HCS SB 386 -- POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS

SPONSOR:  Lager (Brown, 30)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Local
Government by a vote of 11 to 2.

This substitute changes the laws regarding political
subdivisions.  In it main provisions, the substitute:

(1)  Increases the assessed valuation thresholds for a county to
move into a higher classification, except for Lincoln County,
which will be allowed to change classification based upon the old
assessed valuation thresholds (Section 48.020, RSMo);

(2)  Authorizes Lincoln County to become a second classification
county upon reaching the required assessed valuation and approval
from the governing body without maintaining that assessed
valuation for five successive years (Section 48.030);

(3)  Prohibits the salary established for each county official
from being reduced when any county changes classification until
the official at the time of the change leaves office (Section
48.050);

(4)  Removes the requirement that the presiding county
commissioner in counties of the second, third, or fourth
classification receive a salary of $2,000 more than the other
county commissioners and establishes exceptions to the
requirement that commissioners annually complete 20 hours of
educational training to receive $2,000 of their salary (Section
49.082);

(5)  Authorizes Caldwell County to establish a jail or holding
facility outside of the county seat (Section 49.310);

(6)  Removes the requirement that the presiding county
commissioner in counties of the first classification receive a
salary of $2,000 more than the other county commissioners and
establishes exceptions to the requirement that commissioners
annually complete 20 hours of educational training to receive
$2,000 of their salary (Section 50.343);

(7)  Increases the thresholds for counties to obtain bids on
purchases and to post notice of or advertise proposed single
feasible source purchases to $6,000 (Sections 50.660 and 50.783);

(8)  Increases the length of time that real and personal property
tax statements must be mailed to all resident taxpayers before
the delinquent date in all counties except charter counties and
counties with a township form of government (Section 52.230);

(9)  Specifies that, in counties adopting a charter form of
government after January 1, 2008, the county collector will
continue to receive a 7% fee for the collection of delinquent
taxes rather than the 2% or 3% fee that all other charter county
collectors receive.  Currently, this only applies to Jefferson
County (Section 52.290);

(10)  Specifies that counties adopting a charter form of
government after January 1, 2008, are required to have a tax
maintenance fund.  Currently, this only applies to Jefferson
County (Section 52.312);

(11)  Authorizes counties of the first and second classification
to collect and disburse property taxes using electronic records
(Sections 52.361 and 52.370);

(12)  Specifies that the collector-treasurer will continue to be
subject to the provisions of law governing the duties, powers,
requirements, and compensation of collector-treasurers if a
county abolishes its township form of government (Section
54.010);

(13)  Increases from $250 to $1,000 the minimum threshold value
of county property that must be inventoried annually by the
auditor in a charter county (Section 55.030);

(14)  Removes the requirement that county auditors in counties of
the first and second classification countersign all licenses
issued by the county and requires that they receive a monthly
listing of the licenses issued and related information (Section
55.140);

(15)  Authorizes compensation of $15,000 annually to the county
counselor and up to $15,000 annually for investigative and
clerical personnel in Boone County for duties relating to mental
health and mental health facilities to be paid out of the state
treasury from funds appropriated for these purposes (Section
56.700);

(16)  Requires the Office of the Land Surveyor in the Department
of Natural Resources to establish rules and regulations on the
minimum standards for digital cadastral parcel mapping.  Maps
designed and used to reflect legal property descriptions or
boundaries for use in a digital cadastral mapping system must
comply with the rules with certain exceptions (Section 60.670);

(17)  Authorizes counties of the first classification to
establish occupancy standards for residential rental property and
licensing and inspection procedures, including reasonable fees
(Section 64.170);

(18)  Authorizes a county commission, upon a majority vote, to
submit the issue of abolishing the county's township organization
to a vote of the people.  Currently, it requires a petition by
10% of the voters to submit the issue to a vote (Section 65.610);

(19)  Reduces from three to one the number of copies of building
or technical codes certain counties, fire protection districts,
and municipalities are required to file and keep in their clerk's
office if the codes were adopted by reference (Section 67.280);

(20)  Requires certain builders of residential dwellings to offer
purchasers the option to install a fire sprinkler system at the
purchaser's cost and requires this option to be included in any
building code, order, ordinance, rule, or regulation adopted by a
political subdivision (Section 67.281);

