2001 Summary of Legislation LOCAL GOVERNMENT Published by the Iowa General Assembly -- Legislative Service Bureau

LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION

SENATE FILE 57 - City Franchises - Utilities - Elections (full text of act)

   BY JENSEN. This Act provides that an election giving effect to an ordinance granting a city franchise is not required if the ordinance grants an electric light and power, heating, or gasworks franchise or seeks to amend, extend or renew an electric light and power, heating, or gasworks franchise unless an election is petitioned for or the party seeking the franchise requests an election.

SENATE FILE 168 - City Cable Television Franchises (full text of act)

   BY COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE. This Act provides that if a city grants more than one cable television franchise, the terms and conditions shall not give undue preference or advantage to the new franchisee and the new franchisee shall be granted the same territory as the existing franchisee and a reasonable amount of time to build the new system throughout the territory.

SENATE FILE 184 - County Sheriff Services - Fees - Garnishment Release (full text of act)

   BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT. This Act increases the fees the county sheriff must collect for serving various notices, warrants, orders, summons, executions, and subpoenas by amounts ranging from $2 to $5 and increases the hourly or daily fees for attending property sales, summoning and attending juries, or conveying patients to and from public institutions by amounts ranging from $5 per hour to $40 per diem. The Act also provides for the release of a garnishment by the sheriff at the request of the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney.

SENATE FILE 186 - County Hospital Fund Tax Levy (full text of act)

   BY COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS. This Act authorizes a tax levy of $2.05 per $1,000 of taxable value for improvements and maintenance of a county hospital in a county having a population of more than 225,000, commencing with the levy of taxes payable in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2001.

   The Act takes effect April 25, 2001.

SENATE FILE 313 - County Board of Supervisors Appointees - Removal (full text of act)

   BY RITTMER. This Act provides that the removal procedure applicable to a person holding a county office applies only to those officers appointed by the board of supervisors and removed by the board of supervisors.

SENATE FILE 372 - Public Records and Documents (full text of act)

   BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT. This Act amends a number of Code sections relating to the recording of mortgage documents, liens, military veteran discharges, and other instruments with the county recorder. The Act also repeals several sections that require ruled columns and an index form for affidavits, mortgages, and other legal documents. The amendments and repeals are proposed to remove impediments to the electronic recording of various legal instruments and to improve recording procedures.

   Code Sections 6B.35 and 354.5 are amended to substitute "document reference" for references to "book and page." Code Section 354.24 is amended to substitute the wording "a document reference" for references to "the book and page." If a correction to a plat is recorded, the recorder shall note the correction on the record in lieu of writing the word "corrected" across the affected part of the plat. - Code Sections 558.49, 558.52, 558.55, and 558.59 are amended to strike the reference to index books and the book and page of a recorded instrument. The terms are replaced by reference to a document reference number. - Code Section 639.53 is amended to substitute "document reference number" for the words "book and page." Code Sections 655A.3, 655A.6 and 656.2 are amended to add a document reference number as a means of identifying a mortgage, contract, or real estate document.

   Code Section 22.3 is amended to allow an authorized designee of a lawful custodian of public records to supervise the examination and copying of public records.

   Code Section 96.14 is amended to provide that the index of unemployment contribution liens in a county recorder's office does not have to be kept in a book form.

   Code Section 331.602 is amended to strike a required notation in the margin of a corrective instrument referencing the original instrument and a corresponding notation in the margin of the original document referring to the new record. A requirement that an instrument be recorded in a book is also stricken, as is a requirement that a copy of a deed, bill of sale, or other transfer document that is forwarded to the Director of Revenue and Finance must be a certified copy.

   Code Section 331.603 is amended to strike a requirement that a recorded instrument which involves a release or assignment of a property previously recorded and reproduced in miniature shall also be reproduced in miniature. Also, in lieu of marginal entries, the recorder shall make notations on the index and the record of the original instrument.

   Code Section 331.605A is amended to provide that the county treasurer, on behalf of the county recorder, shall establish and maintain an interest?bearing account for the fees collected by the county recorder for the purpose of collecting and maintaining public records.

   Code Section 331.606 is amended to strike a reference to the need for a book to maintain an index.

