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PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 161A.80 BLUFFLANDS PROTECTION
1 2 PROGRAM – REVOLVING FUND.
1 3 1. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise
1 4 requires:
1 5 a. "Bluffland" means a cliff, headland, or hill with a
1 6 broad steep face along the channel or floodplain of a river
1 7 and its tributaries.
1 8 b. "Conservation organization" means a nonprofit
1 9 corporation incorporated in Iowa or an entity organized and
1 10 operated primarily to enhance and protect natural resources in
1 11 this state.
1 12 2. A blufflands protection revolving fund is created in
1 13 the state treasury. The proceeds of the revolving fund are
1 14 appropriated to make loans to conservation organizations which
1 15 agree to purchase conservation easements on blufflands along
1 16 the Mississippi river or to purchase blufflands along the
1 17 Mississippi river for resale with restrictive covenants
1 18 attached to the property. The administrative director of the
1 19 division of soil conservation shall administer the revolving
1 20 fund. Notwithstanding section 12C.7, interest or earnings on
1 21 investments made pursuant to this section or as provided in
1 22 section 12B.10 shall be credited to the blufflands protection
1 23 revolving fund. Notwithstanding section 8.33, unobligated or
1 24 unencumbered funds credited to the blufflands protection
1 25 revolving fund shall not revert at the close of a fiscal year.
1 26 However, the maximum balance in the blufflands protection fund
1 27 shall not exceed two million five hundred thousand dollars.
1 28 Any funds in excess of two million five hundred thousand
1 29 dollars shall be credited to the general fund of the state.
1 30 3. The administrative director of the division shall
1 31 establish a blufflands protection program to demonstrate
1 32 creative land protection techniques and encourage private
1 33 landowners to protect the natural beauty of the blufflands
1 34 along the Mississippi river. The commissioners of each soil
1 35 and water conservation district which has a boundary which is
2 1 coterminous with the Mississippi river shall cooperate with
2 2 and assist the director in administering the blufflands
2 3 protection program within their respective districts. The
2 4 director shall provide, by rule, for a uniform application
2 5 form, the content of the form, provisions for a loan agreement
2 6 model conservation easement and restrictive covenant
2 7 requirements for blufflands, and minimum qualifications of
2 8 conservation organizations which are eligible to participate
2 9 in the blufflands protection program. The administrative
2 10 director shall specify the eligible purposes for which a loan
2 11 authorized under this section can be expended including, but
2 12 not limited to, the purchase of blufflands, the acquisition of
2 13 conservation easements on blufflands, the establishment of
2 14 landowner associations, payment for loss of land value due to
2 15 restrictive covenants, and payment for administrative and
2 16 legal costs.
2 17 4. An applicant for a loan from the blufflands protection
2 18 revolving fund shall apply to the soil and water conservation
2 19 district of the county in which the bluffland is located. The
2 20 application shall be on forms prepared by the division and
2 21 shall include the information required by rule of the
2 22 division. Each conservation organization which applies for a
2 23 loan under this section shall demonstrate its financial
2 24 capability to qualify for a loan to the commissioners and its
2 25 commitment to natural resource protection and appropriate
2 26 development. If there is a loss of value of a blufflands
2 27 protection project funded under this section resulting from
2 28 restrictive covenants, the conservation organization shall be
2 29 forgiven seventy-five percent of the amount of the loss not
2 30 exceeding the amount of the loan. If a loan is used to
2 31 purchase a conservation easement on a blufflands protection
2 32 project, the conservation organization shall be forgiven
2 33 seventy-five percent of the loan. The application shall be
2 34 reviewed and feasibility of the proposed project shall be
2 35 investigated by the commissioners of the district and its
3 1 report and recommendation shall be sent to the administrative
3 2 director and the committee for approval.
3 3 5. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, each
3 4 loan made under this section shall be for a period not to
3 5 exceed five years, shall bear no interest for the first year,
3 6 and shall be repayable to the blufflands protection revolving
3 7 fund. After the first year and for each subsequent year that
3 8 the principal remains unpaid, interest shall be charged
3 9 against any unpaid balance of the loan. The interest rate
3 10 shall be set at the prevailing market rate for similar real
3 11 estate in the county as determined by the director. All
3 12 interest payments shall be credited to the blufflands
3 13 protection revolving fund. Each loan shall be repaid as
3 14 provided in the loan agreement. However, interest on the
3 15 principal of a loan shall be due and payable thirty days after
3 16 the conclusion of the second year and each subsequent year
3 17 that the principal or a part of the principal remains unpaid.
