384.24A  Loan agreements.
  A city may enter into loan agreements to borrow money for any public purpose in accordance with the following terms and procedures:
  1.  A loan agreement entered into by a city may contain provisions similar to those sometimes found in loan agreements between private parties, including, but not limited to, the issuance of notes to evidence its obligations.
  2.  A provision of a loan agreement which stipulates that a portion of the payments be applied as interest is subject to chapter 74A. Other laws relating to interest rates do not apply. Chapter 75 is not applicable. A city utility or city enterprise is a separate entity under this section whether it is governed by the governing body of the city or another governing body.
  3.  The governing body shall follow substantially the same authorization procedure required for the issuance of general obligation bonds issued for the same purpose to authorize a loan agreement made payable from the debt service fund.
  4.  The governing body may authorize a loan agreement which is payable from the general fund if the loan agreement would not cause the total of scheduled annual payments of principal or interest or both principal and interest due from the general fund in any single future fiscal year with respect to all loan agreements in force on the date of the authorization to exceed ten percent of the last certified general fund budget amount in accordance with the following procedures:
  a.  The governing body must follow substantially the authorization procedures of section 384.25 to authorize a loan agreement for personal property which is payable from the general fund. The governing body must follow substantially the authorization procedures of section 384.25 to authorize a loan agreement for real property which is payable from the general fund if the principal amount of the loan agreement does not exceed the following limits:
  (1)  Four hundred thousand dollars in a city having a population of five thousand or less.
  (2)  Seven hundred thousand dollars in a city having a population of more than five thousand but not more than seventy-five thousand.
  (3)  One million dollars in a city having a population of more than seventy-five thousand.
  b.  The governing body must follow the following procedures to authorize a loan agreement for real property which is payable from the general fund if the principal amount of the loan agreement exceeds the limits set forth in paragraph “a”:
  (1)  The governing body must institute proceedings to enter into a loan agreement payable from the general fund by causing a notice of the meeting to discuss entering into the loan agreement, including a statement of the principal amount and purpose of the loan agreement and the right to petition for an election, to be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation within the city at least ten days prior to the discussion meeting. No sooner than thirty days following the discussion meeting shall the governing body hold a meeting at which it is proposed to take action to enter into the loan agreement.
  (2)  (a)  If at any time before the end of the thirty-day period after which a meeting may be held to take action to enter into the loan agreement, a petition is filed with the clerk of the city in the manner provided by section 362.4, asking that the question of entering into the loan agreement be submitted to the registered voters of the city, the governing body shall either by resolution declare the proposal to enter into the loan agreement to have been abandoned or shall direct the county commissioner of elections to call a special election upon the question of entering into the loan agreement. However, for purposes of this paragraph, the petition shall not require signatures in excess of one thousand persons.
  (b)  The question to be placed on the ballot shall be stated affirmatively in substantially the following manner:
  Shall the city of ................ enter into a loan agreement in amount of $ ................ for the purpose of ................?
  (c)  Notice of the election and its conduct shall be in the manner provided in section 384.26, subsections 2 through 4.
  (3)  If a petition is not filed or if a petition is filed and the proposition of entering into the loan agreement is approved at an election, the governing body may proceed and enter into the loan agreement.
  5.  The governing body may authorize a loan agreement payable from the net revenues of a city utility, combined utility system, city enterprise, or combined city enterprise by following the authorization procedures of section 384.83.
  6.  A loan agreement to which a city is a party or in which the city has a participatory interest is an obligation of a political subdivision of this state for the purposes of chapters 502 and 636, and is a lawful investment for banks, trust companies, savings associations, investment companies, insurance companies, insurance associations, executors, guardians, trustees, and any other fiduciaries responsible for the investment of funds.
87 Acts, ch 103, §9; 92 Acts, ch 1138, §5; 95 Acts, ch 67, §53; 2009 Acts, ch 100, §14, 21; 2010 Acts, ch 1061, §154; 2012 Acts, ch 1017, §76
Referred to in §37.6, 357A.11, 357E.11A, 389.4, 390.5
For future amendments to subsection 4, paragraph a, subparagraphs (1), (2), and (3), effective July 1, 2024, see 2023 Acts, ch 71, §148, 154