   Code Section 331.607 is amended to strike several references to books that a county recorder is required to keep. The term "record" or "records" is substituted. Code Section 331.608 is amended to substitute the word "record" for "special book" and to strike a requirement that a discharge book be approved by the Commission of Veterans Affairs. Code Sections 422.26, 437A.11 and 437A.22 are amended to strike the term "books" in reference to records or indexes for income tax liens.

   Code Section 331.609 is amended to strike the requirement that a county recorder permanently attach a refiled notice to the original notice of federal lien. In lieu of the attachment, a county recorder shall make a notation on the original record referring to the refiled notice.

   Code Section 354.1 is amended to provide that all documents presented for recording with regard to the platting and subdivision of land must comply with the recording requirements specified for all instruments.

   Code Section 354.26 is amended to provide that the recorder shall note the vacation, correction or replatting on the index and record of the official plat rather than on the margin of the plat.

   Code Section 380.11 is amended to provide that zoning districts, building lines, or fire limits which are platted shall be indexed and recorded without the use of books.

   Code Section 428A.5 is amended to strike the use of a device by the county recorder to evidence the payment of the real estate transfer tax on a transfer document. The device is replaced by a method of documentation as approved by the Department of Revenue and Finance.

   Code Section 558.45 is amended to strike the use of red ink for notation on indexes and reference to the book and page for a recorded instrument.

   Code Section 566.35 is amended by striking a provision which requires that the declaration of value of a real estate transfer submitted to the county recorder include the existence of any known private burial site located on the real estate.

   The Act also repeals Code Sections 558.50, 558.51, 558.53, and 558.54. Code Section 558.50 specifies the ruled columns and an index form for affidavits. Code Section 558.51 requires separate index books for mortgages and satisfactions or releases of mortgages, descriptions of lots and land, conveyances of real estate, powers of attorney, affidavits, copies of petitions in bankruptcy, decrees of adjudication in bankruptcy, and orders approving trustees' bonds in bankruptcy. Code Section 558.53 provides for an index and record of all deeds, mortgages, and related instruments affecting lots in cities and affected plats. Code Section 558.54 provides that an instrument containing descriptions of land or lots in cities, affected plats, and other land shall be recorded in one record and charged one fee, but the record shall be indexed in the land and city lot indexes.

SENATE FILE 453 - County Administrative Procedures, Filing Requirements, and Related Costs (full text of act)

   BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT. This Act amends various powers and duties of various county officers relating to the payment of county obligations by check in lieu of warrants. The county board of supervisors may authorize the county auditor to issue checks in lieu of warrants. If the authority is granted, the term "check" shall be substituted for the term "warrant" in those instances where checks are used in lieu of warrants. Outstanding checks and warrants shall be canceled one year after the date of issue, deposited to the account on which the check or warrant was written, and credited as unclaimed fees and trusts. A person may claim the amount of the canceled warrant or check for one year after the date of cancellation.

   The Act also requires the county treasurer to dispose of the tax list delivered under Code Chapter 443 after 10 years from the date of receipt.

   The Act provides that a certificate of change of title of real estate also must include a name and complete mailing address to expedite the mailing of tax statements and that to avoid interest on delinquent taxes, an electronic payment must be received on the first business day of the delinquent month.

   Code Section 447.11 is amended to correspond to Code Section 447.9 by providing that service of notice on agents of nonresidents will be given by certified and regular mail rather than personal service.

   The cost of a record search and cost of serving the notice by mail by a tax sale certificate holder is no longer added to the amount necessary to redeem a tax sale certificate. This change to Code Section 447.13 takes effect April 18, 2001.

SENATE FILE 511 - Legalization of City of Davenport Ordinances and Amendments (full text of act)

   BY TINSMAN AND DELUHERY. This Act provides that ordinances recently passed by the city of Davenport are legal, regardless of a flaw in procedures used in their adoption. Code Section 380.3 requires that a proposed ordinance, including a proposed amendment to an ordinance, be considered and voted on for passage at three city council meetings before it goes into effect, unless a supermajority of council members votes to suspend the requirement.

   Prior to July 1, 1997, a provision allowed a special process for the city to approve an ordinance after only two readings if a summary of the proposed ordinance was published in advance and a copy of the proposed ordinance was made available for public examination (in effect making the second reading equivalent to the third and final reading).

