HSB 561 (LSB 5599YC (6) 90)

HOUSE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON LATHAM)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to emergency management services and emergency medical services and including applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 29C.9, subsections 1, 2, and 4, Code 2024, are amended to read as follows:
   1.  The county boards board of supervisors, city councils, and the sheriff in each county shall cooperate with the department to establish a commission to carry out the provisions of this chapter.
   2.  The commission shall be composed of a member the members of the board of supervisors, the sheriff, and the mayor from each city within the county. A commission member may designate an alternate to represent the designated entity. For any activity relating to section 29C.17, subsection 2, or chapter 24, participation shall only be by a commission member or a designated alternate that is an elected official from the same designated entity.
   4.  For the purposes of this chapter, a commission is a municipality as defined in section 670.1 and a municipality as defined in section 24.2.
    Sec. 2.  Section 29C.17, subsections 2, 3, and 6, Code 2024, are amended to read as follows:
   2.  For purposes consistent with this chapter, the local emergency management agency’s approved budget shall be funded exclusively by one or any combination of the following options, as determined by the commission:
   a.  A countywide special levy pursuant to section 331.424, subsection 1 certified and levied by the commission at a rate not to exceed thirty-five cents per one thousand dollars of assessed value of taxable property to be used for the support of the local emergency management agency, except for special or unique services and operations, and a countywide additional levy certified and levied by the commission at a rate not to exceed one dollar per one thousand dollars of assessed value of taxable property to be used only for special or unique services and operations approved by the commission.  “Special or unique services and operations” means any of the following:
   (1)  Joint emergency response communications services through an agreement entered into under chapter 28E, as authorized in section 29C.9, subsection 6.
   (2)  Equipment of a countywide hazardous materials team.
   (3)  Equipment for a countywide community emergency response team.
   (4)  Equipment for a countywide search, rescue, and recovery team.
   (5)  Equipment for a countywide incident management support team.
   b.  One or more of the following options:
   (1)  Per capita allocation funded from city and county general funds or by a combination of city and county special levies which may be apportioned among the member jurisdictions.
   c.  (2)  An allocation computed as each jurisdiction’s relative share of the total assessed valuation within the county.
   d.  (3)  A voluntary share allocation.
   e.  (4)  Other funding sources allowed by law, excluding a countywide levy.
   3.  A If a local emergency management agency is funded under subsection 2, paragraph “b”, a political subdivision may appropriate additional funds for the purpose of supporting commission expenses relating to special or unique matters extending beyond the resources of the agency.
   6.  Subject to chapter 24, the commission shall adopt, certify, and provide a budget, on or before February 28 of each year, to the funding entities determined pursuant to subsection 2.
   a.  If a local emergency management agency is funded under subsection 2, paragraph “b”, the political subdivisions provided a certified budget are responsible for certifying their portion of the budget from city and county general funds or by a combination of city and county special levies.
   b.  The form of the budget shall be as prescribed by the department of management. Any A tax levied by the commission under subsection 2, paragraph “a”, or any portion of a tax levied by a county or city to support the local emergency management agency shall be identified separately on tax statements issued by the county treasurer.
    Sec. 3.  Section 29C.17, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new subsections:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  7.  If a commission is meeting the financial obligations for implementation of its local emergency management program and operation of the local emergency management agency, the commission may reserve an amount of unobligated and unencumbered funds, excluding amounts reserved or obligated under the capital improvement plan under subsection 8, for operations expenditure obligations in a future fiscal year, not to exceed an amount equal to thirty percent of the local emergency management agency’s approved budget for the fiscal year.
   NEW SUBSECTION.  8.  Each commission shall, as part of the local emergency management agency’s budgeting process, adopt a capital improvement plan that identifies large expenditures or capital improvement projects and the funding sources and financing of such projects for at least the subsequent five fiscal years. Amounts reserved or obligated under a capital improvement plan are not subject to the reserve amount limitation under subsection 7. The local emergency management agency’s annual budgeting process shall include evaluation of the activities undertaken and the progress made under the capital improvement plan. The capital improvement plan may be a part of a local emergency management agency’s strategic plan, as determined by the commission.
    Sec. 4.  Section 331.424, subsection 1, paragraph a, subparagraph (9), Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   (9)  The maintenance and operation of a local emergency management agency established pursuant to chapter 29C, unless the agency is funded under section 29C.17, subsection 2, paragraph “a”.
    Sec. 5.  Section 384.12, subsection 5, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   5.  A tax for the support maintenance and operation of a local emergency management commission agency established pursuant to chapter 29C, unless the agency is funded under section 29C.17, subsection 2, paragraph “a”.
    Sec. 6.  Section 422D.6, subsection 3, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  i.  Salaries and benefits of emergency medical care providers, as defined in section 147A.1.
    Sec. 7.  APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies to budgets for property taxes due and payable in fiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 2025.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   Under Code section 29C.17, a local emergency management agency’s approved budget is funded by one or any combination of several funding options, as determined by the local emergency management commission, including a countywide special levy pursuant to Code section 331.424(1) under the county’s supplemental property tax levy authority in an amount sufficient to pay for the maintenance and operation of the local emergency management agency. This bill authorizes the local emergency management commission to certify and levy the countywide special levy for the support of the agency at a rate not to exceed $0.35 per $1,000 of assessed value and limits the county’s authority to certify such a levy if the agency is being funded with the countywide levy under the bill. The bill also limits a city’s authority to levy a tax under Code section 384.12(5) to support an emergency management agency if the agency is being funded through the countywide levy under the bill.
   The bill also authorizes the local emergency management commission to certify and levy a countywide additional levy not to exceed $1.00 per $1,000 of assessed value for special or unique services and operations, as defined in the bill, approved by the commission. The bill also specifies that the local emergency management commission is a municipality for purposes of Code chapter 24 (local budgets).
   Code chapter 422D authorizes counties to impose a property tax levy, an income surtax, or a combination of both taxes within the county, excluding those areas within a benefited emergency medical services district under Code chapter 357F, to be used for specified emergency medical services costs, if the taxes are approved at election.
   The bill adds salaries and benefits of emergency medical care providers, as defined in Code section 147A.1, to the eligible expenditures from the county emergency medical services trust fund under Code section 422D.6.
   The bill also provides that if a commission is meeting the financial obligations for implementation of its local emergency management program and operation of the local emergency management agency, the commission may reserve an amount of unobligated and unencumbered funds, excluding amounts reserved or obligated under the capital improvement plan, as required under the bill, for expenditure obligations in a future fiscal year, not to exceed an amount equal to 30 percent of the local emergency management agency’s approved budget for the applicable fiscal year. As part of the local emergency management agency’s budgeting process, the bill requires the commission to adopt a capital improvement plan that identifies large expenditures or capital improvement projects and the funding sources and financing of such projects. The local emergency management agency’s annual budgeting process must also include evaluation of the activities undertaken and the progress made under the capital improvement plan.
   The bill applies to budgets for property taxes due and payable in fiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 2025.