(21)  Requires the governing body of a municipality or county,
upon application, to authorize organizations of public safety
officers, including law enforcement officers and firefighters, to
stand in a road within their public safety service area to
solicit charitable contributions under certain conditions
(Section 67.304);

(22)  Adds the counties of Andrew and Buchanan to the list of
counties authorized to enact nuisance abatement ordinances
regarding the condition of real property and adds tires and storm
water runoff conditions resulting in damage to buildings or
infrastructure to the list of items for which certain counties
may enact ordinances to provide for public nuisance abatement
(Section 67.402);

(23)  Specifies the manner in which each parcel of property in a
neighborhood improvement district will be assessed if a single
parcel within the district is divided into additional parcels
within five years of the final costs of the improvement's
assessment (Section 67.456);

(24)  Allows real property owners in the counties of Caldwell,
Clinton, Daviess, and DeKalb to petition the governing body of
the county for the creation of an exhibition center and
recreational facility district with taxing power (Section
67.2000);

(25)  Authorizes Caldwell County to contract with private
corporations engaged in delivering water at wholesale for
domestic consumption.  The county also may jointly acquire, own,
and hold water mains with private corporations (Section 67.3000);

(26)  Authorizes municipalities to annex a land parcel used as a
research park only if all owners of the property consent in
writing, the parcel has not been sold within the previous six
months, and the municipality and county adopt reciprocal
authorizing ordinances (Section 71.275);

(27)  Authorizes the city building official of Kansas City to
petition the circuit court in the county where a vacant nuisance
building is located for the appointment of a receiver to
rehabilitate the building, demolish it, or sell it to a qualified
buyer (Section 82.1026);

(28)  Removes the ban on Kansas City police department officers
and employees making political contributions and being members of
any political party committee or ward committee persons and
prohibits them from holding a partisan political office or from
campaigning on behalf of any organization, party, or candidate
for public office while on duty, in uniform, or wearing any
clothing or accessory that indicates employment with the police
department (Section 84.830);

(29)  Authorizes any member of the Police Retirement System of
St. Louis who has accumulated up to 30 years of creditable
service to use accumulated sick leave for vesting purposes or for
the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) beginning August 28,
2009 (Section 86.362);

(30)  Prohibits third class cities from imposing storm water
usage fees on property owned by any church, public school,
nonprofit organization, or political subdivision (Section
88.832);

(31)  Authorizes Platte City to be the exclusive provider of
water and sanitary sewer services to all areas within the city if
the utility service is not already being provided by the state or
another political subdivision, including a common sewer district
established under Chapter 204 (Section 91.265);

(32)  Authorizes a period of real estate tax abatement of at
least five years and no more than 10 years for certain qualified
redevelopment projects in constitutionally charter cities.
Currently, the period is 10 years (Section 99.710);

(33)  Authorizes use of the incremental increase in state income
tax revenue from wages paid to new employees in jobs created by
the redevelopment project at a business located in the
redevelopment project area to pay for the redevelopment project
costs under the Downtown Revitalization Preservation Program,
commonly referred to as MODESA-Lite (Sections 99.1082, 99.1088,
99.1090, and 99.1092);

(34)  Changes the number of county political party committee
members elected in Prairie and Sni-A-Bar townships in Jackson
County (Section 115.607);

(35)  Authorizes taxpayers in St. Charles County one change in
the assignment of a hearing officer for an appeal of the assessed
valuation of the taxpayer's property (Section 138.431);

(36)  Requires taxing authorities to request notification of
current taxes paid under protest by February 1 and requires
county collectors to provide the information by March 1 (Section
139.031);

(37)  Requires county collectors in counties of the first and
second classification, by the fifteenth day of each month, to
file with the county clerk and auditor, a detailed statement of
all taxes and license fees collected during the preceding month
(Section 139.210);

(38)  Changes the laws regarding delinquent land tax sales,
including notice provisions, certificates of purchase, minimum
acceptable purchase price, excess sale proceeds, priority of
collector's deeds, purchaser's responsibility for recording fees,
redemption periods, redeeming owner's reimbursement to purchasers
and other responsibilities, and title search requirements
(Sections 140.150, 140.190, 140.230, 140.250, 140.260, 140.290,
140.310, 140.340, and 140.405);

(39)  Extends the due date by one month for certain reports
required to be submitted by the librarian of a consolidated
public library district to the district board and by the district
board to the county commission and the State Library Commission
(Section 182.647);

