Public services provided by political subdivisions

SECOND REGULAR SESSION

SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 1711

94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Reported from the Committee on Economic Development, Tourism and Local Government, April 10, 2008, with recommendation that the Senate Committee Substitute do pass and be placed on the Consent Calendar.

TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.

4267S.05C

AN ACT

To repeal sections 190.335, 321.015, and 321.200, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof five new sections relating to public services provided by political subdivisions.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Sections 190.335, 321.015, and 321.200, RSMo, are repealed and five new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 67.585, 190.056, 190.335, 321.015, and 321.200, to read as follows:

67.585. 1. The board of trustees of the public health center of any county of the first classification with more than one hundred ninety-eight thousand but fewer than one hundred ninety-nine thousand two hundred inhabitants may impose, by order or resolution, a sales tax on all retail sales made within the county which are subject to sales tax under chapter 144, RSMo. The tax authorized in this section shall not exceed one-half of one percent, shall only be imposed at the rate of one-fourth, three-eighths, or one-half of one percent, and shall be imposed solely for the purpose of funding the public health and safety projects and programs of the county public health center as established under sections 205.010 to 205.150, RSMo. The tax authorized in this section shall only be imposed in conjunction with a property tax reduction for each year in which the sales tax is imposed. The tax authorized in this section shall be in addition to all other sales taxes imposed by law, and shall be stated separately from all other charges and taxes.

2. No such order or resolution adopted under this section shall become effective unless the board of trustees submits to the voters residing within the county at a state general, primary, or special election a proposal to authorize the board of trustees to impose a tax under this section. The ballot of submission shall contain substantially the following language: Shall the ................................................ (insert county name) public health center impose a countywide sales tax of ............... (insert amount) percent and reduce its total property tax levy annually by ............... (insert amount) percent of the total amount of sales tax revenue collected in the same tax year for the purpose of providing public health services for the improvement of the health of all inhabitants of the county?

3. If a majority of the votes cast on the question by the qualified voters voting thereon are in favor of the question, then the tax shall become effective on the first day of the second calendar quarter after the director of revenue receives notification of adoption of the local sales tax. If a majority of the votes cast on the question by the qualified voters voting thereon are opposed to the question, then the tax shall not become effective unless and until the question is resubmitted under this section to the qualified voters and such question is approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting on the question, but no such question shall be resubmitted sooner than twelve months from the date the question was last submitted under this section.

4. All revenue collected under this section by the director of the department of revenue on behalf of any county public health center, except for one percent for the cost of collection which shall be deposited in the state's general revenue fund, shall be deposited in a special trust fund, which is hereby created and shall be known as the "County Public Health Center Improvement Sales Tax Fund", and shall be used solely for the designated purposes. Moneys in the fund shall not be deemed to be state funds, and shall not be commingled with any funds of the state. The director may make refunds from the amounts in the fund and credited to the county public health center for erroneous payments and overpayments made, and may redeem dishonored checks and drafts deposited to the credit of such county public health center. Any funds in the special fund which are not needed for current expenditures shall be invested in the same manner as other funds are invested. Any interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be credited to the fund. The director of revenue shall keep accurate records of the moneys in the fund that were collected in each county imposing a sales tax under this section, and such records shall be open for inspection by the board of trustees and the public. Not later than the tenth day of each month the director of revenue shall distribute all moneys deposited in the trust funds during the preceding month to the treasury of the county public health center which levied the tax. Such funds shall be administered by the board of trustees of the county public health center.

5. (1) As used in this section, the term "total property tax levy" includes all ad valorem taxes originally requiring voter approval, plus an allowance for ad valorem taxes that will be billed but not collected in that calendar year.

