House Study Bill 223



                                       SENATE/HOUSE FILE       
                                       BY  (PROPOSED GOVERNOR'S BILL)


    Passed Senate, Date               Passed House,  Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to mental health, mental retardation,
  2    developmental disabilities, and brain injury services and the
  3    services fund administered by counties by revising levy
  4    provisions applicable to that fund and providing for county
  5    administration of services on behalf of the state, and
  6    including an effective and applicability date.
  7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  8 TLSB 1611XL 81
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 331.424A, subsection 4, Code 2005, is
  1  2 amended to read as follows:
  1  3    4.  a.  For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1996 2006,
  1  4 and for each subsequent fiscal year, the county shall certify
  1  5 a levy for payment of services.  For each fiscal year, county
  1  6 revenues from taxes imposed by the county credited to the
  1  7 services fund shall not exceed an amount equal to the amount
  1  8 of base year expenditures for services as defined in section
  1  9 331.438, less the amount of property tax relief to be received
  1 10 pursuant to section 426B.2, in the fiscal year for which the
  1 11 budget is certified be determined by applying the county's
  1 12 authorized levy rate to the assessed value of taxable property
  1 13 for that county.  The county auditor and the board of
  1 14 supervisors shall reduce the amount of the levy certified for
  1 15 the services fund by the amount of property tax relief to be
  1 16 received.  For each fiscal year, the state commission shall
  1 17 adopt rules identifying, for county services funds, a
  1 18 statewide minimum levy rate per thousand dollars of assessed
  1 19 value of taxable property.  In identifying the minimum levy
  1 20 rate, the commission shall consider the levy rates in effect
  1 21 for all counties.  The statewide maximum levy rate shall be
  1 22 equal to double the statewide minimum levy rate for the fiscal
  1 23 year.  A county's authorized levy rate for a fiscal year shall
  1 24 be an amount certified by the board of supervisors that is not
  1 25 less than the statewide minimum levy rate or more than the
  1 26 statewide maximum levy rate applicable to that fiscal year.  A
  1 27 levy certified under this section is not subject to the appeal
  1 28 provisions of section 331.426 or to any other provision in law
  1 29 authorizing a county to exceed, increase, or appeal a property
  1 30 tax levy limit.
  1 31    b.  Notwithstanding paragraph "a", for fiscal years
  1 32 beginning July 1, 2006, July 1, 2007, and July 1, 2008, if a
  1 33 county's certified services fund levy rate per thousand
  1 34 dollars of assessed value of taxable property as of March 15,
  1 35 2004, is less than the statewide minimum levy rate, the county
  2  1 board of supervisors may annually certify an incremental
  2  2 increase in the county's services fund levy rate as necessary
  2  3 to fully implement at least the statewide minimum levy rate
  2  4 effective for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009, and
  2  5 subsequent fiscal years.
  2  6    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  331.440B  STATE CASES.
  2  7    1.  For the purposes of this section, unless the context
  2  8 otherwise requires:
  2  9    a.  "County resident" means an individual who is described
  2 10 by all of the following:
  2 11    (1)  The person is at least age eighteen.
  2 12    (2)  The person is a citizen of the United States or a
  2 13 qualified alien as defined in 8 U.S.C. } 1641.
  2 14    (3)  The person has established an ongoing presence in a
  2 15 county in this state, and not in any other county or state,
  2 16 with the declared, good faith intention of living in that
  2 17 county for a permanent or indefinite period of time.  An
  2 18 individual who meets the definition of homeless person in
  2 19 section 48A.2 also shall be deemed to be described by this
  2 20 subparagraph.
  2 21    b.  "State case" means an individual who has no county of
  2 22 legal settlement or the individual's legal settlement is
  2 23 unknown, who is eligible for mental illness, mental
  2 24 retardation, or developmental disability services or other
  2 25 support that are not covered by the medical assistance program
  2 26 and are provided outside of a state institution, and the
  2 27 services or other support have traditionally been managed and
  2 28 paid for by the state.
  2 29    2.  Beginning during the fiscal year that commences July 1,
  2 30 2005, the department of human services and counties shall
  2 31 implement a process for counties to manage the services and
  2 32 other support provided to county residents with chronic mental
  2 33 illness, mental illness, mental retardation, developmental
  2 34 disabilities, or brain injury who are eligible as a state
  2 35 case.  A county shall manage the state case services and other
  3  1 support provided in accordance with the county's management
  3  2 plan for mental health, mental retardation, and developmental
  3  3 disabilities services implemented under section 331.439 and
  3  4 the state payment for the services and other support managed
  3  5 by the county shall utilize the county's reimbursement rates.
  3  6    3.  This section is repealed July 1, 2007.
  3  7    Sec. 3.  EFFECTIVE AND APPLICABILITY DATE.  The section of
  3  8 this Act amending section 331.424A takes effect January 1,
  3  9 2006, and is applicable to taxes payable in the fiscal year
  3 10 beginning July 1, 2006, and subsequent fiscal years.
  3 11                           EXPLANATION
  3 12    This bill relates to mental health, mental retardation,
  3 13 developmental disabilities, and brain injury (MH/MR/DD/BI)
  3 14 services and the services fund administered by counties by
  3 15 revising levy provisions applicable to that fund and providing
  3 16 for county administration of services on behalf of the state.
  3 17    Code section 331.424A, relating to the county MH/MR/DD
  3 18 services fund, is amended by revising the property tax levy
  3 19 authority requirements for that fund.  Current law limits the
  3 20 dollar amount that may be raised for a county's services fund
  3 21 from property taxes to a base year expenditures amount
  3 22 identified by the county, as reduced by property tax relief
  3 23 funding provided to the county by the state.  Effective
  3 24 commencing with the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2006, the
  3 25 absolute dollar limit on services fund levies would be
  3 26 replaced with a limitation on the levy rate per $1,000 of
  3 27 property value, within minimum and maximum levy rates
  3 28 established by the state MH/MR/DD/BI commission.  If a
  3 29 county's levy rate for the services fund in effect as of March
  3 30 15, 2004, is less than the minimum levy rate established by
  3 31 the state commission, the county may incrementally increase
  3 32 the levy over the next three years in order to fully implement
  3 33 at least the minimum levy rate by the fiscal year beginning
  3 34 July 1, 2009.  This section takes effect January 1, 2006, and
  3 35 is applicable to taxes payable in the fiscal year beginning
  4  1 July 1, 2006, and subsequent fiscal years.
  4  2    New Code section 331.440B provides for counties to assume
  4  3 responsibility for managing state case MH/MR/DD/BI services or
  4  4 other support provided to adult persons who are county
  4  5 residents and eligible as a state case.  The bill provides
  4  6 definitions of "county resident" and "state case".  Counties
  4  7 would begin assuming this responsibility during the fiscal
  4  8 year beginning July 1, 2005.  The new Code section is repealed
  4  9 July 1, 2007.
  4 10 LSB 1611XL 81
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