H-1262

   Amend House File 718 as follows:
   1.  Page 12, line 7, after <paragraph “a”,> by inserting <and pursuant to section 331.553, subsection 9,>
   2.  Page 13, before line 2 by inserting: 
   <Sec. ___.  Section 24.17, subsection 1, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  The local budgets of the various political subdivisions shall be certified by the chairperson of the certifying board or levying board, as the case may be, in duplicate to the county auditor not later than March April 15 of each year on forms, and pursuant to instructions, prescribed by the department of management. However, if the political subdivision is a county or a city, its budget shall be certified not later than March 31 of each year, and if the political subdivision is a school district, as defined in section 257.2, its budget shall be certified not later than April 15 of each year.
   Sec. ___.  Section 24.27, subsection 1, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  Not later than March 25, or April 10 for a county or a city, or April 25 if the municipality is a school district, a number of persons in any municipality political subdivision equal to one-fourth of one percent of those voting for the office of governor, at the last general election in the municipality political subdivision, but the number shall not be less than ten, and the number need not be more than one hundred persons, who are affected by any proposed budget, expenditure or tax levy, or by any item thereof, may appeal from any decision of the certifying board or the levying board by filing with the county auditor of the county in which the municipal corporation political subdivision is located, a written protest setting forth their objections to the budget, expenditure or tax levy, or to one or more items thereof, and the grounds for their objections. If a budget is certified after March 15, or March 31 in the case of a county or a city, or April 15 in the case of a school district, all appeal time limits shall be extended to correspond to allowances for a timely filing. 
   Sec. ___.  Section 24.28, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   24.28  Hearing on protest.
   The state board, within a reasonable time, shall fix a date for an initial hearing on the protest and may designate a deputy to hold the hearing, which shall be held in the county or in one of the counties in which the municipality political subdivision is located. Notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given by certified mail to the appropriate officials of the local government and to the first ten property owners whose names appear upon the protest, at least five days before the date fixed for the hearing. At all hearings, the burden shall be upon the objectors with reference to any proposed item in the budget which was included in the budget of the previous year and which the objectors propose should be reduced or excluded; but the burden shall be upon the certifying board or the levying board, as the case may be, to show that any new item in the budget, or any increase in any item in the budget, is necessary, reasonable, and in the interest of the public welfare.
   Sec. ___.  Section 24.48, subsection 4, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   4.  The city finance committee shall have officially notified any city of its approval, modification or rejection of the city’s appeal of the decision of the director of the department of management regarding a city’s request for a suspension of the statutory property tax levy limitation prior to thirty-five days before March 31 April 15.
   Sec. ___.  Section 331.422, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   Subject to this section and sections 331.423 through 331.426 or as otherwise provided by state law, the board of each county shall certify property taxes annually at its March April session to be levied for county purposes as follows:>
   3.  Page 13, line 15, after <paragraph “a”,> by inserting <and pursuant to section 331.553, subsection 9,>
   4.  Page 14, after line 13 by inserting: 
   <Sec. ___.  Section 331.434, subsection 7, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   7.  Taxes levied by a county whose budget is certified after March 31 April 15 shall be limited to the prior year’s budget amount. However, this penalty may be waived by the director of the department of management if the county demonstrates that the March 31 deadline was missed because of circumstances beyond the control of the county.
   Sec. ___.  Section 331.436, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   331.436  Protest.
   Protests to the adopted budget must be made in accordance with sections 24.27 through 24.32 as if the county were the municipality under those sections except that the protest must be filed no later than April 10 25 and the number of people necessary to file a protest under this section shall not be less than one hundred.>
   5.  Page 14, by striking lines 16 and 17 and inserting: 
   <NEW SUBSECTION.  9.  Consolidate all required>
   6.  Page 14, before line 24 by inserting: 
   <Sec. ___.  Section 358.18, subsection 2, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  All taxes thus levied by the board shall be certified by the clerk on or before March 1 April 15 to the county auditor of each county wherein any of the property included within the territorial limits of the sanitary district is located, and shall be placed upon the tax list for the current fiscal year by the auditor or auditors. The county treasurer, or treasurers, of more than one county, shall collect all taxes so levied in the same manner as other taxes, and when delinquent the taxes shall draw the same interest. All taxes levied and collected shall be paid over by the officer collecting the taxes to the treasurer of the sanitary district.
   Sec. ___.  Section 358C.14, subsection 2, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  All taxes thus levied by the board shall be certified by the clerk on or before March 1 April 15 to the county auditor of each county in which any of the property included within the territorial limits of the district is located, and shall be placed upon the tax list for the current fiscal year by the auditor. The county treasurer of more than one county shall collect all taxes so levied in the same manner as other taxes, and when delinquent the taxes shall draw the same interest. All taxes levied and collected shall be paid over by the officer collecting the taxes to the treasurer of the district.>
   7.  Page 15, line 15, after <paragraph “a”,> by inserting <and pursuant to section 331.553, subsection 9,>
   8.  Page 16, after line 6 by inserting: 
   <Sec. ___.  Section 359.49, subsections 7 and 9, Code 2023, are amended to read as follows:
   7.  After the meeting on the proposed budget, the board of trustees shall adopt by resolution a budget for at least the next fiscal year, and the clerk shall certify the necessary tax levy for the next fiscal year to the county auditor and the county board of supervisors by March April 15. The tax levy certified may be less than but shall not be more than the amount estimated in the proposed budget submitted at the meeting. Two copies each of the detailed budget as adopted and of the certified tax levy must be transmitted to the county auditor by March April 15.
   9.  Taxes from a township levy shall be collected but not disbursed by the county to a township until copies of the township budget are transmitted to the county auditor as required in subsection 7. If a township fails to certify property taxes by March April 15, the amount of taxes collected by the county for the township shall be the amount collected for the township in the previous fiscal year to the extent that it does not exceed the applicable levy rate limits in this chapter. However, that amount may not exceed the amount the township could collect based on property assessments for the fiscal year for which the township failed to certify property taxes.
   Sec. ___.  Section 384.2, subsection 1, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  Except as otherwise provided for special charter cities, a city’s fiscal year shall be as provided in section 24.2, subsection 3. All city property taxes must be certified by a city to the county auditor on or before March 31 April 15 of each year, unless otherwise provided by state law. However, municipal utilities, if not supported by taxation or the proceeds of outstanding indebtedness payable from taxes may, with the council’s consent, choose to operate on a fiscal year which is the calendar year. The receipt by the utility of payments from other governmental funds for public fire protection, street lighting, or other public use of the utility’s services shall not be deemed support by taxation. After notice and hearing in the same manner as required for the city’s regular budget under section 384.16, the utility budget must be approved by resolution of the council not later than twenty days prior to the beginning of the calendar year for which the budget applies.>
   9.  Page 16, line 20, after <paragraph “a”,> by inserting <and pursuant to section 330.553, subsection 9,>
   10.  Page 17, after line 11 by inserting: 
   <Sec. ___.  Section 384.16, subsection 6, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   6.  Taxes levied by a city whose budget is certified after March 31 April 15 shall be limited to the prior year’s budget amount. However, this penalty may be waived by the director of the department of management if the city demonstrates that the March 31 deadline was missed because of circumstances beyond the control of the city.>
   11.  By renumbering as necessary.

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KAUFMANN of Cedar