Text: HF02173 Text: HF02175 Text: HF02100 - HF02199 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN 1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 331.264 LOCAL GOVERNMENT 1 2 CONSOLIDATION COMMITTEE. 1 3 1. A local government consolidation committee is created 1 4 in each county. Members shall be appointed to the committee 1 5 on or before August 1, 2006. The committee shall be composed 1 6 of the following members: 1 7 a. Three city council members chosen by the city council 1 8 of each participating city with a population of twenty-five 1 9 thousand or more. 1 10 b. Three county supervisors chosen by the county board of 1 11 supervisors. 1 12 c. Up to three members representing the cities within the 1 13 county that have a population of less than twenty-five 1 14 thousand. The members appointed under this paragraph shall be 1 15 appointed by consensus of all the mayors of the participating 1 16 cities and shall be elected city, county, or state officials 1 17 whose constituency is primarily within the county. One member 1 18 shall be appointed if all the cities represented under this 1 19 paragraph have a combined population of twenty thousand or 1 20 less. Two members shall be appointed if such cities have a 1 21 combined population of more than twenty thousand but less than 1 22 thirty thousand. Three members shall be appointed if such 1 23 cities have a combined population of thirty thousand or more. 1 24 d. Two members shall be appointed by each state legislator 1 25 whose legislative district is located in the county if a 1 26 majority of the constituents of that legislative district 1 27 reside in the county. However, if a county does not have a 1 28 state representative's legislative district which has a 1 29 majority of a state representative's constituency residing in 1 30 the county, the state representative having the largest 1 31 plurality of constituents residing in the county shall appoint 1 32 two members. At least one of the members appointed by each 1 33 state legislator shall be a person who is not holding elected 1 34 office and who is a resident of the legislative district of 1 35 the state legislator. For purposes of this paragraph, 2 1 appointments made before January 13, 2003, shall be based on 2 2 the legislative districts established after the 1990 federal 2 3 decennial census. Appointments made on or after January 13, 2 4 2003, shall be based on the legislative districts established 2 5 after the 2000 federal decennial census. In determining the 2 6 number of constituents in each legislative district, the 2 7 decennial census used to establish the legislative district 2 8 shall be used. 2 9 Organization and expenses of the committee are subject to 2 10 section 331.234 as if the committee were a city-county 2 11 consolidation or community commonwealth commission. 2 12 2. In lieu of the appointment deadline in subsection 1, 2 13 members shall be appointed to the consolidation committee 2 14 within thirty days after any of the following occurs: 2 15 a. The county board of supervisors and each city council 2 16 in the county adopt a joint resolution calling for appointment 2 17 of members to the committee and files the resolution with the 2 18 county board of supervisors. 2 19 b. The city council of a city whose population comprises 2 20 more than fifty percent or more of the population of the 2 21 entire county adopts a resolution calling for appointment of 2 22 members to the committee and files the resolution with the 2 23 county board of supervisors. 2 24 c. The county board of supervisors in a county whose 2 25 population in the unincorporated area of the county comprises 2 26 fifty-one percent or more of the population of the entire 2 27 county adopts a resolution calling for appointment of members 2 28 to the committee. 2 29 d. A petition signed by eligible electors of the county 2 30 equal in number to ten percent of the registered voters in the 2 31 county is filed with the county board of supervisors. 2 32 3. Within twelve months after the organization of the 2 33 consolidation committee, the committee shall submit a report 2 34 to the county board of supervisors. The report shall contain 2 35 the committee's recommendation as to what the committee 3 1 believes to be the best proposal for a consolidated form of 3 2 government for the county. The auditor's office shall make 3 3 the report available to the public upon request. A summary of 3 4 the report shall be published in a newspaper of general 3 5 circulation in the county. 3 6 4. If the committee report recommends that the county 3 7 consider city-county consolidation or a community 3 8 commonwealth, the committee issuing the report shall operate 3 9 as a commission created pursuant to section 331.233A, and 3 10 shall prepare such a proposal for submission to the electorate 3 11 in lieu of the commission membership requirements in section 3 12 331.233A. If the committee report recommends that the county 3 13 consider multicounty consolidation, a commission to prepare 3 14 such a proposal for submission to the electorate shall be 3 15 formed within forty-five days of publication of the report and 3 16 shall be organized pursuant to section 331.233. If the 3 17 committee report recommends that the cities within the county 3 18 consider a consolidated metropolitan corporation, a commission 3 19 to prepare such a proposal for submission to the electorate 3 20 shall be formed within forty-five days of publication of the 3 21 report and shall be organized pursuant to chapter 373. 3 22 Commissions formed pursuant to this subsection shall 3 23 operate under the schedule in section 331.235. 3 24 5. This section does not apply to a county in which a 3 25 charter commission has been established and is operating as of 3 26 July 1, 2002. 3 27 Sec. 2. Section 331.235, subsection 4, Code 2001, is 3 28 amended to read as follows: 3 29 4. The commission is dissolved on the date of thegeneral3 30 election at which the proposed charter is submitted to the 3 31 electorate. If a charter is not recommended, the commission 3 32 is dissolved upon submission of its final report to the board. 