Bill Text: DE HB184 | 2011-2012 | 146th General Assembly | Draft
Bill Title: An Act To Amend Title 9 Of The Delaware Code Relating To The Powers And Duties Of The Government Of Kent County.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-06-14 - Stricken [HB184 Detail]
Download: Delaware-2011-HB184-Draft.html
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SPONSOR: |
Rep. Bennett |
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 146th GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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HOUSE BILL NO. 184 |
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AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 9 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE GOVERNMENT OF KENT COUNTY. |
Section 1.Amend Subchapter II, Chapter 41, Title 9 of the Delaware Code by inserting new sections therein to read:
"§4125.Transfer of functions.
(a)The term ‘local service function,' as used in this subchapter, means a local governmental service or a group of closely allied governmental services, performed by Kent County, or by a municipality within Kent County, for its inhabitants and for which, under constitutional and statutory provisions and judicial interpretations, the County or municipality, as distinguished from the State, has a primary responsibility to provide and finance.Local service functions include, but are not limited to:
(1) Planning and zoning, including, but not limited to, subdivision regulations and Geographic Information System services;
(2) Adoption and enforcement of ordinances and regulations for the protection of persons and property from hazards in the use, occupancy, condition, alteration, maintenance, repair, sanitation, removal and demolition of buildings and structures or any parts thereof and grounds appurtenant thereto, in the operation of equipment therein, and of outdoor signs including, but not limited to, zoning ordinances and regulations thereunder, building codes and regulations thereunder, plumbing codes and regulations thereunder, or other such codes;
(3) Programs for economic development or redevelopment, low-income housing, urban renewal, and housing rehabilitation;
(4) Parks, park-related activities, recreational programs, and tourism;
(5) Police operations, including, but not limited to, police protection, animal control, 911 emergency communications, and emergency management;
(6) Fire protection;
(7) Ambulance service;
(8) Public works including, but not limited to, maintenance and operation of sanitary and storm sewers, drainage systems, sewage disposal facilities, and refuse disposal facilities, including trash and garbage collection disposal;
(9) Lighting of streets, roads, alleys, and other public places;
(10) Maintenance and operation of a water supply system; and
(11) Library construction and services.
(b) The term ‘municipality,' as used in this subchapter, means any municipal corporation located within Kent County, and incorporated pursuant to law by the General Assembly of this State, which performs for its residents any local service function and pays the cost thereof out of its own revenue sources.
(c) Responsibility for a local service function or a distinct activity or portion thereof exercised by a municipality located within Kent County may be transferred to the County by concurring affirmative action in the form of an ordinance of the county government of Kent County and an ordinance of the governing body of the municipality concerned.Responsibility for a local service function or for a distinct activity or portion thereof not exercised by Kent County or by a municipality located within Kent County as of the effective date of this Act, or exercised by Kent County as of the effective date of this Act, may be transferred to a municipality located within Kent County by concurring affirmative action in the form of an ordinance of the county government of Kent County and an ordinance of the governing body of the municipality concerned.
(d) The expression of official action transferring a local service function shall make explicit:
(1) The nature of the local service function transferred;
(2) The effective date of such transfer;
(3) The manner in which affected employees engaged in the performance of the function will be transferred, reassigned, or otherwise treated;
(4) The manner in which real property, facilities, equipment, or other personal property required in the exercise of the function will be transferred, sold, or otherwise treated;
(5) The method of financing to be used in the exercise of the function received; and
(6) Other legal, financial, and administrative arrangements necessary to effect transfer in an orderly and equitable manner.
§4126.Separate budgeting for local service functions performed by Kent County outside of the limits of municipalities.
(a) In the preparation of the annual operating budget, the Kent County Administrator and the Department of Finance shall divide and segregate in a separate budget, entitled Local Service Function Budget, all expenditures for the performance of local service functions which are not performed by Kent County within the limits of any municipality.In the preparation of the Local Service Function Budget, the Kent County Administrator and the Department of Finance shall specify separately the total appropriation required for the performance of each local service function, including appropriations for Supporting Services, which is not performed by Kent County within the limits of any municipality.In estimating the revenues that will be necessary for the payment of the cost of each local service function, the Kent County Administrator and the Department of Finance shall not include in the estimate any estimated revenues to be derived from ad valorem taxation of real property within any municipality which performs such function independently for its residents and pays the cost thereof out of its own revenue sources.
(b) The Kent County Administrator and the Department of Finance shall submit to the Kent County government a proposed revenue ordinance which will achieve sufficient revenues to balance the total operating budget, including the Local Service Function Budget.In the preparation of the proposed revenue ordinance, the Kent County Administrator and the Department of Finance shall not, and the Kent County government in the enactment of the annual revenue ordinance shall not, impose ad valorem taxation on real property within any municipality to pay the cost of any local service function if such function is performed by the municipality for its residents, the cost thereof is paid out of municipal revenues, and the Kent County government may validate that the function is being provided.
(c) The provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not be applicable:
(1) In any instance where a municipality initiates the performance of, or exercises responsibility for, a local service function or a distinct activity or portion thereof not previously exercised by the municipality as of the effective date of this Act without affirmative action in the form of an ordinance of the county government of Kent County;
(2)To the cost of operation by Kent County of parks, park-related activities, recreational programs, and tourism which are not local in nature and which serve the metropolitan area; and
(3)To any municipality not expending funds in the previous fiscal year for the given local service function.
(d) In the preparation of the annual operating budget, the Kent County Administrator and the Department of Finance shall divide and segregate in a separate budget, entitled General Operating Budget, all expenditures not properly allocable to the Local Service Function Budget or other operating budget fund.In estimating the revenues that will be necessary for the payment of these expenditures, the Kent County government shall include the estimated revenues to be derived from county-wide ad valorem taxation of real property.
(e) The Kent County Administrator and the Department of Finance, in preparing the proposed revenue ordinance, and the Kent County government, in enacting the annual revenue ordinance, shall uniformly impose ad valorem taxation on real property within Kent County to pay the cost of the General Operating Budget."
Section 2.Amend §4110(b)(1), Title 9 of the Delaware Code by inserting after the phrase "subject to assessment by the County" the following:
"and subject to the provisions of §4126 of this title".
Section 3.This Act shall be effective July 1, 2012.
SYNOPSIS
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This bill protects the taxpayers of the municipalities in Kent County from having to pay County taxes related to the cost of services already provided by the municipalities and funded by municipal taxes.The bill is modeled after New Castle County's statutes which have been in effect since 1967. |