   In 1997, the General Assembly enacted H.F. 658, which eliminated the provision allowing for two readings without a suspension by a supermajority vote. Notwithstanding the elimination of the provision, the city of Davenport continued to rely upon the provision's procedure to pass some of its ordinances. This Act provides that ordinances passed under the eliminated procedure from July 1, 1997, to July 1, 2000, are legalized, validated and confirmed.

   The Act takes effect April 25, 2001, and is retroactively applicable to July 1, 1997.

HOUSE FILE 301 - Rural Fire Protection (full text of act)

   BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT. This Act provides that a rural water district or rural water association must establish a rural fire protection program which provides access to designated soft-hose fill stations, periodic updated maps of soft-hose fill stations, and periodic informational meetings for all affected fire departments on procedures and facilities to enhance rural fire protection. The Act also limits the liability of a rural water district or rural water association for failure to provide or maintain fire hydrants, facilities, or an adequate supply of water or water pressure for fire protection purposes if the facilities, hydrants or water used is not for fire protection. The Legislative Council is also directed to provide for a review of the liability exemption or limitation for rural water districts or associations before July 1, 2006, and assess its effect on the provision of fire protection in rural areas.

HOUSE FILE 309 - Instructional Support Program Participation - West Bend-Mallard School District (full text of act)

   BY FREVERT AND MERTZ. This Act legalizes an instructional support program that was continued in violation of Code Section 257.18. Under that section, a school district may provide for an instructional support program that may be funded in part by local funding (an instructional support property tax, an instructional support income surtax, or a combination of both).

   The Act provides that all acts and proceedings relating to the instructional support program for the West Bend-Mallard Community School District, due to the failure to approve an instructional support program as provided in Code Section 257.18, beginning on July 1, 1999, and ending on June 30, 2001, are legalized, validated and confirmed.

   The Act takes effect April 18, 2001, and is retroactively applicable to July 1, 1999.

HOUSE FILE 535 - City Enterprises - Funding of Child Care Center Construction and Equipment (full text of act)

   BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT. This Act adds child care centers to the definition of "city enterprise." Child care centers include preschools. A city may issue general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, or loan agreements to fund construction and equipping of a city enterprise.

   The Act takes effect April 26, 2001.

HOUSE FILE 624 - Mayor-Council City Government - Appointment and Dismissal of Police Chief or Marshal (full text of act)

   BY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY. This Act provides that the marshal or chief of police of a city with a mayor-council form of government, and without civil service or an intergovernmental agreement providing another method of selection, shall be appointed and dismissed by the mayor with the consent of a majority of the city council.

HOUSE FILE 663 - County Public Hospital Trustee Eligibility - Health Care Practitioners (full text of act)

   BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT. This Act allows a person who has medical special staff privileges in a county public hospital, or who receives compensation greater than $1,500 per year from a county public hospital or from a person contracting for services with a county public hospital, to serve as a trustee for that county public hospital if the person is a licensed health care practitioner whose sole use of the county hospital is to provide health care service to mentally retarded individuals.

   The Act also repeals the prohibition against a county public hospital trustee having a pecuniary interest in commodities or supplies used by the hospital.

HOUSE FILE 711 - Drainage or Levee District Tax Assessment Levy (full text of act)

   BY COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS. This Act provides that levies for deficiencies in drainage or levee projects shall become due and payable in the same manner as the original assessment. The drainage or levee tax assessments become due and payable with the first half of ordinary taxes, and shall be collected in the same manner with the same interest for delinquency as ordinary taxes unless an alternative method of payment or optional installment method is selected.

HOUSE FILE 713 - County Lease or Lease-Purchase Contracts and Records, Fees, and Tax Credits Affecting Real Property (full text of act)

   BY COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS. This Act includes changes in the administration of a county by the board of supervisors and other county officers.

   Code Section 331.301 is amended to permit the board of supervisors to authorize lease or lease?purchase contracts without following procedures related to the issuance of essential corporate bonds if the cost of the lease or lease-purchase contract is less than $25,000.

