capitalization studies;.
  3  5    (3)  c.  the The proposed use of other methods that would
  3  6 assist the director in arriving at the accurate level of
  3  7 assessment of each class of property in each assessing
  3  8 jurisdiction.
  3  9    3.  Each county for which a multicounty assessor is
  3 10 appointed pursuant to section 441.16A is considered a separate
  3 11 assessing jurisdiction for purposes of this section.
  3 12    Sec. 4.  Section 441.54, Code 2005, is amended to read as
  3 13 follows:
  3 14    441.54  CONSTRUCTION.
  3 15    Whenever in the laws of this state, the words "assessor" or
  3 16 "assessors" appear, singly or in combination with other words,
  3 17 they shall be deemed to mean and refer to the multicounty,
  3 18 county, or city assessor, as the case may be.
  3 19                           EXPLANATION
  3 20    This bill allows for counties to jointly employ an
  3 21 assessor.
  3 22 LSB 5679SS 81
  3 23 sc:rj/cf/24