23.0893.01000
Sixty-eighth
Legislative Assembly HOUSE BILL NO. 1477
of North Dakota
Introduced by
Representatives Hatlestad, B. Anderson, Fegley, Heinert, Longmuir, M. Ruby
Senator Larson
1 A BILL for an Act to amend and reenact sections 11-28.3-01 and11-28.3-09, and subsection 1 of
2 section 11-28.3-15 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to rural ambulance service
3 districts.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF NORTH DAKOTA:
5 SECTION 1. AMENDMENT. Section 11-28.3-01 of the North Dakota Century Code is
6 amended and reenacted as follows:
7 11-28.3-01. Territory to be organized - Petition.
8 Whenever fifty qualified electors, or if there are fewer than fifty qualified electors, fifty
9 percent of the qualified electors residing in any rural territory, as defined by the department of
10 health and human services, equivalent in area to one township or more not presently served by
11 an existing ambulance service district, elect to form, organize, establish, equip, and maintain a
12 rural ambulance service district, the qualified electors shall signify their intention by presenting
13 to the county auditor of the county or counties in which the territory is situated a petition setting
14 forth the desires and purposes of the petitioners. The petition must contain the full names and
15 post-office addresses of the petitioners, the suggested name of the proposed district, the area in
16 square miles [hectares] to be included therein, and a complete description according to
17 government survey, wherever possible, of the boundaries of the real properties intended to be
18 embraced in the proposed rural ambulance service district. A plat or map showing the
19 suggested boundaries of the proposed district must accompany the petition, and the petitioner
20 also shall deposit with the county auditor a sum sufficient to defray the expense of publishing
21 the notices required by sections 11-28.3-02 and 11-28.3-03. Provided further that any city
22 located within the area, whether such city has emergency medical services or not, may be
23 included in the rural ambulance district if twenty percent or more of the qualified electors
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Legislative Assembly
1 residing in the city sign the petitionAn incorporated city lying within the boundaries of the
2 proposed rural ambulance service district is subject to the petition requirements in this section.
3 SECTION 2. AMENDMENT. Section 11-28.3-09 of the North Dakota Century Code is
4 amended and reenacted as follows:
5 11-28.3-09. Emergency medical service policy - Levy - Financial report.
6 1. The board of directors shall establish a general emergency medical service policy for
7 the district and annually shall estimate the probable expense for carrying out that
8 policy. The estimate must be certified by the president and secretary to the proper
9 county auditor or county auditors, on or before June thirtiethAugust tenth of each year.
10 In the year for which the levy is sought, a board of directors of a rural ambulance
11 service district seeking approval of a property tax levy under this chapter shall file with
12 the county auditor of the counties within the rural ambulance service district, at a time
13 and in a format prescribed by the county auditors, a financial report for the preceding
14 calendar year showing the ending balances of each fund held by the rural ambulance
15 service district during that year. The board or boards of county commissioners may
16 levy a tax not to exceed the mill rate approved by the electors of the district under
17 section 11-28.3-04. If the board wishes to levy a tax in excess of that approved by the
18 electors, the board, upon its own motion, may place the question of increasing the
19 maximum allowable mill levy for the electors to approve at a regular or special
20 election. The amount levied under this section may not exceed a mill rate of fifteen
21 mills upon the taxable property within the district for the maintenance of the rural
22 ambulance service district for the fiscal year as provided by law. A rural ambulance
23 service district may be dissolved by approval of electors of the district as provided in
24 section 11-28.3-13.
25 2. The tax levied for a rural ambulance service district must be:
26 a. Collected as other taxes are collected in the county.
27 b. Turned over to the secretary-treasurer of the rural ambulance service district,
28 who must be bonded in the amount of at least five thousand dollars.
29 c. Deposited by the secretary-treasurer in a state or national bank in a district bank
30 or credit union account.
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1 d.c. Paid out upon warrants drawn upon the district account by authority of the board
2 of directors of the district, bearing the signature of the secretary-treasurer and the
3 countersignature of the president.
4 3. The amount of the tax levy may not exceed the amount of funds required to defray the
5 expenses of the district for a period of one year as embraced in the annual estimate of
6 expense, including the amount of principal and interest upon the indebtedness of the
7 district for the ensuing year. The district may include in its operating budget no more
8 than ten percent of its annual operating budget as a depreciation expense to be set
9 aside in a dedicated emergency medical services sinking fund deposited with the
10 treasurer for the replacement of equipment and ambulances. The ten percent
11 emergency medical services sinking fund may be in addition to the actual annual
12 operating budget, but the total of the annual operating budget and the annual ten
13 percent emergency medical services sinking fund shall not exceed the amount of
14 revenue that would be generated by application of the maximum mill levy approved by
15 the electors.
16 SECTION 3. AMENDMENT. Subsection 1 of section 11-28.3-15 of the North Dakota
17 Century Code is amended and reenacted as follows:
18 1. Any territory adjacent to the boundary of an existing ambulance district may be
19 annexed to the district. If the territory to be annexed is served by the district under
20 section 57-40.6-10within the designated service area as established under
21 subsection 1 of section 23-27-01, the board, upon its own motion, may annex the
22 territory, provided if a majority of qualified electors residing in the existing and
23 proposed territory approve of the annexation at a regular or special election.
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Statutes affected:
INTRODUCED: 11-28.3-01, 11-28.3-09, 11-28.3-15
Adopted by the House Human Services Committee: 11-28.3-15, 11-28.3-16
FIRST ENGROSSMENT: 11-28.3-01, 11-28.3-09, 11-28.3-15, 11-28.3-16
Enrollment: 11-28.3-01, 11-28.3-09, 11-28.3-15, 11-28.3-16