Senate File 384 - Introduced SENATE FILE 384 BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT (SUCCESSOR TO SF 133) A BILL FOR An Act allowing counties to enter into agreements to jointly 1 share a county assessor. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 2117SV (2) 89 js/ns
S.F. 384 Section 1. Section 441.1, Code 2021, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 441.1 Office of assessor created. 3 1. In every county in the state of Iowa the office of 4 assessor is hereby created. 5 2. A city having a population of ten thousand or more, 6 according to the latest federal census, may by ordinance 7 provide for the selection of a city assessor and for the 8 assessment of property in the city under the provisions of 9 this chapter . A city desiring to provide for assessment under 10 the provisions of this chapter shall, not less than sixty days 11 before the expiration of the term of the assessor in office, 12 notify the taxing bodies affected and proceed to establish a 13 conference board, examining board, and board of review and 14 select an assessor, all as provided in this chapter . A city 15 desiring to abolish the office of city assessor shall repeal 16 the ordinance establishing the office of city assessor, notify 17 the county conference board and the affected taxing districts, 18 provide for the transfer of appropriate records and other 19 matters, and provide for the abolition of the respective boards 20 and the termination of the terms of office of the assessor 21 and members of the respective boards. The abolition of the 22 city assessor’s office shall take effect on July 1 following 23 notification of the abolition unless otherwise agreed to by the 24 affected conference boards. If notification of the proposed 25 abolition is made after January 1, sufficient funds shall 26 be transferred from the city assessor’s budget to fund the 27 additional responsibilities transferred to the county assessor 28 for the next fiscal year. 29 3. a. The conference boards of two or more counties may 30 enter into an agreement under chapter 28E to share the services 31 of an assessor, chief deputy assessor, and professional and 32 clerical assistants for the assessor. The agreement shall be 33 written and entered into the board’s respective minutes. The 34 assessor shall be appointed under section 441.6 in all of the 35 -1- LSB 2117SV (2) 89 js/ns 1/ 3
S.F. 384 counties the assessor will serve as provided in the written 1 agreement. The assessor shall serve for a term as provided in 2 section 441.8. 3 b. The written agreement shall provide for the determination 4 of the cost of the shared assessor and staff and the manner 5 of allocation of the cost to each county for inclusion in the 6 respective budgets. The written agreement shall designate one 7 conference board to make payments for salaries and other costs 8 of the shared assessor and staff. The conference board shall 9 be reimbursed by the other conference boards in accordance 10 with the agreement. The written agreement may provide for the 11 methods of abolishing the shared assessor agreement and the 12 procedure to resolve a tie vote in any action taken by the 13 conference boards. 14 c. Unless the context otherwise requires, an assessor 15 serving multiple counties under this subsection shall have 16 all of the same powers and duties, and be subject to the same 17 restrictions, as a county assessor as set forth in this chapter 18 and as otherwise provided by law. However, an assessor serving 19 multiple counties as provided in this subsection shall not be 20 considered to be in violation of section 441.17, subsection 1, 21 by serving the multiple counties that have agreed to share the 22 assessor. 23 d. The provisions of chapter 28E are applicable to this 24 section. 25 EXPLANATION 26 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 27 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 28 This bill allows two or more counties to enter into an 29 agreement under Code chapter 28E to jointly share the services 30 of a county assessor, chief deputy assessor, and professional 31 and clerical assistants for the assessor. The county assessor 32 shall be appointed under Code section 441.6 in all of the 33 counties that the assessor will serve. 34 The agreement shall provide for the determination of 35 -2- LSB 2117SV (2) 89 js/ns 2/ 3
S.F. 384 the cost of the shared assessor and staff and the manner 1 of allocation of the cost to each county for inclusion in 2 the respective budgets. The agreement shall designate one 3 conference board to make payments for salaries and other costs, 4 and that conference board shall be reimbursed by the other 5 conference boards as provided by the agreement. The agreement 6 may provide for the methods of abolishing the shared assessor 7 agreement and the procedure to resolve a tie vote in any action 8 taken by the conference boards. 9 The bill states that a shared assessor shall have all 10 of the same powers and duties, and be subject to the same 11 restrictions, as a county assessor. However, an assessor 12 serving multiple counties does not violate the duty to devote 13 the assessor’s full time to the duties of the office or refrain 14 from another occupation or business that interferes with the 15 assessor’s duties by serving multiple counties that have agreed 16 to share the assessor. 17 -3- LSB 2117SV (2) 89 js/ns 3/ 3