3 33 Sec. 3. Section 331.237, subsection 1, Code 2001, is 3 34 amended to read as follows: 3 35 1.If aThe board shall direct the county commissioner of 4 1 elections to submit to the registered voters of the county the 4 2 question of whether the proposed charter for county government 4 3 shall be adopted. The proposed charter for county government 4 4ismay be submitted at the general election or at a special 4 5 election called for that purpose. To be submitted at the 4 6 general election, the proposed charter must be received not 4 7 less than five working days before the filing deadline for 4 8 candidates for county offices specified in section 44.4 for 4 9 the next general election, the board shall direct the county4 10commissioner of elections to submit to the registered voters4 11of the county at the next general election the question of4 12whether the proposed charter shall be adopted. A summary of 4 13 the proposed charter or amendment shall be published in the 4 14 official county newspapers and in a newspaper of general 4 15 circulation in each participating city, if applicable, at 4 16 least ten but not more than twenty days before the date of the 4 17 election. If a majority of the votes cast on the question is 4 18 in favor of the proposal, the proposal is adopted. 4 19 Sec. 4. Section 331.237, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 4 20 2001, is amended to read as follows: 4 21 a. The adopted charter shall take effect the July 1 next 4 22 occurring two years following thegeneralelection at which it 4 23 is approved unless the charter provides a later effective 4 24 date. If the adopted charter calls for a change in the form 4 25 of government, officers to fill elective offices shall be 4 26 elected in the general election in the even-numbered year 4 27 following the adoption of the charter. Those county officers 4 28 holding office at the time of the adoption of the charter 4 29 shall continue in office until the general election in the 4 30 even-numbered year following the adoption of the charter. If 4 31 the charter provides that one or more elective offices are 4 32 combined, the board of supervisors shall appoint one of the 4 33 elective officers of the combined offices to serve until the 4 34 general election in the even-numbered year. If the charter 4 35 calls for the elimination of an elective office, that elective 5 1 officer's term of office shall expire on the date the adopted 5 2 charter takes effect. 5 3 Sec. 5. Section 331.249, subsection 2, unnumbered 5 4 paragraph 2, Code 2001, is amended to read as follows: 5 5 If a city-county consolidation charter is proposed, within 5 6 ninety days following the final report of the commission, a 5 7 resident or property owner of the commission area proposed to 5 8 be consolidated may bring an action in district court for 5 9 declaratory judgment to determine the legality of the proposed 5 10 charter and to otherwise declare the effect of the charter. 5 11 The court shall expedite its review and determination in this 5 12 matter. The referendum on the proposed charter shall be 5 13 stayed during pendency of the action and for such additional 5 14 time during which the proposed charter or its enabling 5 15 legislation does not conform to the Constitution or laws of 5 16 the State of Iowa. If in its final judgment the court 5 17 determines that the proposed charter fails to conform to the 5 18 Constitution or laws of this state, the commission shall have 5 19 a period of six months in which to revise and resubmit the 5 20 proposed charter. 5 21 Sec. 6. IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT. Section 25B.2, subsection 5 22 3, shall not apply to this Act. 5 23 EXPLANATION 5 24 This bill establishes a local government consolidation 5 25 committee in each county to study whether a charter of 5 26 consolidation should be presented to the voters. Members of 5 27 the committee must be appointed on or before August 6, 2006. 5 28 Members may be appointed before that date upon resolution or 5 29 petition by the county board of supervisors, city councils, or 5 30 eligible electors. 5 31 Within 12 months of organizing, the committee is to report 5 32 to the county board of supervisors on what form of 5 33 consolidation it recommends. The report is to be published in 5 34 a newspaper of general circulation in the county. If the 5 35 committee recommends multicounty consolidation or city-county 6 1 consolidation, the bill directs that a commission be formed to 6 2 draft that proposal. If the committee recommends city-county 6 3 consolidation or a community commonwealth, the committee shall 6 4 become the commission that will draft the proposal in lieu of 6 5 the commission member requirements currently in statute. The 6 6 requirement to establish a consolidation committee does not 6 7 apply to a county in which a charter commission has been 6 8 established and is operating as of July 1, 2002. 6 9 The bill also allows a proposed charter for county 6 10 government to be submitted to the voters at a special election 6 11 called for that purpose in addition to the general election. 6 12 The bill provides that a charter shall take effect the July 1 6 13 next occurring two years after the election at which the 6 14 charter is approved. The bill also provides that when a 6 15 charter for city-county consolidation is challenged in 6 16 district court, the court is to expedite its review and 6 17 determination on the challenge. 6 18 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 6 19 section 25B.3. The bill makes inapplicable Code section 6 20 25B.2, subsection 3, which would relieve a political 6 21 subdivision from complying with a state mandate if funding for 6 22 the cost of the state mandate is not provided or specified. 6 23 Therefore, political subdivisions are required to comply with 6 24 any state mandate included in the bill. 6 25 LSB 5930HH 79 6 26 sc/hk/91.1
Text: HF02173 Text: HF02175 Text: HF02100 - HF02199 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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