   Code Section 425A.5 is amended to require county auditors to list all tracts of agricultural land entitled to the family farm tax credit, determine the amount of credit, and certify the total amount of credit and total number of acres entitled to the credit to the Department of Revenue and Finance (DORF) on or before April 1 of each year. Code Section 426.6 is also amended to require county auditors to list all tracts of agricultural land, the taxable value for the previous year, the budget for each school district for the previous year, and the tax rate for the general fund of the school district, determine the amount of tax credit, and certify the amount to DORF on or before April 1 of each year.

   Code Section 426.7 is amended to direct the Director of Revenue and Finance to mail the warrants to pay the agricultural land credits on July 15, and notify the county auditors of the pro rata share of the agricultural land tax credit on or before June 15 instead of August 1 if the Agricultural Land Credit Fund is insufficient to pay the tax credits in full.

   Code Sections 558.57 and 558.58 are amended to require that real estate installment contracts be entered in the county auditor's transfer book, which would require the transfer fee of $10 to be collected.

   Code Section 595.5 is amended by striking a provision that requires the county registrar to certify a copy of the return of marriage to each county recorder of a county where real estate is owned by either party to the marriage, in order for the return of marriage to be recorded in the miscellaneous records in the recorder's office.

   Code Section 598.21 is amended to provide that when a judgment of annulment, dissolution, or separate maintenance is ordered, the court shall divide the property of the parties and transfer the title of property accordingly, including the issuance of a quitclaim deed or change of title for tax purposes and delivery of the deed or change of title to the appropriate county recorder so that the quitclaim deed or change of title is recorded and the applicable fee is collected with or without the payment of recording fees.

RELATED LEGISLATION

SENATE FILE 81 -- Criteria for State Economic Development Financial Assistance (Complete summary under ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.)

   This Act relates to economic development-related financial assistance for a person or business located in an area that is a blighted area or is located in a city or county that meets the distress criteria provided under the Enterprise Zone Program.

SENATE FILE 185 -- Factory-Built Structures - Manufactured Home Installer Certification (Complete summary under STATE GOVERNMENT.)

   This Act modifies the definition of a factory-built structure to specifically include a mobile home, manufactured home, or a modular home and provides for the certification of manufactured home installers pursuant to rules of the State Building Code Commissioner. The commissioner may establish a fee for certification of installers. All fees collected are credited to the General Fund of the State and appropriated to the commissioner to pay the costs of administering the certification process.

SENATE FILE 267 -- Supplemental Appropriations and Reductions (Complete summary under APPROPRIATIONS.)

   This Act relates to state budgetary matters by making reductions to appropriations made for FY 2000-2001 from the General Fund of the State and includes a reduction to an appropriation for local services provided to persons with mental illness, mental retardation, or developmental disabilities.

SENATE FILE 323 -- Investments by Municipal Utility Retirement Systems (Complete summary under STATE GOVERNMENT.)

   This Act relates to investment standards to which municipal utility retirement systems must adhere.

SENATE FILE 344 -- Confidential Public Records - Communications From Persons Outside of Government (Complete summary under STATE GOVERNMENT.)

   This Act amends Iowa's Open Records Law to provide that communications made to a government body by persons outside of government concerning a consulting or contractual relationship or an arrangement for compensation with a government body are records open to the public.

SENATE FILE 350 -- Transportation - Additional Miscellaneous Changes (Complete summary under TRANSPORTATION.)

   This Act makes several transportation-related Code changes. The Act modifies the method for issuing certificates of title to owners of commercial vehicles subject to the proportional registration provisions of Code Chapter 326. The Act modifies the method for the automatic reduction of motor vehicle registration fees for motor vehicles that are nine model years old or older.

SENATE FILE 449 -- Indian Housing Authority Property - Tax Exemption (Complete summary under TAXATION.)

   This Act exempts from property taxation property owned and operated by Indian housing authorities. An exemption agreement must be signed by the city council or, if the property is located outside a city, by the board of supervisors. The state is not required to reimburse any local government as a result of the property tax exemption provided in the Act. The Act takes effect April 23, 2001.

SENATE FILE 519 -- Tax Assessment of Property Rented or Leased to Low-Income Persons (Complete summary under TAXATION.)

   This Act provides that property that is rented or leased to low-income individuals and families for use as habitation as authorized by the federal tax credit provision that limits the amount of rent or lease payments required shall be valued on its actual earning capacity, based upon the actual rents received, and its restricted use in arriving at market value for purposes of property tax assessments.

