HB2572 - 511R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 48-807, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE48-807. County fire district assistance tax; annual budget; override

A. The board of supervisors of a county shall levy, at the time of levying other property taxes, a county fire district assistance tax on the taxable property in the county of not more than ten cents per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation. The tax levy provided for in this subsection shall be a levy of secondary property taxes and shall not be subject to title 42, chapter 17, article 2. The county treasurer shall pay to each fire district, including a fire district formed pursuant to section 48‑851, in the county from the proceeds of the tax an amount equal to twenty per cent of the property tax levy adopted by the district for the fiscal year in which the tax will be levied, except that:

1. The amount of assistance from the county to a fire district shall be reduced as follows:

(a) Through the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2012, by the dollar amount that the fire district receives from the fire district assistance tax that exceeds three hundred thousand dollars from and after June 30 of each fiscal year.

(b) Beginning with the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2012, by the dollar amount that the fire district receives from the fire district assistance tax that exceeds four hundred thousand dollars from and after June 30 of each fiscal year, without regard to whether the district is located in more than one county.

(c) Except as provided in paragraph 2 of this subsection, if the total amount to be paid to all districts in the county under this paragraph exceeds the amount to be raised by the levy of ten cents per one hundred dollars assessed valuation, then the county treasurer shall pay an amount less than twenty per cent of the property tax levy of each district. The amount to be paid by the county treasurer to each district shall be determined by multiplying the proceeds of the county fire district assistance tax against the proportion that twenty per cent of the property tax levy of each district bears to the total of twenty per cent of the property tax levies of all fire districts in the county.

2. For fiscal years beginning from and after July 1, 1992, the amount of assistance from the county to a fire district shall not be less than the assistance provided from and after June 30, 1991 through June 30, 1992, if, for the fiscal year in which the tax will be levied, the district levies a tax, in addition to any tax levied under section 48‑806, of three dollars per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation and the assessed valuation is at least ninety per cent of the assessed valuation for the 1991 tax year. This paragraph does not apply to fire districts subject to paragraph 1, subdivision (a) or (b) of this subsection.

B. For the purpose of subsection A of this section, the property tax levy of the fire district shall include in lieu contributions pursuant to chapter 1, article 8 of this title but shall not include property tax levies to be applied to the payment of principal and interest on bonds issued pursuant to section 48‑806.

C. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section and through the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2012, if two or more fire districts merge to form a consolidated district, the last amount received by each fire district from the fire district assistance tax prior to the merger shall be combined, and if the combined amount exceeds three hundred thousand dollars, the consolidated district may continue to receive the sum of the average of the fire district assistance tax received by each fire district in the three previous years prior to the merger from the fire district assistance tax. Beginning with the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2012, a consolidated district shall not receive more than four hundred thousand dollars in fire district assistance tax monies, without regard to whether the consolidated district is located in more than one county.

D. Through the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2012, if two or more fire districts merge to form a consolidated district and the total of the amounts received by each fire district from the fire district assistance tax is less than three hundred thousand dollars, the consolidated district may continue to receive monies until its receipts total three hundred thousand dollars, as prescribed in subsection A of this section, without regard to whether the consolidated district is located in more than one county. Beginning with the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2012, if two or more fire districts merge to form a consolidated district and the total of the amounts received by each fire district from the fire district assistance tax is less than four hundred thousand dollars, the consolidated district may continue to receive monies until its receipts total four hundred thousand dollars, as prescribed in subsection A of this section, without regard to whether the consolidated district is located in more than one county.

E. Not more than ten days after the perfection of the organization of a fire district, and thereafter not later than August 1 of each year, the chief and the secretary‑treasurer of the district, or if there is a district board, the chairman of the board, shall submit to the board of supervisors an estimate, certified by items, of the amount of money required for the equipment and maintenance of the district for the ensuing year.

F. The board, based on the budget submitted by the district, shall levy, in addition to any tax levied as provided in section 48‑806, a tax not to exceed three dollars twenty-five cents per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation, or the amount of the levy in the preceding tax year multiplied by 1.08, whichever levy is less, and minus any amounts required to reduce the levy pursuant to subsection I J of this section, against all property situated within the district boundaries and appearing on the last assessment roll. The levy shall be made and the taxes collected in the manner, at the time and by the officers provided by law for the collection of general county taxes.

G. Beginning in fiscal year 2013‑2014, a complete copy of the adopted budget shall be posted in a prominent location on the district's official website, or on a website of an association of fire districts for districts that do not have official websites, within seven business days after final adoption and shall be retained on the website for at least sixty months.

H. The qualified electors of the district, voting in an election as prescribed by subsection I of this section, may authorize the board to levy a tax exceeding the limits prescribed by subsection F of this section under one, but not both, of the following options:

1. The electors may authorize a permanent override allowing annual levies without reference to the levy in the preceding tax year, but remaining subject to the tax rate limit of three dollars twenty-five cents per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation. An election for the purposes of this paragraph must be held at a regularly scheduled general election held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November as prescribed by section 16‑204, subsection B, paragraph 1, subdivision (d).

