House File 624 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 624 BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT (SUCCESSOR TO HF 461) (COMPANION TO SF 353 BY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT) A BILL FOR An Act relating to drainage and levee districts, by providing 1 for notice of hearing on reports of commissioners and for 2 repairs that require a report by an engineer or soil and 3 water conservation district conservationist. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 1907HV (2) 89 da/ns

H.F. 624 Section 1. Section 468.45, Code 2021, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 468.45 Notice of hearing. 3 1. The board shall fix a time for a hearing upon the report 4 of the commissioners, and the auditor shall cause notice to be 5 served upon each person whose name appears as owner, naming the 6 person, and also upon the person or persons in actual occupancy 7 of any tract of land without naming the person or persons, of 8 the day and hour of such hearing , which . 9 2. The notice shall be for the same time and served in the 10 same manner as is provided for the establishment of a levee 11 or drainage or levee district, and including as provided in 12 sections 468.14 through 468.18, and shall state include all of 13 the following: 14 a. A statement of the amount of the assessment of costs and 15 expenses of construction apportioned to each owner upon each 16 forty-acre tract or less , and that . However, the statement is 17 not required to be published as required in section 468.15 if 18 it is posted in the office of the county auditor and on the 19 county’s internet site. The county auditor shall provide a 20 copy of the statement upon request. 21 b. A statement that all objections thereto to the report 22 must be in writing and filed with the auditor at or before the 23 time set for such the hearing. 24 Sec. 2. Section 468.126, subsection 1, paragraph d, Code 25 2021, is amended to read as follows: 26 d. If a hearing is required under Notwithstanding paragraph 27 “c” “b” , if the estimated cost of the repair exceeds fifty 28 thousand dollars or the adjusted competitive bid threshold, 29 whichever is more, the board shall order an engineer’s report 30 or a report from the soil and water conservation district 31 conservationist regarding the matter to which shall be 32 presented at the hearing provided in paragraph “c” . The board 33 may waive the report requirement if a prior report on the 34 repair exists and that report is less than ten years old. At 35 -1- LSB 1907HV (2) 89 da/ns 1/ 2

H.F. 624 the hearing, the board shall hear objections to the feasibility 1 of making the proposed repair. 2 EXPLANATION 3 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 4 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 5 This bill amends Code section 468.45 requiring a county 6 board of supervisors, joint boards of supervisors, or board 7 of trustees (board) to provide notice of a hearing regarding 8 a report to classify tracts of land within a drainage or 9 levee district (district) as established or proposed to 10 be established by the board. The notice is required to be 11 delivered to each owner of land within the district and also by 12 publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county 13 where the district is located. The bill provides that the 14 newspaper publication is not required to include a statement 15 listing the amount of the assessment of costs and expenses of 16 construction of improvements as apportioned to each owner if 17 it is posted in the office of the county auditor and on the 18 county’s internet site. The county auditor must provide a copy 19 of the statement upon request. 20 The bill amends Code section 468.126 by providing for 21 required reports on repairs made to a district as ordered by 22 a board managing the district. The bill requires a board 23 to order a report from a civil or drainage engineer or soil 24 and water conservation district conservationist regarding a 25 proposed repair if the repair’s estimated cost exceeds $50,000 26 or the adjusted competitive bid threshold, whichever is more. 27 The report must be presented at the hearing of landowners. 28 -2- LSB 1907HV (2) 89 da/ns 2/ 2