SENATE FILE 520 -- Taxation of Methane Gas and Other Gas Conversion Property (Complete summary under TAXATION.)

   This Act allows a taxpayer to file an exemption from property taxation for methane gas or other gas conversion property if the taxpayer collects waste that would otherwise go to the landfill and decomposes the waste to produce methane gas or other gases for conversion into energy.

   The Act applies retroactively to January 1, 1998, for purposes of providing a tax credit for electric generation taxes unpaid by a taxpayer for the 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001 tax years if the taxpayer is allowed a methane gas conversion property tax exemption for those years. The property tax exemption for 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001 must be applied for by June 1, 2001. The claim for electric generation tax credit for those tax years must be applied for by July 1, 2001. The Act takes effect May 16, 2001.

SENATE FILE 528 -- Appropriations - Transportation (Complete summary under APPROPRIATIONS.)

   This Act makes appropriations for FY 2001-2002 from the General Fund of the State, the Road Use Tax Fund, and the Primary Road Fund to the Iowa Department of Transportation. Appropriations from the Road Use Tax Fund include appropriations for county issuance of driver's licenses. The Act also amends Code Section 312.2 to allow the annual allocation for county treasurers' equipment and support to be used for automation and telecommunications equipment and support for vehicle registration and titling and driver licensing rather than only for data processing equipment and support for vehicle registration and titling.

SENATE FILE 530 -- Appropriations - Justice System (Complete summary under APPROPRIATIONS.)

   This Act makes appropriations for FY 2001-2002 to the departments of Justice, Corrections, Public Defense, and Public Safety, the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, the Office of Public Defender, and the Board of Parole. The Act requires the departments of Corrections and Justice to assist local regional jail development authorities in issuing a report regarding the feasibility of regional jails.

HOUSE FILE 179 -- Animal Bites and Rabies - Law Enforcement Agency Dogs and Horses (Complete summary under HEALTH & SAFETY.)

   This Act provides that the local board of health does not have authority to confine certain police service dogs or horses.

HOUSE FILE 228 -- State Building Code and Preemployment Records Checks (Complete summary under HUMAN SERVICES.)

   This Act requires a governmental subdivision to file with the Department of Public Safety certified copies of any ordinance accepting the applicability of the State Building Code, or a certified copy of the vote if the governmental subdivision votes to withdraw from the applicability of the State Building Code. Under the current law, the governmental subdivision must also file copies with the Secretary of State.

HOUSE FILE 272 -- Felonious Misconduct by Public Officer or Employee - Falsified Writings (Complete summary under CRIMINAL LAW, PROCEDURE & CORRECTIONS.)

   This Act relates to felonious misconduct by a public officer or employee. The Act prohibits a public officer or employee from falsifying a writing, or knowingly delivering a falsified writing, with the knowledge that the writing is falsified and that the writing will become a public record of a government body.

HOUSE FILE 324 -- Transportation - Miscellaneous Provisions (Complete summary under TRANSPORTATION.)

   This Act makes several changes relating to local highway project procedures and requirements.

HOUSE FILE 383 -- Designation of Model Communities - Approval (Complete summary under STATE GOVERNMENT.)

   This Act provides that, during any project, pilot project, or similar initiative undertaken by the Governor or the executive branch which includes the designation of a model community in the state, any city council, county board of supervisors, or school district included in the proposed model community must approve of the designation by a simple majority vote prior to any state financial support being disbursed to a person under the project, pilot project, or similar initiative.

HOUSE FILE 481 -- Establishment of City Election Precincts (Complete summary under ELECTIONS, ETHICS & CAMPAIGN FINANCE.)

   This Act requires cities to draw precincts, when they are required to do so, in a manner that promotes electoral efficiency.

HOUSE FILE 566 -- Registered Voters, Eligible Electors, and Qualified Voters (Complete summary under ELECTIONS, ETHICS & CAMPAIGN FINANCE.)

   This Act makes several changes to the Iowa Code regarding use of the terms "eligible elector," "qualified elector," and "registered voter." The Act also changes from registered voters to eligible electors those persons qualified to sign a petition required or allowed by statute. Eligible electors are persons qualified to register to vote regardless of whether they have actually registered. Petition requirements amended by the Act include petitions regarding unified law enforcement districts, township officers, local school districts, land use districts, commission form of local government, county bonds, county libraries, county hospitals, city revenue bonds, local option sales taxes, and retention of district court clerks.

