357B.5 Dissolution of district.

1. Upon petition of a number of registered voters residing in a district at least equal to thirty-five percent of the property taxpayers in the district, the board of supervisors may dissolve a benefited fire district and dispose of any remaining property, the proceeds of which shall first be applied against any outstanding obligation of the district. Any remaining balance shall be applied as a tax credit for the property owners of the district. However, except as provided in subsection 2, if all or a part of a district is annexed, the board of supervisors may transfer the remaining property and balance to the city which annexed the territory. The board of supervisors shall continue to levy an annual tax during the time the district is being dissolved and after the dissolution of a district, not to exceed sixty and three-fourths cents per thousand dollars of assessed value of the taxable property of the district, until all outstanding obligations of the district are paid. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, the board of supervisors shall negotiate agreements necessary to provide continued fire protection to the benefited fire district area during the time the district is being dissolved and after dissolution, and shall continue to levy an annual tax to fund such agreements, until such time as the township trustees of the township where the benefited fire district is located begin to provide fire protection service as required by section 359.42.

2. If a benefited fire district is dissolved that has been providing fire protection by contract, direct levy, or combination of both, to a city within the district for at least twenty years and the city’s annual payments by contract or levy for the fire protection comprise seventy-five percent or more of the district’s annual budget, the board of supervisors, in lieu of the disposal of property as provided in subsection 1, shall transfer to the city all of the district’s real and personal property. The city shall assume all of the outstanding obligations of the district. If the district provides fire protection outside of the city’s boundaries, the city shall continue to provide fire protection to this area until it is assigned to another fire protection district by the board of supervisors. If the city continues the fire protection outside its boundaries, the city shall certify to the board of supervisors the cost of providing this service, which shall be at the same rate as contained in the budget for property within the city, but not exceeding sixty and three-fourths cents per thousand dollars of assessed value of all taxable property in the area. The board of supervisors shall levy the amount of tax certified as provided in section 357B.3. The tax shall be collected and allocated in the same manner as other property taxes and paid to the city.

[C58, 62, 66, §357A.14; C71, 73, 75, §357B.14; C77, 79, 81, §357B.5]

89 Acts, ch 255, §1; 91 Acts, ch 111, §2; 99 Acts, ch 154, §1, 3; 2004 Acts, ch 1146, §4, 6

Referred to in §357B.1