Bill Text: IN SB0229 | 2013 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Adjustment for township firefighting fund levy.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2013-03-04 - First reading: referred to Committee on Ways and Means [SB0229 Detail]
Download: Indiana-2013-SB0229-Amended.html
Citations Affected: IC 36-8.
Synopsis: Adjustment for township firefighting fund levy. Provides
that in the case of a township and a municipality in the township in
which: (1) the township provides fire protection to the municipality;
and (2) the municipality does not pay the township for any part of the
township's cost in providing fire protection services; the department of
local government finance shall make an adjustment to the maximum
property tax levies of the township and municipality, if the adjustment
is agreed to by the fiscal bodies of the township and municipality.
Provides that the municipality's maximum property tax levy shall be
reduced by the average annual amount budgeted by the municipality for
fire protection services during the preceding three years, and that the
maximum property tax levy for the township's firefighting fund shall be
increased by the product of: (1) the average annual amount budgeted
by the municipality for fire protection services during the preceding
three years; multiplied by (2) the assessed value growth quotient.
Specifies that the tax rate for the township's firefighting fund shall also
be imposed within the corporate boundaries of the municipality.
Effective: July 1, 2013.
January 7, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Local Government.
February 21, 2013, reported favorably _ Do Pass.
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A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
taxation.
(b) Each township may levy, for each year, a tax for the township firefighting fund. Other than a township providing fire protection or emergency services or both to municipalities in the township under section 3(b) or 3(c) of this chapter or under section 4.6(b) of this chapter, the tax levy is on all taxable real and personal property in the township outside the corporate boundaries of municipalities. Subject to the levy limitations contained in IC 6-1.1-18.5, the township levy is to be in an amount sufficient to pay all costs attributable to fire protection and emergency services that are not paid from other
revenues available to the fund. The tax rate and levy shall be
established in accordance with the procedures set forth in IC 6-1.1-17.
(c) In addition to the tax levy and service charges received under
IC 36-8-12-13 and IC 36-8-12-16, the executive may accept donations
to the township for the purpose of firefighting and other emergency
services and shall place them in the fund, keeping an accurate record
of the sums received. A person may also donate partial payment of any
purchase of firefighting or other emergency services equipment made
by the township.
(d) If a fire department serving a township dispatches fire apparatus
or personnel to a building or premises in the township in response to:
(1) an alarm caused by improper installation or improper
maintenance; or
(2) a drill or test, if the fire department is not previously notified
that the alarm is a drill or test;
the township may impose a fee or service charge upon the owner of the
property. However, if the owner of property that constitutes the owner's
residence establishes that the alarm is under a maintenance contract
with an alarm company and that the alarm company has been notified
of the improper installation or maintenance of the alarm, the alarm
company is liable for the payment of the fee or service charge.
(e) The amount of a fee or service charge imposed under subsection
(d) shall be determined by the township legislative body. All money
received by the township from the fee or service charge must be
deposited in the township's firefighting fund.
(b) This subsection does not apply to townships and municipalities that elect to have the township provide fire protection and emergency services under section 3(b) of this chapter. This subsection applies to a township and a municipality in the township in which:
(1) the township provides fire protection to the municipality
through the use of firefighters employed by the township or
by contracting with a volunteer fire department; and
(2) the municipality does not pay the township for any part of
the township's cost in providing fire protection services to the
municipality.
Upon approval by the fiscal body of such a township and by the
fiscal body of such a municipality, the department of local
government finance shall adjust the township's and the
municipality's maximum permissible ad valorem property tax
levies in the year following the year in which the conditions
described in subdivisions (1) through (2) are first satisfied, to
reflect the fact that the township is providing fire protection to the
municipality.
(c) In the case of an adjustment under subsection (a), each
municipality's maximum permissible property tax levy shall be reduced
by the amount of the municipality's property tax levy that was imposed
by the municipality to meet the obligations to the township under the
fire protection contract. The township's maximum permissible property
tax levy shall be increased by the product of:
(1) one and five-hundredths (1.05); multiplied by
(2) the amount the township received:
(A) in the year in which the change is elected; and
(B) as fire protection contract payments from all municipalities
whose levy is decreased under this section.
(d) In the case of an adjustment under subsection (b):
(1) the municipality's maximum permissible ad valorem
property tax levy shall be reduced by the average annual
amount budgeted by the municipality for fire protection
services during the three (3) years immediately preceding the
year for which the adjustment is made. The maximum
permissible ad valorem property tax levy for the township's
firefighting fund shall be increased by the product of:
(A) the average annual amount budgeted by the
municipality for fire protection services during the three
(3) years immediately preceding the year for which the
adjustment is made; multiplied by
(B) the assessed value growth quotient determined under
IC 6-1.1-18.5-2 for the year for which the adjustment is
made; and
(2) the tax rate for the township firefighting fund shall also be
imposed within the corporate boundaries of the municipality.
If the township ceases to provide fire protection services to the
municipality under subsection (b), the department of local
government finance shall adjust the township's and the
municipality's maximum permissible ad valorem property tax
levies to reflect the fact that the township no longer provides fire
protection services under subsection (b), and the tax rate for the
township's firefighting fund may no longer be imposed under this
subsection within the corporate boundaries of the municipality.
(b) (e) For purposes of determining a township's or municipality's
maximum permissible ad valorem property tax levy under
IC 6-1.1-18.5-3 for years following the first year after the year in which
the change is elected, a township's or municipality's maximum
permissible ad valorem property tax levy is the levy after the
adjustment made under subsection (a). (c) or (d).