HOUSE FILE 581 -- Drainage or Levee District Election Districts - Size (Complete summary under AGRICULTURE.)

   This Act increases the size of a drainage or levee district required to have election districts from 3,000 acres or more to 20,000 acres or more.

HOUSE FILE 637 -- Libraries, Library Services, and Administration and School Improvement Technology Funds (Complete summary under EDUCATION.)

   This Act amends the Code section that provides for the establishment of county library districts to allow a library district to be established by one or more cities, one or more counties, or any combination of cities and counties. The Act directs the Department of Management to coordinate a study of city and county support of public library funding and determine whether cities and counties are in compliance with state funding requirements, identify inequities in city and county funding, and determine the adequacy of the current minimum levy.

HOUSE FILE 656 -- Manufactured or Mobile Homes - Licensing and Regulation (Complete summary under STATE GOVERNMENT.)

   This Act clarifies that laws regulating mobile homes and mobile home parks also apply to manufactured homes and manufactured home communities, and regulates the placement of storm shelters in manufactured home communities or mobile home parks.

HOUSE FILE 662 -- Community Empowerment Initiative (Complete summary under CHILDREN & YOUTH.)

   This Act relates to Iowa's Community Empowerment Initiative and authorizes an area education agency to serve as the fiscal agent for a local board and provides for the Legislative Council to convene a summit meeting to address various community empowerment issues.

HOUSE FILE 680 -- Child and Dependent Adult Abuse Reporting (Complete summary under CHILDREN & YOUTH.)

   This Act relates to child and dependent adult abuse reporting, including peace officers and other mandatory reporters of abuse, abuse reporter training, and requirements for submission of information to the county attorney regarding false reports of child abuse.

HOUSE FILE 686 -- State and Local Competition With Private Industry - Notice (Complete summary under STATE GOVERNMENT.)

   This Act requires the Administrative Rules Coordinator to identify in a notice of intended rulemaking, and the Legislative Service Bureau to indicate in the explanation of a bill or joint resolution, that a proposed service or product supplied by a state agency or political subdivision may compete with private industry.

HOUSE FILE 712 -- Homestead and Family Farm Tax Credits - Miscellaneous Changes (Complete summary under TAXATION.)

   This Act amends the homestead and family farm tax credits.

   In regard to the homestead tax credit, civil penalties for fraudulent claiming of a credit and failing to notify the assessor of a change in the status of the homestead are established and reduced, respectively.

   In regard to the family farm tax credits, a claim may be filed at any time instead of during a certain period and once approved, the claimant need not file again as long as the person actively engaged in farming remains the same. A civil penalty is established for failure to notify the assessor of a change in the person who is actively engaged in farming.

   The Act takes effect July 1, 2001, and applies to homestead tax credit claims filed or on file and family farm tax credit claims filed on or after that date.

HOUSE FILE 714 -- Community Development Program - Tax Credits - VETOED BY THE GOVERNOR (Complete summary under TAXATION.)

   This bill would have established a Community Development Program, administered by the Department of Economic Development, to provide tax incentives to businesses that make contributions to projects in communities or neighborhoods that would benefit by these projects or make expenditures to provide child care benefits to their employees. The tax incentives would be in the form of tax credits of up to $100,000 to offset the tax liability under the individual and corporate income taxes, the financial institution franchise tax, the insurance gross premiums tax, and the credit union moneys and credits tax.

HOUSE FILE 715 -- Tax Administration and Related Matters (Complete summary under TAXATION.)

