CHAPTER 28M
REGIONAL TRANSIT DISTRICTS

  
     
28M.1  Definitions.
  As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
  1.  “Aggregate data on user and customer transaction history and fare card use” means data relating to the dates fare cards were used, the times fare cards were used, the types of transit services used, the types of fare products used, and information about the dates, times, and types of fare products purchased.
  2.  “Commission” means a regional transit district commission appointed pursuant to section 28M.4.
  3.  “Fare collection system” means a system created and administered by a regional transit district that is used for collecting fares or providing fare cards or passes for public transit services including fixed-route bus service, paratransit bus service, rideshare programs, transportation services provided pursuant to section 249A.12, and light rail or commuter rail service.
  4.  “Governmental entity” means the same as defined in section 8A.101.
  5.  “Personalized internet services” means services for which regional transit district applicants, users, and customers must establish an internet user account.
  6.  “Regional transit district” means a public transit district created by agreement pursuant to chapter 28E by one or more counties and participating cities to provide support for transportation of passengers by one or more public transit systems which may be designated as a public transit system under chapter 324A.
  7.  “Transportation” means the movement of individuals in a four or more wheeled motorized vehicle designed to carry passengers, including a car, van, or bus, or the carrying of individuals upon cars operated upon stationary rails, between one geographic point and another geographic point. “Transportation” does not include emergency or incidental transportation or transportation conducted by the department of human services at its institutions.
2004 Acts, ch 1072, §1; 2004 Acts, ch 1175, §325; 2014 Acts, ch 1073, §1

     
28M.2  Regional transit district created.
  1.  A county with a population in excess of one hundred seventy-five thousand and participating cities may create, by chapter 28E agreement, a regional transit district in the county pursuant to this chapter. Two or more contiguous counties and participating cities may create, by chapter 28E agreement, a regional transit district pursuant to this chapter if one of the counties has a population in excess of one hundred seventy-five thousand. A district shall consist of the unincorporated area of any participating county and the incorporated area of any city in the county that does not have an urban transit system. However, a city without an urban transit system may decline, by resolution forwarded to the board of supervisors, to participate in a regional transit district.
  2.  A city with an urban transit system may participate in a regional transit district if the city council, by resolution forwarded to the board of supervisors, notifies the county that the city wishes to participate.
  3.  A city that is located in a nonparticipating county that is contiguous to a county with a population in excess of one hundred seventy-five thousand that is creating a regional transit district may notify that county, by resolution forwarded to the board of supervisors of that county, that the city wishes to participate.
  4.  The chapter 28E agreement shall include a map showing the area and boundaries of the regional transit district.
2004 Acts, ch 1072, §2; 2004 Acts, ch 1175, §326

  
     
28M.3  Regional transit district authority — county enterprise — bonding authority.
  1.  A regional transit district shall have all the rights, powers, and duties of a county enterprise pursuant to sections 331.462 through 331.469 as they relate to the purpose for which the regional transit district is created, including the authority to issue revenue bonds for the establishment, construction, reconstruction, repair, equipping, remodeling, extension, maintenance, and operation of works, vehicles, and facilities of a regional transit district. In addition, a regional transit district, with the approval of the board of supervisors, may issue general obligation bonds as an essential county purpose pursuant to chapter 331, subchapter IV, part 3, for the establishment, construction, reconstruction, repair, equipping, remodeling, extension, maintenance, and operation of works, vehicles, and facilities of a regional transit district. Such general obligation bonds are payable from the property tax levy authorized in section 28M.5.
  2.  The commission appointed pursuant to section 28M.4 shall have and may exercise all powers of the board of supervisors in management and administration of the regional transit district as if it were a board of supervisors and as if the regional transit district were a county enterprise under sections 331.462 through 331.469.
2004 Acts, ch 1072, §3; 2005 Acts, ch 19, §17; 2005 Acts, ch 37, §1; 2018 Acts, ch 1041, §127