3 18 A loan may be extended annually beyond the original five years
3 19 with the approval of the district commissioners and the
3 20 administrative director.
3 21 6. The administrative director may:
3 22 a. Contract, sue and be sued, and adopt administrative
3 23 rules pursuant to chapter 17A and approved by the committee,
3 24 necessary to carry out this section, but the administrative
3 25 director, the committee, or the district commissioners shall
3 26 not directly or indirectly pledge the credit of the state of
3 27 Iowa.
3 28 b. Authorize payment from the blufflands protection
3 29 revolving fund from moneys received under section 99F.11,
3 30 subsection 4, and from any income received by investments of
3 31 any money in the fund for costs, commissions, attorney fees,
3 32 and other reasonable expenses related to and necessary for the
3 33 making and protecting of direct loans under this section, and
3 34 for recovery of moneys loaned or the management of property
3 35 acquired in connection with the loans.
4 1 7. This section is repealed on July 1, 2017.
4 2 Sec. 2. Section 99F.11, subsection 4, Code 1997, is
4 3 amended to read as follows:
4 4 4. The remaining amount of the adjusted gross receipts tax
4 5 shall be credited to the general fund of the state. However,
4 6 of the remaining amount of adjusted gross receipts tax
4 7 available under this subsection, and notwithstanding
4 8 provisions to the contrary in section 8.57, for the fiscal
4 9 period beginning July 1, 1997, and ending June 30, 2017, the
4 10 first one million dollars collected each fiscal year shall be
4 11 credited to the blufflands protection revolving fund.
4 12 Sec. 3. OUTSTANDING BLUFFLANDS PROTECTION LOANS. The
4 13 principal and interest from any blufflands protection loans
4 14 outstanding on July 1, 2017, and payable to the blufflands
4 15 protection revolving fund, shall be paid to the administrative
4 16 director of the division of soil conservation on or after July
4 17 1, 2017, pursuant to the terms of the loan agreement and shall
4 18 be credited to the general fund of the state.
4 19 EXPLANATION
4 20 This bill creates a blufflands protection revolving fund in
4 21 the state treasury to be used to make loans to nonprofit
4 22 conservation organizations which are interested in preserving
4 23 blufflands along the Mississippi river. The administrative
4 24 director of the division of soil conservation of the
4 25 department of agriculture and land stewardship is directed to
4 26 establish a blufflands protection program to be administered
4 27 by the director and the commissioners of the soil and water
4 28 conservation districts which are coterminous with the
4 29 Mississippi river. The program will offer loans to
4 30 conservation organizations which wish to purchase blufflands
4 31 for the purpose of development and resale with appropriate
4 32 restrictive convenants or the purchase of conservation
4 33 easements. The conservation organization shall be forgiven 75
4 34 percent of any loss of property value incurred due to
4 35 restrictive covenants or 75 percent of the cost of a
5 1 conservation easement.
5 2 The loans are without interest for the first year and at
5 3 the prevailing interest rate for similar real estate for each
5 4 year thereafter. The loans are to be repaid in five years,
5 5 but annual extensions are authorized. Repayment plans are
5 6 subject to contractual agreements, but annual interest
5 7 payments are required at a minimum after the second year of a
5 8 loan. All principal and interest payments or earnings are to
5 9 be credited to the revolving fund.
5 10 The loan program is funded by crediting $1 million each
5 11 year from the remaining amount of the adjusted gross receipts
5 12 tax from excursion boat gambling operations which would
5 13 otherwise be credited to the state general fund or the
5 14 infrastructure fund. The maximum balance in the blufflands
5 15 protection revolving fund is set at $2.5 million.
5 16 The blufflands protection program is repealed as of July 1,
5 17 2017.
5 18 LSB 1164SS 77
5 19 tj/sc/14.1
Text: SF00166 Text: SF00168 Text: SF00100 - SF00199 Text: SF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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