(2) Each year in which a sales tax is imposed under this section, after determining its budget and within the limits set by the constitution and laws of this state for the following year and for the total property tax levy needed to collect the revenue required by such budget, the board of trustees of the county public health center shall reduce the total property tax levy in an amount sufficient to decrease the total property taxes it will collect. The reduction shall be one of the following percentages:

(a) Fifty percent of the sales tax revenue collected in the tax year for which the property taxes are being levied;

(b) Sixty percent of the sales tax revenue collected in the tax year for which the property taxes are being levied;

(d) Eighty percent of the sales tax revenue collected in the tax year for which the property taxes are being levied;

(e) Ninety percent of the sales tax revenue collected in the tax year for which the property taxes are being levied;

(f) One hundred percent of the sales tax revenue collected in the tax year for which the property taxes are being levied.

(3) In the event that, in the immediately preceding year, a county public health center collects either more or less sales tax revenue than the amount of sales tax revenue received by the county public health center during the first six months of the current year multiplied by two, the county public health center shall adjust its total property tax levy for the current year to reflect such increase or decrease.

(4) The tax rate for county public health centers levying a sales tax under this section shall be computed in the following manner:

(a) Divide the amount of the sales tax revenue required for reduction under this subsection by the total assessed valuation of the county and multiply by one hundred to determine the amount of property tax rate reduction; and

(b) Subtract such property tax rate reduction from the tax rate ceiling for each class of property or subclass of real property.

6. The board of trustees of any county public health center that has adopted the sales tax authorized in this section may submit the question of repeal of the tax to the voters on any date available for elections for the county. If a majority of the votes cast on the question by the qualified voters voting thereon are in favor of the repeal, that repeal shall become effective on December thirty-first of the calendar year in which such repeal was approved. If a majority of the votes cast on the question by the qualified voters voting thereon are opposed to the repeal, then the sales tax authorized in this section shall remain effective until the question is resubmitted under this section to the qualified voters and the repeal is approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting on the question.

7. Whenever the board of trustees of any county public health center that has adopted the sales tax authorized in this section receives a petition, signed by a number of registered voters of the county equal to at least ten percent of the number of registered voters of the county voting in the last gubernatorial election, calling for an election to repeal the sales tax imposed under this section, the board shall submit to the voters of the county a proposal to repeal the tax. If a majority of the votes cast on the question by the qualified voters voting thereon are in favor of the repeal, the repeal shall become effective on December thirty-first of the calendar year in which such repeal was approved. If a majority of the votes cast on the question by the qualified voters voting thereon are opposed to the repeal, then the sales tax authorized in this section shall remain effective until the question is resubmitted under this section to the qualified voters and the repeal is approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting on the question.

8. If the tax is repealed or terminated by any means, all funds remaining in the special trust fund shall continue to be used solely for the designated purposes, and the county public health center shall notify the director of the department of revenue of the action at least ninety days before the effective date of the repeal and the director may order retention in the trust fund, for a period of one year, of two percent of the amount collected after receipt of such notice to cover possible refunds or overpayment of the tax and to redeem dishonored checks and drafts deposited to the credit of such accounts. After one year has elapsed after the effective date of abolition of the tax in such county, the director shall remit the balance in the account to the county public health center and close the account of that county public health center. The director shall notify each county public health center of each instance of any amount refunded or any check redeemed from receipts due the county public health center.

9. Except as modified in this section, all provisions of sections 32.085 and 32.087, RSMo, shall apply to the tax imposed under this section.

190.056. 1. Each member of an ambulance district board of directors shall be subject to recall from office by the registered voters of the election district from which he or she was elected. Proceedings may be commenced for the recall of any such member by the filing of a notice of intention to circulate a recall petition under this section.

2. Proceedings may not be commenced against any member if, at the time of commencement, such member:

(1) Has not held office during his or her current term for a period of more than one hundred eighty days; or

(2) Has one hundred eighty days or less remaining in his or her term; or

(3) Has had a recall election determined in his or her favor within the current term of office.

