HF 98 (LSB 1571YH (5) 85)

HOUSE FILE 98

BY  WOLFE and S. OLSON

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to county mental health and disability services fund levies and including effective date provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 331.424A, subsection 7, as enacted by 2012 Iowa Acts, chapter 1120, section 132, is amended to read as follows:
   7.  Notwithstanding subsection 5, for the fiscal years beginning July 1, 2013, and July 1, 2014, county revenues from taxes levied by the county and credited to the county services fund shall not exceed the lower of the following amounts:
   a.  The amount of the county’s base year expenditures for mental health and disabilities services.
   b.  The amount equal to the product of the statewide per capita expenditure target for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013, multiplied by the county’s general population for the same fiscal year. 
 
However, if the amount in paragraph “a” is greater than the amount in this paragraph and the board of supervisors adopts a resolution declaring that additional funding is necessary for the county to maintain the funding for the service populations or for the level of services specified in the county’s approved management plan for the county’s mental health, intellectual disability, and developmental disabilities services system under section 331.439, the amount in paragraph “a” shall apply.
    Sec. 2.  FISCAL YEAR 2013-2014 SERVICES FUND LEVIES.  If this Act is enacted after a county has adopted the budget and certificate of taxes for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013, in accordance with section 331.434, the county may amend the budget to increase expenditures of county revenues from taxes as authorized in section 331.424A, subsection 7, as enacted in this Act, and recertify taxes to reflect the increased amount to be credited to the county’s services fund, as provided in section 331.424A, subsection 7, as enacted in this Act. A budget amendment and tax recertification undertaken pursuant to this section is not subject to the provisions of section 331.435 or 331.436 or any other provision in law authorizing a county to exceed or increase a property tax levy limit.
    Sec. 3.  EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT.  This Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
EXPLANATION
   This bill relates to the mental health and disability services (MH/DS) fund levy for FY 2013-2014 and FY 2014-2015. Under current law in Code section 331.424A, as amended by 2012 Iowa Acts, chapter 1120 (S.F. 2315), the county levy for the MH/DS services fund for the two fiscal years cannot exceed the lower of the following two amounts: the county’s base year expenditures for MH/DS, as adjusted for state property tax relief paid in FY 2008-2009 or the statewide expenditure target amount of $47.28 multiplied by the county’s general population. The bill allows a county that adopts a resolution declaring that additional funding is necessary for the county to maintain the funding for service populations or for the level of services specified in the county’s approved management plan for the county’s MH/DS services system to use the higher of the two amounts.
   The bill takes effect upon enactment. If the enactment date is after a county has adopted its budget and certificate of taxes for FY 2013-2014, the county may amend its budget to apply the new levy limitation, and the amendment is not subject to protest or to the statutory time periods otherwise applied to a county budget amendment.