(40)  Requires the sheriff to certify to the court clerk the
number of days of confinement regardless of the final disposition
of the case if the state would be liable for the costs of
incarceration of a prisoner confined in a county jail or medium
security institution under existing laws upon final determination
of any criminal prosecution (Section 221.105);

(41)  Authorizes county sheriffs to utilize county prisoner work
programs for roads, bridges, or other public works  (Sections
221.360, 221.365, 221.370, 221.375, 221.380, 221.385, and
221.390);

(42)  Specifies that the limit on the amount which can be
expended on roads and streets within the limits of any city as
specified in Section 233.095 will not apply to any city in
Christian County (Section 233.103);

(43)  Authorizes licensed drivers to operate off-highway vehicles
on gravel or dirt roads within third and fourth classification
counties (Section 300.349);

(44)  Establishes the Missouri Universal Red Light Enforcement
Act which allows various political entities to establish
automated photo red light enforcement systems to detect red light
signal violations.  Any fines collected must go to the local
school district where the infraction occurred (Sections 304.287,
304.288, 304.289, and 304.290);

(45)  Specifies that a liquor license may not be denied,
suspended, or revoked based solely on the fact that an employee
has a felony conviction unrelated to the manufacture or sale of
alcohol if the employee does not directly participate in retail
sales at non-restaurant establishments that hold a license to
sell intoxicating liquor at retail by the drink (Section
311.060);

(46)  Revises the definition of "approximate location" from two
feet to 18 inches as it relates to the various excavation
requirements in Chapter 319 (Section 319.015);

(47)  Removes the board of alderman's approval as a precondition
to a fire department employee's right to move outside the fire
department's geographical boundaries if the only public school
district available is or has been unaccredited or provisionally
accredited in the last five years and removes the salary
forfeiture requirement (Section 320.097);

(48)  Specifies that the practice of land surveying will include
working with positions of the United States Public Land Survey
System and creating, preparing, or modifying electronic or
computerized data relative to establishing or monumenting land
boundaries and subdividing land (Section 327.272);

(49)  Increases the extent of the lien that certain design
professionals, contractors, subcontractors, and other persons who
perform work or labor on buildings or real property may place on
the real property for work or rental services that have not been
paid (Section 429.015);

(50)  Specifies that the automatic renewal of contracts for
service, maintenance, or repair to or for any residential real
property intended for personal, family, or household use will be
invalid unless a written notice by certified mail or email is
given to the customer 30 to 90 days prior to the contract being
renewed (Section 431.210);

(51)  Adds the costs of environmental insurance premiums and the
backfill of areas where contaminated soil excavation occurs to
the list of expenses that qualify for a remediation tax credit
(Section 447.708);

(52)  Requires the City of St. Louis to provide furnishings and
all necessary supplies for the public administrator, to be
approved by the comptroller and paid out of the city treasury.
With city circuit court approval, the public administrator can
hire deputies and assistants and set their compensation up to a
certain limit established by the board of aldermen (Section
473.745);

(53)  Requires any electronic version of municipal ordinances to
be accepted as evidence in all courts and places within the state
(Section 490.420);

(54)  Authorizes the Elevator Safety Board within the Department
of Public Safety to adopt a code of rules and regulations
governing the licensing of elevator mechanics and elevator
contractors (Section 701.335);

(55)  Authorizes first classification counties to adopt
ordinances establishing curfew hours for persons younger than 17
years of age for public streets, public places, and public
buildings.  Anyone violating a curfew offense will be guilty of a
class C misdemeanor for the person younger than 17 years of age
and for the parents or guardians who have knowledge of the
violation (Section 1);

(56)  Reinstates a political subdivision's property tax rate in
effect in 1984 as the tax rate ceiling for reassessment year
rollback purposes (Section 2); and

(57)  Requires a candidate for county executive or presiding
county commissioner in St. Louis County to have a bachelor's
degree from an accredited four-year university (Section 3).

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Cost on General Revenue Fund of $30,000
to Unknown in FY 2010, FY 2011, and FY 2012.  Estimated Cost on
Other State Funds of Unknown in FY 2010, FY 2011, and FY 2012.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that allowing these counties to
establish an exhibition center and recreational facility district
will provide economic benefits to their community and improve the
quality of life of their residents.

Testifying for the bill was Senator Lager.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 1st Regular Session
Last Updated November 17, 2009 at 9:26 am