HF 2146 (LSB 5688YH (4) 88)

HOUSE FILE 2146

BY  GASSMAN

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to levee and drainage districts, by increasing the threshold of the estimated cost of a repair or improvement before a hearing is required to be conducted.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 468.126, subsection 1, paragraph c, Code 2020, is amended to read as follows:
   c.  If the estimated cost of the repair does not exceed fifty one hundred thousand dollars or the adjusted competitive bid threshold, whichever is less, the board may order the work done without conducting a hearing on the matter. Otherwise, the board shall set a date for a hearing and provide notice of the hearing to landowners in the district by publication in the same manner as provided in section 468.15. However, if the estimated cost of the repair exceeds the adjusted competitive bid threshold, the board shall provide notice to the landowners pursuant to sections 468.14 through 468.18. The board shall not divide a proposed repair into separate programs in order to avoid the notice and hearing requirements of this paragraph.
    Sec. 2.  section 468.126 subsection 4, paragraph c, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2020, is amended to read as follows:
   If the estimated cost of the improvement does not exceed fifty one hundred thousand dollars or the adjusted competitive bid threshold, whichever is less, the board may order the work done without conducting a hearing on the matter. Otherwise, the board shall set a date for a hearing on whether to construct the proposed improvement and whether there shall be a reclassification of benefits for the cost of the proposed improvement.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   BILL’S PROVISIONS. This bill amends provisions in Code section 468.126 that authorize a governing board of a drainage or levee district (e.g., a county board of supervisors) to order a repair (to restore or maintain its capacity) or an improvement (to expand, enlarge, or otherwise increase its capacity) without conducting a hearing on the matter. The amount required for the board to so act is increased from $50,000 to $100,000 or the adjusted competitive bid threshold, whichever is less. 
   ADJUSTED COMPETITIVE THRESHOLD. In lieu of a statutory dollar amount used to determine whether bids are required to be let under Code chapter 468, the amount may be set by the vertical infrastructure bid threshold subcommittee for public improvements established within the department of transportation. The subcommittee sets different amounts for cities and counties (Code sections 314.1B and 468.3). The threshold for drainage districts is the same as for counties. The latest threshold for counties for vertical infrastructure is $139,000.