Opinion ID: 1834498
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Composition and Function

Text: Article VII of the proposed charter provides for the creation of a Mayors' Commission. The Mayors' Commission's primary purpose is to study, evaluate, and recommend the transfer of municipal services to the control of the commonwealth. The Mayors' Commission would be composed of the commonwealth mayor, the mayor of each commonwealth member, and the mayor of other cities having fifty percent or more of their population or area within the commonwealth. Mayors of non-commonwealth member cities would have no voting power on the Mayors' Commission. Each mayor of a city that joins as a commonwealth member would have one vote on the Mayors' Commission. According to the 1990 decennial census the population of Polk County is 327,140 persons. The populations of the cities within Polk County that could be represented on the Mayors' Commission vary widely. These cities' populations are as follows: Alleman 340 Altoona 7,191 Ankeny 18,482 Bondurant 1,584 Clive 7,462 Des Moines 193,187 Elkhart 388 Grimes 2,653 Johnston 4,702 Mitchellville 1,670 Pleasant Hill 3,671 Polk City 1,908 Runnells 306 Sheldahl 315 Urbandale 23,500 West Des Moines 31,702 Windsor Heights 5,190 Unincorporated Polk County 23,084  More than fifty percent of Sheldahl's area lies outside Polk County. The functions of the Mayors' Commission are listed in Article VII, sections 3-10 of the proposed charter. The Commission would have the powers and duties to: 1. Evaluate municipal services of the commonwealth government and propose establishment of service areas and changes in municipal services of the commonwealth government; 2. Identify the service area to be transferred, including the description of the municipal service, geographical area to receive the service, and the service level to be provided; 3. Estimate the cost and property tax levy for each service area; 4. Identify the city employees needed to provide the service by the commonwealth government; 5. Identify real and personal property to be transferred from member cities to the commonwealth; 6. Evaluate the assumption, if any, of current indebtedness for the assets to be transferred to the commonwealth and its allocations to each member city; 7. Compute the first year property tax levy that the commonwealth government will levy for a shared service; 8. Call upon commonwealth boards, commissions, agencies, and special purpose districts to provide studies, statistics, and information pertaining to municipal service delivery; 9. Receive grants, information, and aid from private or nonprofit organizations for studies and evaluations concerning municipal service by the commonwealth government. The Mayors' Commission (or the Commonwealth Council, city council of a commonwealth member, or the voters by petition) may, by resolution, identify municipal services for study and possible transfer to the commonwealth. If the Mayors' Commission then finds the transfer proposal meets the goals of the commonwealth, it can initiate a study of the transfer. After the study is completed, the Mayors' Commission may recommend to the Commonwealth Council the transfer of a municipal service. This is done by issuing a report on the study, accompanied by a resolution of transfer outlining key elements of the proposed transfer. A resolution of transfer cannot be forwarded to the Commonwealth Council except by majority vote of the Mayors' Commission. Once forwarded to the Commonwealth Council, a resolution of transfer may either be approved, rejected, or amended by that body. If the resolution is approved by the Council, the transfer is implemented. If the resolution is amended, it is returned to the Mayors' Commission for a vote. In the event that a resolution of transfer is rejected by the commonwealth or an amended resolution of transfer is rejected by the Mayors' Commission, a joint committee is formed to attempt a resolution. The joint committee would be composed of two Commonwealth Council members appointed by the mayor and two Mayors' Commission members elected by its voting members. If the committee is able, within two months of its organization, to achieve a resolution, the resolution goes back through the entire transfer approval process. If the joint committee resolution fails to receive the approval of the Mayors' Commission or the Commonwealth Council, the proposed transfer resolution dies.