Under this act, the county collector may opt to add special assessments levied in a Community Improvement District to the annual real estate tax bills for the properties being benefitted by the district. Unpaid special assessments on the first day of January are considered delinquent and enforcement of the collection of delinquent bills will be governed by the laws concerning delinquent and back taxes. A lien may be foreclosed in the same manner as a tax upon real property by land tax sale.

WATER LINE REPAIR PROGRAM

This act also authorizes cities, towns, and villages located in any county of the state to seek voter approval for the imposition of a fee on residential property to fund the repair or replacement of water lines on that property. The fee would be imposed for the repair or replacement of water service lines providing water service to residential properties having four or fewer dwelling units located within the city, town, or village. The fee cannot exceed one dollar per month.

Any city, town, or village which imposes the water service line fee may, by ordinance, provide for the administration of the program and define the terms "repair" and "water service line".

JACKSON COUNTY JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

This act allows Jackson County’s judicial circuit to impose and collect any fee, cost, or surcharge authorized under chapter 488 for any other judicial circuit in any civil, criminal, or domestic action provided that the cost, fee, or surcharge is authorized by the county’s voters at an election. Such funds may be used for the needs of the judicial circuit.

TRANSFER OF GUARDIANSHIP AND CONSERVATORSHIP CASES

A public administrator may request the court to transfer any guardianship or conservatorship case to another county. If the other county meets the venue requirements and the public administrator of the other county consents to the transfer, the court is required to transfer the case. The court with jurisdiction over the other county is required to appoint the public administrator of that county as the person's new guardian or conservator.

The public administrator is required to file a final settlement of their conservatorship within thirty days of the court transferring the case. This final settlement will be filed in the court with jurisdiction over the original conservatorship and forwarded to the receiving county upon approval.

POLITICAL SUBDIVISION BIDDING STANDARDS ACT

This act creates the "Political Subdivision Construction Bidding Standards Act". This act does not apply to political subdivisions that have specific state or local competitive bidding requirements that are equivalent to, or stricter than, the ones contained in this act. If a political subdivision is not covered by a specific federal, state, or local law that is equivalent to, or stricter in, its requirements, it shall comply with the advertising and bidding requirements outlined in this act when soliciting bids and awarding contracts that exceed $25,000.

Bids shall be advertised in the following manner: through publication in a central repository developed by the office of administration, or a private firm under contract with the office, at no cost to the state; on the political subdivision’s own website if it has a link to the central repository; in a newspaper of general circulation located in the same county as the political subdivision, or an adjoining county, for a period of once a week for two consecutive weeks; or through publication, at no cost to the public subdivision, in a central repository developed by an organization representing political subdivisions. The political subdivision may, in addition to advertising in the manner described above, also advertise the bids in business, trade, or minority newspapers.

The advertising requirements do not apply when a political subdivision has publicly stated, in writing, that the political subdivision is using a sole source method to award a construction contract because of the unique nature or limited availability of materials, equipment, or skills for the construction project.

The contract must be awarded to the lowest and best bidder, however, the political subdivision may reject any and all bids.

Bidding must comply with the following procedures: no bids may be opened in advance of the advertised deadline; bids must be written and sealed; no bids may be accepted after the advertised deadline; and bids must be held confidentially.

A person who would have bid on a contract had it been advertised also may seek a court order to have the contract rebid, but only within fifteen days of the date the political subdivision opened the bids.

Electronic bidding shall be allowed if it meets the standards of confidentiality. Nothing in this section shall require acceptance of a bid which exceeds the amount estimated by the political subdivision for the contract. Also, political subdivisions may award contracts without competitive bidding when there is an immediate public danger, to prevent loss to property, or to prevent or restore essential public services. Under such circumstances, the political subdivision must produce a written public record documenting the need to contract without competitive bidding.

SPRINGFIELD SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS

This act requires candidates for the Springfield school board in an election in which more than one seat is open to declare their candidacy for a particular seat on the school board. When more than one seat is open, the election authority shall designate the open seats by letter.

Provisions of this act are similar to CCS/SCS/HB 142 (2011), SB 249 (2011), SB 174 (2011), SB 57 (2011) and HB 88 (2011).

MEGHAN LUECKE