Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

House File 624 - Introduced
                                  HOUSE FILE 624
                                  BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL
                                      GOVERNMENT
                                  (SUCCESSOR TO HF 461)
                                  (COMPANION TO SF 353 BY
                                   COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
                                   AND ENVIRONMENT)
                            A BILL FOR
An Act relating to drainage and levee districts, by providing
  for notice of hearing on reports of commissioners and for
  repairs that require a report by an engineer or soil and
  water conservation district conservationist.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
                                         TLSB 1907HV (2) 89
                                         da/ns
                                H.F. 624
    Section 1. Section 468.45, Code 2021, is amended to read as
 follows:
    468.45 Notice of hearing.
    1. The board shall fix a time for a hearing upon the report
 of the commissioners, and the auditor shall cause notice to be
 served upon each person whose name appears as owner, naming the
 person, and also upon the person or persons in actual occupancy
 of any tract of land without naming the person or persons, of
 the day and hour of such hearing, which.
    2. The notice shall be for the same time and served in the
 same manner as is provided for the establishment of a levee
 or drainage or levee district, and including as provided in
 sections 468.14 through 468.18, and shall state include all of
 the following:
    a. A statement of the amount of the assessment of costs and
 expenses of construction apportioned to each owner upon each
 forty-acre tract or less, and that. However, the statement is
 not required to be published as required in section 468.15 if
 it is posted in the office of the county auditor and on the
 county’s internet site. The county auditor shall provide a
 copy of the statement upon request.
    b. A statement that all objections thereto to the report
 must be in writing and filed with the auditor at or before the
 time set for such the hearing.
    Sec. 2. Section 468.126, subsection 1, paragraph d, Code
 2021, is amended to read as follows:
    d. If a hearing is required under Notwithstanding paragraph
 “c” “b”, if the estimated cost of the repair exceeds fifty
 thousand dollars or the adjusted competitive bid threshold,
 whichever is more, the board shall order an engineer’s report
 or a report from the soil and water conservation district
 conservationist regarding the matter to which shall be
 presented at the hearing provided in paragraph “c”. The board
 may waive the report requirement if a prior report on the
 repair exists and that report is less than ten years old. At
                                           LSB 1907HV (2) 89
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                                         H.F. 624
the hearing, the board shall hear objections to the feasibility
of making the proposed repair.
                         EXPLANATION
         The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
         the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
    This bill amends Code section 468.45 requiring a county
 board of supervisors, joint boards of supervisors, or board
 of trustees (board) to provide notice of a hearing regarding
 a report to classify tracts of land within a drainage or
 levee district (district) as established or proposed to
 be established by the board. The notice is required to be
 delivered to each owner of land within the district and also by
 publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county
 where the district is located. The bill provides that the
 newspaper publication is not required to include a statement
 listing the amount of the assessment of costs and expenses of
 construction of improvements as apportioned to each owner if
 it is posted in the office of the county auditor and on the
 county’s internet site. The county auditor must provide a copy
 of the statement upon request.
    The bill amends Code section 468.126 by providing for
 required reports on repairs made to a district as ordered by
 a board managing the district. The bill requires a board
 to order a report from a civil or drainage engineer or soil
 and water conservation district conservationist regarding a
 proposed repair if the repair’s estimated cost exceeds $50,000
 or the adjusted competitive bid threshold, whichever is more.
 The report must be presented at the hearing of landowners.
                                                        LSB 1907HV (2) 89
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 468.45, 468.14