Iowa Code § 386.3 — IA Code / Title IX / Chapter 386 / Section 386.3
Establishment of district.
Status: in_force

(1) Districts may be created by action of the council in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. A district shall:

(1) (a) Be comprised of contiguous property wholly within the boundaries of the city. A self-supported municipal improvement district shall be comprised only of property in districts which are zoned for commercial or industrial uses and properties within a duly designated historic district.

(1) (b) Be given a descriptive name containing the words “self-supported municipal improvement district”.

(1) (c) Be comprised of property related in some manner, including but not limited to present or potential use, physical location, condition, relationship to an area, or relationship to present or potential commercial or other activity in an area, so as to be benefited in any manner, including but not limited to a benefit from present or potential use or enjoyment of the property, by the condition, development or maintenance of the district or of any improvement or self-liquidating improvement of the district, or be comprised of property the owners of which have a present or potential benefit from the condition, development or maintenance of the district or of any improvement or self-liquidating improvement of the district.

(2) The council shall initiate proceedings for establishing a district upon the filing with its clerk of a petition containing:

(2) (a) The signatures of at least twenty-five percent of all owners of property within the proposed district. These signatures must together represent ownership of property with an assessed value of twenty-five percent or more of the assessed value of all of the property in the proposed district.

(2) (b) A description of the boundaries of the proposed district or a consolidated description of the property within the proposed district.

(2) (c) The name of the proposed district.

(2) (d) A statement of the maximum rate of tax that may be imposed upon property within the district. The maximum rate of tax may be stated in terms of separate maximum rates for the debt service tax, the capital improvement fund tax, and the operation tax, or in terms of a maximum combined rate for all three.

(2) (e) The purpose of the establishment of the district, which may be stated generally, or in terms of the relationship of the property within the district or the interests of the owners of property within the district, or in terms of the improvements or self-liquidating improvements proposed to be developed for the purposes of the district, either specific improvements, self-liquidating improvements, or general categories of improvements, or any combination of the foregoing.

(2) (f) A statement that taxes levied for the self-supported improvement district operation fund shall be used for the purpose of paying maintenance expenses of improvements or self-liquidating improvements for a specified length of time, along with any options to renew, if the taxes are to be used for this maintenance purpose.

(3) (a) The council shall notify the city planning commission upon the receipt of a petition. It shall be the duty of the city planning commission to make recommendations to the council in regard to the proposed district. The city planning commission shall, with due diligence, prepare an evaluative report for the council on the merit and feasibility of the project. The council shall not hold its public hearings or take further action on the establishment of the district until it has received the report of the city planning commission. In addition to its report, the commission may, from time to time, recommend to the council amendments and changes relating to the project.

(3) (b) If no city planning commission exists, the council shall notify the metropolitan or regional planning commission upon receipt of a petition, and such commission shall have the same duties as the city planning commission set forth in this subsection. If no planning commission exists, the council shall notify the zoning commission upon receipt of a petition, and such commission shall have the same duties as the city planning commission set forth in this subsection. If no planning or zoning commission exists, the council shall call a hearing on the establishment of a district upon receipt of a petition.

(4) Upon the receipt of the commission’s final report the council shall set a time and place for a meeting at which the council proposes to take action for the establishment of the district, and shall publish notice of the meeting as provided in section 362.3, and the clerk shall send a copy of the notice by certified mail not less than fifteen days before the meeting to each owner of property within the proposed district at the owner’s address as shown by the records of the county auditor. If a property is shown to be in the name of more than one owner at the same mailing address, a single notice may be mailed addressed to all owners at that address. Failure to receive a mailed notice is not grounds for objection to the council’s taking any action authorized in this chapter.

(5) In addition to the time and place of the meeting for hearing on the petition, the notice must state:

(5) (a) That a petition has been filed with the council asking that a district be established.

(5) (b) The name of the district.

(5) (c) The purpose of the district.

(5) (d) The property proposed to be included in the district.

(5) (e) The maximum rate of tax which may be imposed upon the property in the district.

(6) At the time and place set in the notice the council shall hear all owners of property in the proposed district or residents of the city desiring to express their views. The council must wait at least thirty days after the public hearing has been held before it may adopt an ordinance establishing a district which must be comprised of all the property which the council finds has the relationship or whose owners have the interest described in subsection 1, paragraph “c”. Property included in the proposed district need not be included in the established district. However, no property may be included in the district that was not included in the proposed district until the council has held another hearing after it has published and mailed the same notice as required in subsections 4 and 5 of this section on the original petition to the owners of the additional property, or has caused a notice of the inclusion of the property to be personally served upon each owner of the additional property, or has received a written waiver of notice from each owner of the additional property.

(7) Adoption of the ordinance establishing a district requires the affirmative vote of three-fourths of all of the members of the council, or in cities having but three members of the council, the affirmative vote of two members. However if a remonstrance has been filed with the clerk signed by at least twenty-five percent of all owners of property within the proposed district representing ownership of property with an assessed value of twenty-five percent or more of the assessed value of all of the property in the proposed district, the adoption of the ordinance requires a unanimous vote of the council.

(8) The clerk shall cause a copy of the ordinance to be filed in the office of the county recorder of each county in which any property within the district is located.

(9) At any time prior to adoption of an ordinance establishing a district, the entire matter of establishing such district shall be withdrawn from council consideration if a petition objecting to establishing such district is filed with its clerk containing the signatures of at least forty percent of all owners of property within the proposed district or signatures which together represent ownership of property with an assessed value of forty percent or more of the assessed value of all property within the proposed district.

(10) The adoption of an ordinance establishing a district is a legislative determination that the property within the district has the relationship or its owners have the interest required under subsection 1, paragraph “c” and includes all of the property within the area which has that relationship or the owners of which have that interest in the district.

(11) Any resident or property owner of the city may appeal the action and the decisions of the council, including the creation of the district and the levying of the proposed taxes for the district, to the district court of the county in which any part of the district is located, within thirty days after the date upon which the ordinance creating the district becomes effective, but the action and decision of the council are final and conclusive unless the court finds that the council exceeded its authority. No action may be brought questioning the regularity of the proceedings pertaining to the establishment of a district or the validity of the district, or the propriety of the inclusion or exclusion of any property within or from the district, or the ability of the city to levy taxes in accordance with the ordinance establishing the district, after thirty days from the date on which the ordinance creating the district becomes effective.

(12) The procedural steps for the petitioning and creation of the district may be combined with the procedural steps for the authorization of any improvement or self-liquidating improvement, or the procedural steps for the authorization of any tax, or any combination thereof.

(13) The rate of debt service tax referred to in the petition and the ordinance creating the district shall only restrict the amount of bonds which may be issued, and shall not limit the ability of the city to levy as necessary in subsequent years to pay interest and amortize the principal of that amount of bonds.

(14) The ordinance creating the district may provide for the division of all of the property within the district into two or more zones based upon a reasonable difference in the relationship of the property or the interest of its owners, whether the difference is qualitative or quantitative. The ordinance creating the district and establishing the different zones may establish a different maximum rate of tax for each zone, or may provide that the rate of tax for a zone shall be a certain set percentage of the tax levied in the zone which is subject to the highest rate of tax.

[C77, 79, 81, §386.3]85 Acts, ch 113, §1; 88 Acts, ch 1246, §7; 2010 Acts, ch 1061, §180