     
28M.4  Regional transit district commission — membership — powers.
  1.  The governing bodies of counties and cities participating in a regional transit district shall appoint a commission to manage and administer the regional transit district. Unless otherwise provided in the chapter 28E agreement, commission members shall serve for staggered six-year terms. The agreement creating the regional transit district shall set the compensation of commission members.
  2.  The title to all property of a regional transit district shall be held in the name of the district, and the commission has all the powers and authorities of a board of supervisors with respect to the acquisition by purchase, condemnation or otherwise, lease, sale, or other disposition of the property, and the management, control, and operation of the property, subject to the requirements, terms, covenants, conditions, and provisions of any resolutions authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds, pledge orders, or other obligations which are payable from the revenues of the regional transit district, and which are then outstanding.
  3.  A commission shall adopt and certify an annual budget for the regional transit district. A commission in its budget shall allocate the revenue responsibilities of each county and city participating in the regional transit district. A commission shall be considered a municipality for purposes of adopting and certifying a budget pursuant to chapter 24.
  4.  A commission may establish a schedule of fares and collect fares for the transportation of passengers.
  5.  A commission shall levy for and control any tax revenues paid to the regional transit district the commission administers and all moneys derived from the operation of the regional transit district, the sale of its property, interest on investments, or from any other source related to the regional transit district.
  6.  Tax revenues collected from a regional transit district levy shall be held by the county treasurer. Before the fifteenth day of each month, the county treasurer shall send the amount collected for each fund through the last day of the preceding month for direct deposit into the depository and account designated by the commission. The county treasurer shall send a notice to the secretary of the commission or the secretary’s designee stating the amount deposited, the date, the amount to be credited to each fund according to the budget, and the source of the revenue.
  7.  A commission is subject to section 331.341, subsections 1, 2, 4, and 5, and section 331.342, in contracting for public improvements.
  8.  Immediately following a regular or special meeting of a commission, the secretary of the commission shall prepare a condensed statement of the proceedings of the commission and cause the statement to be published not more than twenty days following the meeting in one or more newspapers which meet the requirements of section 618.14. The statement shall include a list of all claims allowed, showing the name of the person or firm making the claim, the reason for the claim, and the amount of the claim. If the reason for the claims is the same, two or more claims made by the same vendor, supplier, or claimant may be consolidated if the number of claims consolidated and the total consolidated claim amount are listed in the statement. However, the commission shall provide at its office upon request an unconsolidated list of all claims allowed. Salary claims must show the gross amount of the claim except that salaries paid to persons regularly employed by the commission, for services regularly performed by the persons, shall be published once annually showing the gross amount of the salary.
  9.  A commission shall submit to the governing body of each participating county and city a detailed annual report, including a complete financial statement.
2004 Acts, ch 1072, §4; 2005 Acts, ch 37, §2; 2006 Acts, ch 1018, §1; 2007 Acts, ch 143, §36
Referred to in §28M.1, 28M.3

     
28M.5  Regional transit district levy.
  1.  The commission, with the approval of the board of supervisors of participating counties and the city council of participating cities in the chapter 28E agreement, may levy annually a tax not to exceed ninety-five cents per thousand dollars of the assessed value of all taxable property in a regional transit district to the extent provided in this section. The chapter 28E agreement may authorize the commission to levy the tax at different rates within the participating cities and counties in amounts sufficient to meet the revenue responsibilities of such cities and counties as allocated in the budget adopted by the commission. However, for a city participating in a regional transit district, the total of all the tax levies imposed in the city pursuant to section 384.12, subsection 10, and this section shall not exceed the aggregate of ninety-five cents per thousand dollars of the assessed value of all taxable property in the participating city.
  2.  If a regional transit district budget allocates revenue responsibilities to the board of supervisors of a participating county, the amount of the regional transit district levy that is the responsibility of the participating county shall be deducted from the maximum rates of taxes authorized to be levied by the county pursuant to section 331.423, subsections 1 and 2, as applicable, unless the county meets its revenue responsibilities as allocated in the budget from other available revenue sources. However, for a regional transit district that includes a county with a population of less than three hundred thousand, the amount of the regional transit district levy that is the responsibility of such participating county shall be deducted from the maximum rate of taxes authorized to be levied by the county pursuant to section 331.423, subsection 1.
  3.  The regional transit district tax levy imposed in a participating city located in a nonparticipating contiguous county shall, when collected, be paid to the county treasurer of the participating county.
  4.  The proceeds of the tax levy shall be used for the operation and maintenance of a regional transit district, for payment of debt obligations of the district, and for the creation of a reserve fund. The commission may divide the territory of a regional transit district outside the boundaries of a city into separate service areas and impose a regional transit district levy not to exceed the maximum rate authorized by this section in each service area.
2004 Acts, ch 1072, §5; 2004 Acts, ch 1175, §327; 2005 Acts, ch 37, §3
Referred to in §28M.3

     
28M.6  Effect of agreement on county duty to provide transit services.
  Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, a county that enters into a chapter 28E agreement to create a regional transit district under this chapter does not, by virtue of such agreement, create a duty on the part of the county to provide transit services to any area of the county.
2005 Acts, ch 37, §4

     
28M.7  Regional transit district customer data — disclosure restrictions — penalty.
  1.  Data concerning applicants, users, and customers of a regional transit district collected by or through personalized internet services or a fare collection system shall be considered private and not subject to disclosure except as provided in this section.
  2.  A regional transit district may disclose aggregate data on user and customer transaction history and fare card use to governmental entities, organizations, school districts, educational institutions, and employers that subsidize or provide fare cards to their clients, students, or employees. Governmental entities, organizations, school districts, educational institutions, and employers may use the aggregate data only for purposes of measuring and promoting fare card use and evaluating the cost-effectiveness of their fare card programs. The disclosure of nonaggregate or personalized data on user and customer transaction history and fare card use to governmental entities, organizations, school districts, educational institutions, and employers shall be strictly prohibited.
  3.  A regional transit district may disclose data concerning applicants, users, and customers collected by or through personalized internet services or a fare collection system to another governmental entity to prevent a breach of security regarding electronic systems maintained by the regional transit district or the governmental entity, or pursuant to a subpoena issued in connection with a civil or criminal investigation.
  4.  A violation of this section is punishable by a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars for each violation.
2014 Acts, ch 1073, §2; 2015 Acts, ch 30, §28