S3152.03T

To repeal section 246.305, RSMo 1994, relating to certain levee districts, and to enact one new section relating to the same subject.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Section 246.305, RSMo 1994, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 246.305, to read as follows:

246.305. In any levee district formed pursuant to the laws of this state having assessed valuation of real property of twenty-five million dollars or greater, which is located in whole or in part in a county having over nine hundred thousand in population according to the last decennial census, the board of supervisors may by order, resolution or ordinance, following a public hearing thereon called upon notice as provided in section 245.060, RSMo, adopt the following alternative procedures with respect to voting rights and apportionment of installment taxes:

(1) Voting by landowners of the levee district shall be determined on the basis of the assessed benefits of the property owned and the owner of each piece of property shall receive one vote per ten thousand dollars of assessed benefits, rounded to the next lowest amount in cases where assessed benefits do not evenly tally. In cases where the assessed benefits of a piece of property are below ten thousand dollars, the owner shall be entitled to one vote;

(2) After the making of a readjustment of the assessment of benefits pursuant to section 245.197, RSMo, then the board of supervisors shall reapportion and levy on each tract of land or other property in the district the taxes imposed under sections 245.180, 245.190 or 245.198, RSMo, in proportion to the benefits assessed as readjusted and not in excess thereof. In case bonds have been issued as provided in sections 245.010 to 245.280, RSMo, then the amount of interest which will accrue on such bonds shall be included and added to said taxes as reapportioned and levied based upon the benefits assessed as readjusted. The secretary of the board of supervisors, as soon as said tax has been reapportioned, shall, at the expense of the district, prepare a list of all taxes as reapportioned and levied, in the form of a well- bound book, which book shall be endorsed and named "readjusted levee tax record of .......... district ...........", which endorsement shall also be printed or written at the top of each page of said book, and shall be signed and certified by the president and secretary of the board of supervisors, attested by the seal of the district, and the same shall thereafter become a permanent record in the office of said secretary. The said board of supervisors shall each year thereafter determine, order and levy the amount of the annual installment of the total taxes levied under section 245.180, 245.190 or 245.198, RSMo, based upon such reapportionment, which shall in all other respects be due and collected as provided in section 245.185, RSMo.

[246.305. 1. In any levee district formed pursuant to the laws of this state having an assessed valuation of real property of twenty-five million dollars or greater, which is located in whole or in part in a county having over nine hundred thousand in population according to the last decennial census, the board of supervisors may provide for the establishment of an alternative levee district in compliance with the procedures described in this section.

2. The board proposing to create an alternative levee district may by resolution, order or ordinance, following a public hearing thereon called upon notice as provided in section 245.060, RSMo, appoint a panel of interested individuals representative of the types of property located within the proposed district to prepare a proposed charter for the district.

3. The charter may provide for such provisions and powers which the general assembly of the state of Missouri would have authority to confer upon a levee district, provided such powers are consistent with the constitution of this state and are not limited or denied either by the charter so adopted or by statute and shall specifically include, but shall not be limited to, any of the following: allowing voting by the district property owners based upon assessed valuation according to a formula or formulas relating the amount of assessed valuation to the number of votes a property owner may cast, allowing membership on the board by designated representatives of corporate owners of real property within the district, providing for the revision and repeal of charter provisions by a required majority of those real property owners. No provisions of the charter shall in any way affect the validity of any bonds issued by the district prior to adoption of the charter.

4. Following receipt of the proposed charter, the board may by resolution, order or ordinance submit the question of creating such district and approving the charter to all qualified owners of real property at a general or special election called for that purpose upon notice as provided in section 245.060, RSMo. Such resolution shall set forth the proposed creation of the alternative levee district, the general nature of the proposed district, and the boundaries of the proposed district to be assessed. The ballot upon which the question of creating the district is submitted to the qualified voters shall contain a question in substantially the following form:

Shall .......... (name of existing levee district) be authorized to form by charter an alternative levee district with the power to incur indebtedness and issue general obligation bonds to pay for all or part of the cost of public improvements within such district, the cost of all indebtedness so incurred to be assessed by the governing body of the .......... (name of levee district) on the property benefited by such improvements?

5. Following approval of the question of forming the alternative levee district by a vote in favor thereof by the owners of two-thirds of the acres within the district, the board shall by order or resolution implement the provisions contained in the charter. In the absence of a charter provision governing to the contrary, the district shall possess all authority contained in chapters 245 and 246, RSMo.]