3. The notice of intention to circulate a recall petition shall be served personally, or by certified mail, on the board member sought to be recalled. A copy thereof shall be filed, along with an affidavit of the time and manner of service, with the election authority, as defined in chapter 115, RSMo. A separate notice shall be filed for each board member sought to be recalled and shall contain all of the following:

(1) The name of the board member sought to be recalled;

(2) A statement, not exceeding two hundred words in length, of the reasons for the proposed recall; and

(3) The names and business or residential addresses of at least one but not more than five proponents of the recall.

4. Within seven days after the filing of the notice of intention, the board member may file with the election authority a statement, not exceeding two hundred words in length, in answer to the statement of the proponents. If an answer is filed, the board member shall also serve a copy of it, personally or by certified mail, on one of the proponents named in the notice of intention. The statement and answer are intended solely to be used for the information of the voters. No insufficiency in form or substance of such statements shall affect the validity of the election proceedings.

5. Before any signature may be affixed to a recall petition, the petition is required to bear all of the following:

(1) A request that an election be called to elect a successor to the board member;

(2) A copy of the notice of intention, including the statement of grounds for recall;

(3) The answer of the board member sought to be recalled, if any exists. If the board member has not answered, the petition shall so state; and

(4) A place for each signer to affix his or her signature, printed name and residential address, including any address in a city, town, village, or unincorporated community.

6. Each section of the petition, when submitted to the election authority, shall have attached to it an affidavit signed by the person circulating such section, setting forth all of the following:

(1) The printed name of the affiant;

(2) The residential address of the affiant;

(3) That the affiant circulated that section and saw the appended signatures be written;

(4) That according to the best information and belief of the affiant, each signature is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be;

(5) That the affiant is a registered voter of the election district of the board member sought to be recalled; and

(6) The dates between which all the signatures to the petition were obtained.

7. A recall petition shall be filed with the election authority not more than one hundred eighty days after the filing of the notice of intention.

8. The number of qualified signatures required in order to recall a board member shall be equal in number to at least twenty-five percent of the number of voters who voted in the most recent gubernatorial election in such election district.

9. Within twenty days from the filing of the recall petition the election authority shall determine whether or not the petition was signed by the required number of qualified signatures. The election authority shall file with the petition a certificate showing the results of the examination. The election authority shall give the proponents a copy of the certificate upon their request.

10. If the election authority certifies the petition to be insufficient, it may be supplemented within ten days of the date of certification by filing additional petition sections containing all of the information required by this section. Within ten days after the supplemental copies are filed, the election authority shall file with them a certificate stating whether or not the petition as supplemented is sufficient.

11. If the certificate shows that the petition as supplemented is insufficient, no action shall be taken on it; however, the petition shall remain on file.

12. If the election authority finds the signatures on the petition, together with the supplementary petition sections, if any, to be sufficient, it shall submit its certificate as to the sufficiency of the petition to the ambulance district board of directors prior to its next meeting. The certificate shall contain:

(1) The name of the member whose recall is sought;

(2) The number of signatures required by law;

(3) The total number of signatures on the petition; and

(4) The number of valid signatures on the petition.

13. Following the ambulance district board's receipt of the certificate, the election authority shall order an election to be held on one of the election days specified in section 115.123, RSMo. The election shall be held not less than forty-five days but not more than one hundred twenty days from the date the ambulance district board receives the petition. Nominations for board membership openings under this section shall be made by filing a statement of candidacy with the election authority.

14. At any time prior to forty-two days before the election, the member sought to be recalled may offer his or her resignation. If his or her resignation is offered, the recall question shall be removed from the ballot and the office declared vacant. The member who resigned shall not fill the vacancy, which shall be filled as otherwise provided by law.

15. The provisions of chapter 115, RSMo, governing the conduct of elections shall apply, where appropriate, to recall elections held under this section. The costs of the election shall be paid as provided in chapter 115, RSMo.

