Bill Text: MO HB1942 | 2010 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Changes requirements for the emergency telephone service 911 board in Polk County and requires emergency service boards to annually establish a tax rate sufficient to fund service expenditures
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2010-07-07 - Delivered to Secretary of State (G) [HB1942 Detail]
Download: Missouri-2010-HB1942-Enrolled.html
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
[TRULY AGREED TO AND FINALLY PASSED]
95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
AN ACT
To repeal sections 190.309, 190.335, and 190.339, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof three new sections relating to emergency service boards.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 190.309, 190.335, and 190.339, RSMo, are repealed and three new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 190.309, 190.335, and 190.339, to read as follows:
190.309. 1. Any county may establish an "Emergency Telephone Service 911 Board", referred to in this section as the "board". The powers and duties of the board may be defined by order or ordinance of the county. Such powers shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) Planning a 911 system;
(2) Coordinating and supervising the implementation, upgrading, or maintenance of the system, including the establishment of equipment specifications and coding systems;
(3) Receiving moneys from any emergency telephone service tax levy authorized by the governing body of the county pursuant to section 190.305, and authorizing disbursements from such moneys collected;
(4) Hiring any staff necessary for the implementation or upgrade of the system.
2. Members of the board shall be appointed by the governing body of the county, and shall be known as the board of directors of the emergency service telephone 911 board. The governing body shall appoint eleven persons to the board. At least six of such members shall represent public safety agencies, except in any county of the third classification without a township form of government and with more than twenty-six thousand nine hundred but fewer than twenty-seven thousand inhabitants, which shall have at least seven members representing the following public safety agencies:
(1) County sheriff;
(2) County presiding commissioner;
(3) Chief of police of the county seat of the county;
(4) Mayor of the county seat of the county;
(5) President of the fire association of the county;
(6) Chief executive officer of the memorial hospital located in the county seat of the county; and
(7) Director of emergency services of the memorial hospital located in the county seat of the county.
At least nine of the board members shall be residents of the county described in subsection 1 of this section or a county adjoining such county. All board members shall be appointed to serve for a term of three years, except that of the first board appointed, five members shall be appointed for one-year terms, three members for two-year terms and three members for three-year terms. Board members may be reappointed. The members of the board shall not receive compensation for their services, but may be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses.
3. The administrative control and management of the county emergency telephone 911 service shall rest solely with the board, and the board shall employ all necessary personnel, fix their compensation, and provide suitable quarters and equipment for the operation of the facility from funds made available for this purpose. Employees of the board shall be eligible for membership in the Missouri local government employees' retirement system pursuant to sections 70.600 to 70.755, RSMo.
4. The board may contract to provide services relating in whole or in part to emergency telephone 911 service and for such purpose may expend the tax funds or other funds.
5. The board shall elect a chairman, vice chairman, treasurer, and such other officers as it deems necessary for its membership. Before taking office, the treasurer shall furnish a surety bond, in an amount to be determined and in a form to be approved by the board, for the faithful performance of the treasurer's duties and faithful accounting of all moneys that may come into the treasurer's hands. The treasurer shall enter into the surety bond with a surety company authorized to do business in Missouri, and the cost of such bond shall be paid by the board.
6. The board shall set rules for establishment and operation of the emergency 911 system, and shall do all other things necessary to carry out the purposes of sections 190.300 to 190.320.
7. The board may contract with any not-for-profit corporation including any corporation which is incorporated for the purpose of implementing the provisions of sections 190.300 to 190.320.
8. The board may accept any gift of property or money for the use and benefit of the emergency telephone 911 service in the county, and the board is authorized to sell or exchange any such property which the board believes would be to the benefit of the service so long as the proceeds are used exclusively for emergency telephone services. The board shall have exclusive control of all gifts, property or money the board may accept; of all interest or other proceeds which may accrue from the investment of such gifts or money or from the sale of such property; of all tax revenues collected by the county on behalf of the emergency telephone 911 services; and of all other funds granted, appropriated, or loaned to the board by the federal government, the state, or its political subdivisions so long as these resources are used solely to benefit the emergency telephone service in the county.
9. Any board member may, following notice and an opportunity to be heard, be removed from office by a majority vote of the other members of the board for any of the following grounds:
(1) Failure to attend five consecutive meetings, without good cause;
(2) Conduct prejudicial to the good order and efficient operation of the emergency telephone service; or
(3) Neglect of duty.