   This Act amends various state and local tax laws to do the following:

• Specify that the length of time over which an urban revitalization property tax exemption may be allowed in situations where a timely application for exemption was not filed is equal to the number of years remaining in the exemption schedule selected.
• Provide that income from the sale of obligations of Iowa and its political subdivisions is taxable for purposes of the state individual corporate and income taxes and the state franchise tax unless the law authorizing the obligation specifically exempts the income from the sale from the tax. These provisions apply retroactively to January 1, 2001, for tax years beginning on or after that date.
• Impose a duty upon the county auditor to notify, within 10 days, the Director of Revenue and Finance of the outcome of the election favoring the imposition, repeal, or rate change of the local hotel and motel tax.
• Impose local option sales and services tax only on motor fuels and special fuels in which tax pursuant to the state motor fuel tax has not been imposed and, if paid, has not nor cannot be refunded.
• Prevent a lapse in the time from the sunset of a local option tax if a jurisdiction votes to continue the tax.
• Change the period of time for a construction contractor to claim a refund of local sales and services tax paid from six months to one year.
• Specify the effective date of the order when the Director of Revenue and Finance revokes or modifies a property tax exemption for a specific year either on the director's own motion or upon application by a taxpayer.
• Provide that for taxation as real property, fixtures used for cooking, refrigeration or freezing of value-added agricultural products or used in the processing of such products are not considered attached to real property. Because it is not considered attached, the fixture is not taxable as real property. This applies retroactively to January 1, 2000, for assessment years beginning on or after that date.
• Provide that the Industrial Machinery, Equipment and Computers Property Tax Replacement Fund, currently funded with a standing unlimited appropriation, will be prorated to pay claims if the General Assembly elects to place a cap on the fund in the future.
• Specify that an appeal of a cigarette permit suspension or revocation must be made to the authority that issued the permit. Cities and counties issue permits to retail establishments in their jurisdictions and the Department of Revenue and Finance issues distributor, manufacturer, wholesaler, and vendor permits.

HOUSE FILE 722 -- Solid Waste - Tonnage Fees - Solid Waste Account Moneys (Complete summary under ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION.)

   This Act amends provisions of the Code relating to the amount of solid waste tonnage fees that may be retained by a solid waste planning area and provisions of the Code relating to how moneys in the Solid Waste Account of the Groundwater Protection Fund are used.

HOUSE FILE 727 -- Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Developmental Disabilities Services (Complete summary under HUMAN SERVICES.)

   This Act relates to mental health, mental retardation, and developmental disability services and county services funding, and to court orders for placement of persons with a serious mental impairment.

HOUSE FILE 732 -- Appropriations - Human Services (Complete summary under APPROPRIATIONS.)

   This Act provides appropriations to the Department of Human Services and includes provisions related to human services and health care. The Act includes provisions for grant funding to local governments for community empowerment areas, juvenile justice funding, and many other programs and appropriations affecting human services programs administered by counties. The Act includes significant changes to state funding provided to counties for mental health and developmental disabilities services.

HOUSE FILE 736 -- Tax Administration - Additional Related Matters (Complete summary under TAXATION.)

   This Act changes the dates for filing claims for various property tax exemptions to February 1 for purposes of uniformity. This change applies to claims for exemptions filed on or after January 1, 2002. The Act also provides that any additional real estate transfer tax owed that cannot be collected by the local county recorder shall be collected by the Department of Revenue and Finance in the same manner as individual income tax. The Act provides that if the department collects the tax, the county is to be paid its proportionate share of the tax.

HOUSE FILE 755 -- Miscellaneous Appropriations, Reductions, and Other Provisions (Complete summary under APPROPRIATIONS.)

   Division II of this Act reduces the standing appropriations for FY 2001-2002 for the county of Tama for the Indian Settlement Office. Division V of this Act changes requirements for a tax increment financing (TIF) district in which revenues from the school district's physical plant and equipment levy are necessary to pay the principal and interest on bonds issued by a municipality prior to July 1, 2001, to fund an urban renewal project in the TIF district.

HOUSE FILE 759 -- Miscellaneous Funding Restoration, Reductions, and Other Provisions - SECOND EXTRAORDINARY SESSION (Complete summary under APPROPRIATIONS.)

   This Act addresses public funding and regulatory matters, primarily making supplemental appropriations to restore appropriations that were subject to the Governor's across-the-board reductions of 4.3 percent to executive branch allotments and includes a supplemental appropriation for county mental health and developmental disabilities services property tax relief.

H. J R. 5 - Nullification of Administrative Rule - Administration Fee for Local Option Sales and Services Tax (Complete summary under TAXATION.)

   This Joint Resolution nullifies an administrative rule of the Department of Revenue and Finance relating to the collection of a fee to recover the direct costs in the administration of a local option sales and services tax. The Joint Resolution takes effect April 10, 2001.

© 1998 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

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