2. If the net assessed valuation of all property in the district declines by a combined total of twenty per cent or more over two consecutive valuation years, the electors voting at the next regularly scheduled general election held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November as prescribed by section 16‑204, subsection B, paragraph 1, subdivision (d) may authorize an override for five consecutive tax years allowing annual levies that are exempt from the tax rate limit of three dollars twenty-five cents, but subject to an annual levy limit of the amount of the levy in the preceding tax year multiplied by 1.05. After the fifth tax year, the district is again subject to the limits prescribed by subsection F of this section, computed by multiplying the levy beginning in the year preceding the override by 1.08 for each year through the current tax year.

I. The call for an override election held for the purposes of subsection H of this section must state:

1. The purpose for requesting additional secondary property tax revenue for the district.

2. If the voters approve the levy:

(a) The maximum dollar amount of secondary property tax that may be collected in the first year compared to the existing maximum secondary property tax levy prescribed in subsection F of this section.

(b) The estimated secondary property tax rate to fund the proposed levy under subdivision (a) in the first tax year compared to the secondary property tax rate levied in the current year.

J. If the district annexes additional territory, the limit under subsection F of this section shall be adjusted by applying the district's tax rate to the assessed valuation of the annexed property in the preceding tax year. If districts are merged or consolidated under this chapter, the limitation under this subsection in the first year after the districts are merged or consolidated is the total of the levies of the merged or consolidated districts in the preceding tax year multiplied by 1.08 or the amount of the levies allowed by the maximum rate prescribed by subsection F of this section, whichever is less.

K. The district shall maintain any property tax revenues collected in excess of the sum of the amounts of taxes collectible pursuant to section 42‑17054 and the allowable levy determined under subsection F of this section in a separate fund and used to reduce the property tax levy in the following tax year.

L. The levy limit under this section is considered to be increased each year to the maximum limit permissible under subsection F of this section regardless of whether the district actually levies taxes up to the maximum permissible amount in that year.

M. The county treasurer shall keep the money received from taxes levied pursuant to subsection F of this section in a separate fund known as the "fire district general fund" of the district for which collected. Any surplus remaining in the fire district general fund at the end of the fiscal year shall be credited to the fire district general fund of the district for which it was collected for the succeeding fiscal year and after subtraction of accounts payable and encumbrances, shall be used to reduce the property tax levy in the following tax year. NOTWITHSTANDING subsection N of this section, the county TREASURER shall maintain all district revenues and fund accounts with the county servicing bank.

N. A fire district may maintain separate accounts with a financial institution that is authorized to do business in this state for the purpose of operating a payroll account or for holding contributions, grants, special ambulance revenues or trust monies as necessary to fulfill the district's fiduciary responsibilities.

O. A fire district, through the county treasurer, shall establish the relevant governmental funds necessary for the proper management and fiscal accountability of district monies from property taxes, grants, contributions and donations, as defined by the government accounting standards board. Unless the monies received are legally restricted by contract, agreement or law, those monies may be transferred between fund accounts according to the original or amended budget of the fire district.

P. A fire district shall reconcile all fund accounts for each calendar month of the fiscal year within thirty days after the end of that calendar month. All fund accounts shall be reconciled in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The fire district board shall review the reconciled fund accounts monthly.

Q. A fire district shall produce monthly financial reports in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles to include cash flow projections for each fiscal year. Cash flow projections shall be updated monthly with the actual revenues and expenditures from the preceding month. The fire district board shall review the updated cash flow projections each month. Any financial report or cash flow projection that would indicate that the district is likely to violate section 48-805, subsection d or that would indicate an adverse impact on the ongoing operations or liquidity of the district shall be reported to the county treasurer and the county board of supervisors within ten days after the discovery.

P. R. Notwithstanding section 11‑605, a fire district may register warrants only if separate accounts are maintained by the county treasurer for each governmental fund of a fire district. Warrants may only be registered on the maintenance and operation account, the unrestricted capital outlay account and the special revenue account, and only if the total cash balance of all three accounts is insufficient to pay the warrants and after any revolving line of credit has been expended as prescribed in section 11‑635.

Q. S. When a fire district has adopted a budget and the board of supervisors has levied a fire district tax as provided in subsection F of this section and the district has insufficient money in its general fund with the county treasurer to operate the district, the elected chief and the secretary‑treasurer, or if there is a district board, the chairman of the board, on or after August 1 of each year, may draw warrants for the purposes prescribed in section 48‑805 on the county treasurer, payable on November 1 of that year or on April 1 of the succeeding year. The aggregate amounts of the warrants may not exceed ninety per cent of the taxes levied by the county for the district's current fiscal year. If the treasurer cannot pay a warrant for lack of funds in the fire district general fund, the warrant shall be endorsed, be registered, bear interest and be redeemed as provided by law for county warrants, except that the warrants are payable only from the fire district general fund. END_STATUTE