House Study Bill 219 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON BLOOMINGDALE) A BILL FOR An Act relating to providing certain local government notices 1 and other information to persons by electronic means. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 2477YC (6) 89 md/jh

H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 331.305, Code 2021, is amended to read 1 as follows: 2 331.305 Publication of notices. 3 1. Unless otherwise provided by state law, if notice of an 4 election, hearing, or other official action is required by this 5 chapter , the board shall publish the notice at least once, not 6 less than four nor more than twenty days before the date of the 7 election, hearing, or other action, in one or more newspapers 8 which meet the requirements of section 618.14 . Notice of an 9 election shall also comply with section 49.53 . 10 2. a. If the board is required or authorized by law to 11 publish a notice or any other information regarding the county 12 budget or a county property tax levy, the county shall also 13 provide the notice or information by electronic means to all 14 persons who have by electronic or other means authorized the 15 receipt of such items under this subsection. 16 b. An authorization to receive notices or other information 17 by electronic means under this subsection shall continue until 18 revoked in writing by the person. Such revocation may be 19 provided to the board electronically in a manner approved by 20 the board. 21 c. Electronic means includes delivery to an electronic mail 22 address or by other electronic means reasonably calculated to 23 apprise the person of the information that is being provided, 24 as designated by the authorizing person. 25 d. Information compiled or possessed by the board for 26 the purposes of complying with authorizations for delivery 27 by electronic means including but not limited to taxpayer 28 electronic mail addresses, post office addresses, revocations, 29 and passwords or other methods of protecting taxpayer 30 information are not public records and are not subject to 31 disclosure under chapter 22. 32 Sec. 2. Section 441.28A, subsections 1 and 6, Code 2021, are 33 amended to read as follows: 34 1. If the assessor is required or authorized by this title 35 -1- LSB 2477YC (6) 89 md/jh 1/ 3

H.F. _____ to send any assessment, notice, or any other information to 1 persons by regular mail, the assessor may shall instead provide 2 the assessment, notice, or other information by electronic 3 means if the person entitled to receive the assessment, notice, 4 or information has by electronic or other means, authorized 5 the assessor to provide the assessment, notice, or other 6 information in that manner. An authorization to receive 7 assessments, notices, or other information by electronic 8 means does not require the assessor to provide such items 9 by electronic means and does not prohibit an assessor from 10 providing such items by regular mail. 11 6. Information compiled or possessed by the assessor for 12 the purposes of complying with authorizations for delivery by 13 electronic means under this title , including but not limited 14 to taxpayer post office addresses, electronic mail addresses, 15 waivers, waiver requests, waiver revocations, and passwords or 16 other methods of protecting taxpayer information are not public 17 records and are not subject to disclosure under chapter 22 . 18 EXPLANATION 19 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 20 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 21 Code section 441.28A provides that if the local assessor is 22 required or authorized to send any assessment, notice, or any 23 other information to persons by regular mail, the assessor may 24 instead provide the assessment, notice, or other information 25 by electronic means if the person entitled to receive the 26 assessment, notice, or information has by electronic or other 27 means authorized the assessor to provide the assessment, 28 notice, or other information in that manner. 29 This bill requires the assessor to provide any assessment, 30 notice, or other information to the taxpayer by electronic 31 means if the taxpayer has filed such an authorization. 32 The bill provides that if a county is required or authorized 33 by law to publish a notice or any other information regarding 34 the county’s budget or a property tax levy imposed by the 35 -2- LSB 2477YC (6) 89 md/jh 2/ 3

H.F. _____ county, the county shall also provide the notice or information 1 by electronic means to all persons who have authorized the 2 receipt of such items under the bill. Electronic means 3 includes delivery to an electronic mail address or by other 4 electronic means reasonably calculated to apprise the person 5 of the information that is being provided, as designated by 6 the authorizing person. An authorization to receive notices 7 or other information by electronic means under the bill shall 8 continue until revoked in writing by the person. 9 -3- LSB 2477YC (6) 89 md/jh 3/ 3