190.335. 1. In lieu of the tax levy authorized under section 190.305 for emergency telephone services, the county commission of any county may impose a county sales tax for the provision of central dispatching of fire protection, including law enforcement agencies, emergency ambulance service or any other emergency services, including emergency telephone services, which shall be collectively referred to herein as "emergency services", and which may also include the purchase and maintenance of communications and emergency equipment, including the operational costs associated therein, in accordance with the provisions of this section.

2. Such county commission may, by a majority vote of its members, submit to the voters of the county, at a public election, a proposal to authorize the county commission to impose a tax under the provisions of this section. If the residents of the county present a petition signed by a number of residents equal to ten percent of those in the county who voted in the most recent gubernatorial election, then the commission shall submit such a proposal to the voters of the county.

3. The ballot of submission shall be in substantially the following form:

Shall the county of ............................................ (insert name of county) impose a county sales tax of ................ (insert rate of percent) percent for the purpose of providing central dispatching of fire protection, emergency ambulance service, including emergency telephone services, and other emergency services?

□ YES □ NO

If a majority of the votes cast on the proposal by the qualified voters voting thereon are in favor of the proposal, then the ordinance shall be in effect as provided herein. If a majority of the votes cast by the qualified voters voting are opposed to the proposal, then the county commission shall have no power to impose the tax authorized by this section unless and until the county commission shall again have submitted another proposal to authorize the county commission to impose the tax under the provisions of this section, and such proposal is approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon.

4. The sales tax may be imposed at a rate not to exceed one percent on the receipts from the sale at retail of all tangible personal property or taxable services at retail within any county adopting such tax, if such property and services are subject to taxation by the state of Missouri under the provisions of sections 144.010 to 144.525, RSMo. The sales tax shall not be collected prior to thirty-six months before operation of the central dispatching of emergency services.

5. Except as modified in this section, all provisions of sections 32.085 and 32.087, RSMo, shall apply to the tax imposed under this section.

6. Any tax imposed pursuant to section 190.305 shall terminate at the end of the tax year in which the tax imposed pursuant to this section for emergency services is certified by the board to be fully operational. Any revenues collected from the tax authorized under section 190.305 shall be credited for the purposes for which they were intended.

7. At least once each calendar year, the governing body shall establish a tax rate, not to exceed the amount authorized, that together with any surplus revenues carried forward will produce sufficient revenues to fund the expenditures authorized by this act. Amounts collected in excess of that necessary within a given year shall be carried forward to subsequent years. The governing body shall make its determination of such tax rate each year no later than September first and shall fix the new rate which shall be collected as provided in this act. Immediately upon making its determination and fixing the rate, the governing body shall publish in its minutes the new rate, and it shall notify every retailer by mail of the new rate.

8. Immediately upon the affirmative vote of voters of such a county on the ballot proposal to establish a county sales tax pursuant to the provisions of this section, the county commission shall appoint the initial members of a board to administer the funds and oversee the provision of emergency services in the county. Beginning with the general election in 1994, all board members shall be elected according to this section and other applicable laws of this state. At the time of the appointment of the initial members of the board, the commission shall relinquish and no longer exercise the duties prescribed in this chapter with regard to the provision of emergency services and such duties shall be exercised by the board.

9. The initial board shall consist of seven members appointed without regard to political affiliation, who shall be selected from, and who shall represent, the fire protection districts, ambulance districts, sheriff's department, municipalities, any other emergency services and the general public. This initial board shall serve until its successor board is duly elected and installed in office. The commission shall ensure geographic representation of the county by appointing no more than four members from each district of the county commission.

10. Beginning in 1994, three members shall be elected from each district of the county commission and one member shall be elected at large, such member to be the chairman of the board. Of those first elected, four members from districts of the county commission shall be elected for terms of two years and two members from districts of the county commission and the member at large shall be elected for terms of four years. In 1996, and thereafter, all terms of office shall be four years.

11. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections 8 to 10 of this section to the contrary, in any county of the first classification with more than two hundred forty thousand three hundred but fewer than two hundred forty thousand four hundred inhabitants, any emergency telephone service 911 board appointed by the county under section 190.309 which is in existence on the date the voters approve a sales tax under this section shall continue to exist and shall have the powers set forth under section 190.339.

12. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections 8 to 10 of this section to the contrary, in any county of the second classification with more than fifty-four thousand two hundred but fewer than fifty-four thousand three hundred inhabitants that has approved a sales tax under this section, the county commission shall appoint the members of the board to administer the funds and oversee the provision of emergency services in the county.

(2) The board shall consist of seven members appointed without regard to political affiliation. Each member shall be one of the following:

(a) The head of any of the county's fire protection districts, or a designee;

(b) The head of any of the county's ambulance districts, or a designee;

(d) The head of any of the police departments in the county, or a designee; and

(e) The head of any of the county's emergency management organizations, or a designee.

(3) Upon the appointment of the board under this subsection, the board shall have the power provided in section 190.339 and shall exercise all powers and duties exercised by the county commission under this chapter, and the commission shall relinquish all powers and duties relating to the provision of emergency services under this chapter to the board.

321.015. No person holding any lucrative office or employment under [this state, or] any political subdivision thereof as defined in section 70.120, RSMo, shall hold the office of fire protection district director under this chapter. When any fire protection district director accepts any office or employment under [this state or] any political subdivision thereof, his office shall thereby be vacated and he shall thereafter perform no duty and receive no salary or expenses as fire protection district director. This section shall not apply to members of the organized militia, of the reserve corps, public school employees and notaries public, or to fire protection districts located wholly within counties of the second, third or fourth class or located within first class counties not adjoining any other first class county, nor shall this section apply to any county of the first or second class not having more than nine hundred thousand inhabitants which borders any three first class counties; nor shall this section apply to any first class county without a charter form of government which adjoins both a first class county with a charter form of government with at least nine hundred thousand inhabitants, and adjoins at least four other counties. The term "lucrative office or employment" does not include receiving retirement benefits, compensation for expenses, or a stipend or per diem, in an amount not to exceed seventy-five dollars for each day of service, for service rendered to a fire protection district[, the state] or any political subdivision thereof.

321.200. 1. The board shall meet regularly, not less than once each month, at a time and at some building in the district to be designated by the board. Notice of the time and place of future regular meetings shall be posted continuously at the firehouse or firehouses of the district. Additional meetings may be held, when the needs of the district so require, at a place regular meetings are held, and notice of the time and place shall be given to each member of the board. Meetings of the board shall be held and conducted in the manner required by the provisions of chapter 610, RSMo. All minutes of meetings of the board and all other records of the fire protection district shall be available for public inspection at the main firehouse within the district by appointment with the secretary of the board within one week after a written request is made between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. every day except Sunday. A majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum at any meeting and no business shall be transacted unless a quorum is present. The board, acting as a board, shall exercise all powers of the board, without delegation thereof to any other governmental or other body or entity or association except as provided in subsection 3 of this section, and without delegation thereof to less than a quorum of the board. Agents, employees, engineers, auditors, attorneys, [firemen] firefighters, and any other member of the staff of the district may be employed or discharged only by a board which includes at least two directors; but any board of directors may suspend from duty any such person or staff member who willfully and deliberately neglects or refuses to perform his or her regular functions.

2. Any vacancy on the board shall be filled by the remaining elected members of the board, except when less than two elected members remain on the board any vacancy shall be filled by the circuit court of the county in which all or a majority of the district lies. The appointee or appointees shall act until the next biennial election at which a director or directors are elected to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.

3. Upon a majority vote of the board, the board may delegate such powers and responsibilities granted in subdivisions (4), (6), (8), (9), and (11) of section 321.220, and granted in subdivisions (4), (6), (8), (9), and (11) of section 321.600, to the fire chief as the board deems appropriate for the efficient operation of the district. The board shall have the power to rescind any delegation of power under this subsection by majority vote of the board.

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