18-2718. Economic development fund; required; use; investment; termination of program; effect; continuation of program; election.

(1) Any city conducting an economic development program shall establish a separate economic development fund. All funds derived from local sources of revenue for the economic development program, any earnings from the investment of such funds including, but not limited to, interest earnings, loan payments, and any proceeds from the sale or rental by the city of assets purchased by the city under its economic development program shall be deposited into the economic development fund. Any proceeds from the issuance and sale of bonds pursuant to the Local Option Municipal Economic Development Act to provide funds to carry out the economic development program, except as provided in section 18-2732, shall be deposited into the economic development fund. Except as provided in this section, subsection (4) of section 18-2714, and subsection (7) of section 18-2722, no money in the economic development fund shall be deposited in the general fund of the city. The city shall not transfer or remove funds from the economic development fund other than for the purposes prescribed in the Local Option Municipal Economic Development Act, and the money in the economic development fund shall not be commingled with any other city funds.

(2) Any money in the economic development fund not currently required or committed for purposes of the economic development program shall be invested as provided for in section 77-2341.

(3) In the event that the city's economic development program is terminated as provided in subsection (4) of section 18-2714 or subsection (7) of section 18-2722, the balance of money in the economic development fund not otherwise committed by contract under the program shall be deposited in the general fund of the city. Any funds received by the city by reason of the economic development program after the termination of such program shall be transferred from the economic development fund to the general fund of the city as such funds are received. The economic development fund shall not be terminated until such time as all projects and contracts related to the program have been finally completed and all funds related to them fully accounted for, with no further city action required, and after the completion of a final audit pursuant to section 18-2721.

(4) When the economic development program is terminated, the governing body of the city shall by resolution certify the amount of money to be transferred from the economic development fund to the general fund of the city and the amount that is anticipated will be received by the city between such time and the final audit of the economic development fund. The sum of those two amounts shall be divided by the number of years in which funds for the economic development program were collected from local sources of revenue. The resulting figure shall constitute the amount to be applied against the budgeted expenditures of the city during each succeeding year until all funds from the economic development program have been expended. The installments shall be used to reduce the property tax levy of the city by that amount in each year in which they are expended.

(5) If, after five full budget years following initiation of the approved economic development program, less than fifty percent of the money collected from local sources of revenue is spent or committed by contract for the economic development program, the governing body of the city shall place the question of the continuation of the city's economic development program on the ballot at the next regular election.

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