331.447 Taxes to pay bonds.

1. Taxes for the payment of general obligation bonds shall be levied in accordance with chapter 76, and the bonds are payable from the levy of unlimited ad valorem taxes on all the taxable property within the county through its debt service fund required by section 331.430 except that:

a. The amount estimated and certified to apply on principal and interest for any one year shall not exceed the maximum rate of tax, if any, provided by this subchapter for the purpose for which the bonds were issued. If general obligation bonds are issued for different categories, as provided in section 331.445, the maximum rate of levies, if any, for each purpose shall apply separately to that portion of the bond issue for that category and the resolution authorizing the bond issue shall clearly set forth the annual debt service requirements with respect to each purpose in sufficient detail to indicate compliance with the rate of tax levy, if any.

b. The amount estimated and certified to apply on principal and interest for any one year may only exceed the statutory rate of levy limit, if any, by the amount that the registered voters of the county have approved at a special election, which may be held at the same time as the general election and may be included in the proposition authorizing the issuance of bonds, if an election on the proposition is necessary, or may be submitted as a separate proposition at the same election or at a different election. Notice of the election shall be given as specified in section 331.305.

(1) If the proposition includes issuing bonds and increasing the levy limit, it shall be in substantially the following form:

Shall the county of ...................., state of Iowa, be authorized to ........................................ (here state purpose of project) and issue its general obligation bonds in an amount not exceeding the amount of $................ for that purpose, and be authorized to levy annually a tax not exceeding ............ dollars and ............ cents per thousand dollars of the assessed value of the taxable property within the county to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds?

(2) If the proposition includes only increasing the levy limit it shall be in substantially the following form:

Shall the county of ...................., state of Iowa, be authorized to levy annually a tax not exceeding ............ dollars and ............ cents per thousand dollars of the assessed value of the taxable property within the county to pay principal and interest on the bonded indebtedness of the county for the purpose of ........................................?

2. A statutory or voted tax levy limitation does not limit the source of payment of bonds and interest, but only restricts the amount of bonds which may be issued.

3. For the sole purpose of computing the amount of bonds which may be issued as the result of the application of a statutory or voted tax levy limitation, all interest on the bonds in excess of that accruing in the first twelve months may be excluded from the first annual levy of taxes, so that the need for including more than one year’s interest on the first annual levy of taxes to pay the bonds and interest does not operate to further restrict the amount of bonds which may be issued, and in certifying the annual levies, the first annual levy of taxes shall be sufficient to pay all principal of and interest on the bonds becoming due prior to the next succeeding annual levy and the full amount of the annual levy shall be entered for collection as provided in chapter 76.

[C66, §309.73; C71, 73, §309.73, 346A.3; C75, 77, 79, 81, §309.73, 330.16, 346A.3; S81, §331.447; 81 Acts, ch 117, §446; 82 Acts, ch 1104, §48]

83 Acts, ch 123, §140, 209; 95 Acts, ch 67, §53; 2009 Acts, ch 2, §2 – 4; 2018 Acts, ch 1041, §127

Referred to in §37.6, 37.27, 232.142, 359.45

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