The bill amends the Mutual Finance Assistance Act by updating provisions related to property tax rates and qualifications for certain distributions. Specifically, it allows mutual finance organizations to establish a property tax rate agreement among members for three years, requiring that at least one member levies the agreed-upon rate in one of those years, while ensuring that no member exceeds this rate in the remaining years. Additionally, the bill clarifies that property tax rates will exclude levies for bonded indebtedness and lease-purchase contracts established on or after July 1, 1998.

Furthermore, the bill modifies the eligibility criteria for rural or suburban fire protection districts and mutual finance organizations to receive distributions from the Mutual Finance Assistance Fund. The assumed population threshold for these entities has been adjusted from eighty percent to sixty percent of the assumed county population residing outside city limits. The bill also includes provisions for determining the assumed population based on census data and property valuations. The act is set to become operative on October 1, 2025, and repeals the original sections of the law that are being amended.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 35-1204, 35-1205
Final Reading: 35-1204, 35-1205
Slip Law: 35-1204, 35-1205