10. The chairman of the board shall preside at such removal hearing, unless the chairman is the person sought to be removed, in which case the hearing shall be presided over by another member elected by the majority vote of the other board members. All interested parties may present testimony and arguments at such hearing, and the witnesses shall be sworn by oath or affirmation before testifying. Any interested party may, at his or her own expense, record the proceedings.
11. Vacancies on the board occasioned by removals, resignations or otherwise shall be reported by the board chairman to the governing body of the county and shall be filled in like manner as original appointments; except that, if the vacancy occurs during an unexpired term, the appointment shall be for only the unexpired portion of that term.
12. Individual board members shall not be eligible for employment by the board within twelve months of termination of service as a member of the board.
13. No person shall be employed by the board who is related within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity to any member of the board.
190.335. 1. In lieu of the tax levy authorized under section 190.305 for emergency telephone services, the county commission of any county may impose a county sales tax for the provision of central dispatching of fire protection, including law enforcement agencies, emergency ambulance service or any other emergency services, including emergency telephone services, which shall be collectively referred to herein as "emergency services", and which may also include the purchase and maintenance of communications and emergency equipment, including the operational costs associated therein, in accordance with the provisions of this section.
2. Such county commission may, by a majority vote of its members, submit to the voters of the county, at a public election, a proposal to authorize the county commission to impose a tax under the provisions of this section. If the residents of the county present a petition signed by a number of residents equal to ten percent of those in the county who voted in the most recent gubernatorial election, then the commission shall submit such a proposal to the voters of the county.
3. The ballot of submission shall be in substantially the following form:
Shall the county of ............................................. (insert name of county) impose a county sales tax of ............ (insert rate of percent) percent for the purpose of providing central dispatching of fire protection, emergency ambulance service, including emergency telephone services, and other emergency services?
□ YES □ NO
If a majority of the votes cast on the proposal by the qualified voters voting thereon are in favor of the proposal, then the ordinance shall be in effect as provided herein. If a majority of the votes cast by the qualified voters voting are opposed to the proposal, then the county commission shall have no power to impose the tax authorized by this section unless and until the county commission shall again have submitted another proposal to authorize the county commission to impose the tax under the provisions of this section, and such proposal is approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon.
4. The sales tax may be imposed at a rate not to exceed one percent on the receipts from the sale at retail of all tangible personal property or taxable services at retail within any county adopting such tax, if such property and services are subject to taxation by the state of Missouri under the provisions of sections 144.010 to 144.525, RSMo. The sales tax shall not be collected prior to thirty-six months before operation of the central dispatching of emergency services.
5. Except as modified in this section, all provisions of sections 32.085 and 32.087, RSMo, shall apply to the tax imposed under this section.
6. Any tax imposed pursuant to section 190.305 shall terminate at the end of the tax year in which the tax imposed pursuant to this section for emergency services is certified by the board to be fully operational. Any revenues collected from the tax authorized under section 190.305 shall be credited for the purposes for which they were intended.
7. At least once each calendar year, the [governing body] board shall establish a tax rate, not to exceed the amount authorized, that together with any surplus revenues carried forward will produce sufficient revenues to fund the expenditures authorized by this act. Amounts collected in excess of that necessary within a given year shall be carried forward to subsequent years. The [governing body] board shall make its determination of such tax rate each year no later than September first and shall fix the new rate which shall be collected as provided in this act. Immediately upon making its determination and fixing the rate, the [governing body] board shall publish in its minutes the new rate, and it shall notify every retailer by mail of the new rate.
8. Immediately upon the affirmative vote of voters of such a county on the ballot proposal to establish a county sales tax pursuant to the provisions of this section, the county commission shall appoint the initial members of a board to administer the funds and oversee the provision of emergency services in the county. Beginning with the general election in 1994, all board members shall be elected according to this section and other applicable laws of this state. At the time of the appointment of the initial members of the board, the commission shall relinquish and no longer exercise the duties prescribed in this chapter with regard to the provision of emergency services and such duties shall be exercised by the board.
9. The initial board shall consist of seven members appointed without regard to political affiliation, who shall be selected from, and who shall represent, the fire protection districts, ambulance districts, sheriff's department, municipalities, any other emergency services and the general public. This initial board shall serve until its successor board is duly elected and installed in office. The commission shall ensure geographic representation of the county by appointing no more than four members from each district of the county commission.
10. Beginning in 1994, three members shall be elected from each district of the county commission and one member shall be elected at large, such member to be the chairman of the board. Of those first elected, four members from districts of the county commission shall be elected for terms of two years and two members from districts of the county commission and the member at large shall be elected for terms of four years. In 1996, and thereafter, all terms of office shall be four years.
11. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections 8 to 10 of this section to the contrary, in any county of the first classification with more than two hundred forty thousand three hundred but fewer than two hundred forty thousand four hundred inhabitants, any emergency telephone service 911 board appointed by the county under section 190.309 which is in existence on the date the voters approve a sales tax under this section shall continue to exist and shall have the powers set forth under section 190.339.
12. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections 8 to 10 of this section to the contrary, in any county of the second classification with more than fifty-four thousand two hundred but fewer than fifty-four thousand three hundred inhabitants that has approved a sales tax under this section, the county commission shall appoint the members of the board to administer the funds and oversee the provision of emergency services in the county.
(2) The board shall consist of seven members appointed without regard to political affiliation. Each member shall be one of the following:
(a) The head of any of the county's fire protection districts, or a designee;
(b) The head of any of the county's ambulance districts, or a designee;
(c) The county sheriff, or a designee;
(d) The head of any of the police departments in the county, or a designee; and
(e) The head of any of the county's emergency management organizations, or a designee.
(3) Upon the appointment of the board under this subsection, the board shall have the power provided in section 190.339 and shall exercise all powers and duties exercised by the county commission under this chapter, and the commission shall relinquish all powers and duties relating to the provision of emergency services under this chapter to the board.
190.339. 1. The powers and duties of the emergency services board shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) Planning a 911 system and dispatching system;
(2) Coordinating and supervising the implementation, upgrading or maintenance of the system, including the establishment of equipment specifications and coding systems;
(3) Receiving money from any county sales tax authorized to be levied pursuant to section 190.335 and authorizing disbursements from such moneys collected;
(4) Hiring any staff necessary for the implementation, upgrade or operation of the system.
2. The board shall be a body corporate and a political subdivision of the state and shall be known as the "......... Emergency Services Board".
3. The administrative control and management of the moneys from any county sales tax authorized to be levied pursuant to section 190.335 and the administrative control and management of the central dispatching of emergency services shall rest solely with the board, and the board shall employ all necessary personnel, affix their compensation and provide suitable quarters and equipment for the operation of the central dispatching of emergency services from the funds available for this purpose.
[3.] 4. The board may contract to provide services relating in whole or in part to central dispatching of emergency services and for such purpose may expend the tax funds or other funds.
[4.] 5. The board shall elect a vice chairman, treasurer, secretary and such other officers as it deems necessary. Before taking office, the treasurer shall furnish a surety bond in an amount to be determined and in a form to be approved by the board for the faithful performance of the treasurer's duties and faithful accounting of all moneys that may come into the treasurer's hands. The treasurer shall enter into the surety bond with a surety company authorized to do business in Missouri, and the cost of such bond shall be paid by the board of directors.
[5.] 6. The board may accept any gift of property or money for the use and benefit of the central dispatching of emergency services, and the board is authorized to sell or exchange any such property which it believes would be to the benefit of the service so long as the proceeds are used exclusively for central dispatching of emergency services. The board shall have exclusive control of all gifts, property or money it may accept; of all interest of other proceeds which may accrue from the investment of such gifts or money or from the sale of such property; of all tax revenues collected by the county on behalf of the central dispatching of emergency services; and of all other funds granted, appropriated or loaned to it by the federal government, the state or its political subdivisions so long as such resources are used solely to benefit the central dispatching of emergency services.
[6.] 7. Any board member may, following notice and an opportunity to be heard, be removed from any office by a majority vote of the other members of the board for any of the following reasons:
(1) Failure to attend five consecutive meetings, without good cause;
(2) Conduct prejudicial to the good order and efficient operation of the central dispatching of emergency services; or
(3) Neglect of duty.
[7.] 8. The chairperson of the board shall preside at such removal hearing, unless the chairperson is the person sought to be removed, in which case the hearing shall be presided over by another member elected by a majority vote of the other board members. All interested parties may present testimony and arguments at such hearing, and the witnesses shall be sworn in by oath or affirmation before testifying. Any interested party may, at his or her own expense, record the proceedings.
[8.] 9. Vacancies on the board occasioned by removals, resignations or otherwise, shall be filled by the remaining members of the board. The appointee or appointees shall act until the next election at which a director or directors are elected to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.
[9.] 10. Individual board members shall not be eligible for employment by the board within twelve months of termination of service as a member of the board.
[10.] 11. No person shall be employed by the board who is related within the fourth degree by blood or by marriage to any member of the board.
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Speaker of the House
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President Pro Tem of the Senate
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Governor
