Bill Text: IA SF2055 | 2013-2014 | 85th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to financing work within drainage or levee districts. (See SF 2191.)

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-29 - Subcommittee, Beall, Hart, and Kapucian. S.J. 152. [SF2055 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2013-SF2055-Introduced.html

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Senate File 2055 - Introduced
SENATE FILE 2055
BY BEALL
A BILL FOR
An Act relating to financing work within drainage or levee
districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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Section 1. Section 468.100, Code 2014, is amended to read
as follows:
468.100 Monthly estimate —— payment.
1. The supervising engineer shall, on or before the tenth
day of each calendar month, furnish the contractor and file
with the auditor estimates for work done during the preceding
calendar month under the contract on each section, and the
auditor shall at once draw warrants in favor of such contractor
on the drainage funds of the district or give the contractor
an order directing the county treasurer to deliver to the
contractor or contractors improvement certificates, or drainage
bonds as the case may be, for ninety percent of the estimate
on work done. Such monthly estimates shall remain on file in
the office of the auditor as a part of the permanent records of
the district to which they relate. Drainage warrants, bonds ,
or improvement certificates when so issued shall be in such
amounts as the auditor determines, not however, in amounts in
excess of one five thousand dollars.
2. All of the provisions of this section shall, when
applicable, apply to repair work and improvement work in the
same force and effect as to original construction.
Sec. 2. Section 468.291, Code 2014, is amended to read as
follows:
468.291 Monthly estimate —— payment.
The engineer in charge of the work shall furnish the
contractor a monthly statement estimating the amount of work
done on each section and in each county. A duplicate copy of
the statement shall be filed with the auditor of each county
where the work is done. When the auditor files the statement,
the auditor shall draw a warrant for the contractor or give the
contractor an order directing the treasurer to deliver to the
contractor improvement certificates or drainage bonds, as the
case may be, in favor of the contractor for ninety percent of
the amount due from the auditor’s county. Drainage warrants,
bonds, or improvement certificates when so issued shall be in
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such amounts as the auditor determines, but shall not be in
amounts in excess of one five thousand dollars.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
BILL’S PROVISIONS —— INCREASE IN CEILING AMOUNT FOR PAYMENT
OF CONSTRUCTION WORK. This bill increases the ceiling amount
for drainage warrants, bonds, or improvement certificates
issued for purposes of paying contractors for work performed
within a drainage or levee district (district), as approved by
a supervising engineer appointed by the district’s governing
board. The amount of the ceiling is increased from $1,000 to
$5,000.
BACKGROUND —— GOVERNANCE. Under Code chapter 468, drainage
or levee districts are established and managed by different
forms of governing boards. An intracounty district is
established and managed by a county board of supervisors in
the county where the district is located (Subchapter I, Part
1 —— Code sections 468.1 through 468.200). An intercounty
district may be established in two or more counties and managed
by a joint board of supervisors (Subchapter II, Part 1 —— Code
sections 468.270 through 468.304), and two or more intracounty
districts located in more than one county may be converted into
an intercounty district and again managed by a joint board of
supervisors (Subchapter II, Part 2 —— Code sections 468.305
through 468.314). A drainage district may also be placed under
the management of a board of trustees (Subchapter III, Parts 1
through 3 —— Code sections 468.500 through 468.539).
BACKGROUND —— CONTRACTING FOR WORK. The governing board
is required to appoint an engineer to supervise work projects
in the district, sometimes referred to as a “supervising
engineer” (Code sections 468.33 and 468.287). When a district
is established the governing board must award a contract or
contracts to contractors bidding on the project according to
specific procedures (Code section 468.35). After the district
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is established, the governing board may order repairs to the
district or order an improvement to be made to the district
in a manner that expands, enlarges or otherwise increases its
capacity (Code section 468.126). The governing board must
award a contract or contracts to contractors bidding on the
project according to specific procedures (Code section 468.35).
BACKGROUND —— PAYMENT. A district contracting for
construction work may pay a contractor for construction costs
by drawing a warrant or issuing a bond or drainage certificate
(Code sections 468.74, 468.145, and 468.285). The warrants may
be, and the bonds or certificates are, payable at a future date
with accrued interest. During construction the supervising
engineer must provide the county auditor with a monthly
estimate of work completed and payments due to the contractor.
The supervising engineer’s estimate is used as the basis for
interim payments to the contractor for up to 90 percent of the
work completed. Upon the work’s completion, the supervising
engineer files a report with the governing board which holds a
public hearing of affected landowners to determine if there are
objections prior to final settlement of amounts due under the
construction contract (Code sections 468.101 through 468.103,
and 468.292).
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