In order to activate a regional transportation authority the following steps must be taken:

(1) A plan of service must be prepared. The plan of service must be consistent with any locally adopted transportation plan for the area to be served and must include but not be limited to:

(a) The area to be served.

(b) The procedures to be used to serve the area.

(c) The estimated capital and operating costs by year for the first five years of operation, and the mechanism to be used to raise the local funds necessary to support the operation.

(d) The source and amount of funds expected to be available to finance the first year's capital and operating costs.

(2) Upon adoption of the plan of service, set forth in (1) above, by a majority of the governing bodies of general purpose local governments within the service area, an agreement to create an authority in conformity with the terms of this chapter may be executed within the proposed service area of the authority. The area to be served by the proposed authority must contain at least fifty thousand population.

(3) Upon the execution of the agreement by the governing bodies of the municipalities and the counties which include at least ninety percent of the population of the proposed service area within their jurisdictions, and only if the agreement provides for imposition of a new source of revenue such as a new tax, the question of creating such an authority under the terms of the executed agreement must be submitted for ratification to the qualified electors within the proposed service area at a general election or at a special election called for that purpose as set forth in the agreement. If an existing source or sources of revenue are utilized to fund the authority, an election is not required. If an election is required, the agreement shall become operational upon the approval of the majority of the voters within the service area voting on the question and the authority must be created not less than sixty days after the results of the election are certified. If an election is not required, the agreement becomes operational upon the execution of the agreement by the governing bodies of the municipalities and counties which include at least ninety percent of the population of the proposed service area, and the authority must be created not less than sixty days after the agreement is executed.

(4) If an election is required, the question to be placed before the electorate must state the service area of the proposed authority (municipalities and counties involved) and the proposed method of financing, including the level of tax to be initially imposed, and membership on the board.

(5) Dissolution of the authority created pursuant to this chapter must be in the same manner as that for creation of the authority as set forth in this chapter. All resources of the authority including, but not limited to, real and personal property, structures, improvements, buildings, equipment, plants, rolling stock, vehicle improvements, vehicle parking, or other facilities and rights-of-way must be disposed of and the proceeds distributed among the authority's government members proportionate to their financial contribution.

(6) The adopted agreement and referendum may be revised in whole or in part through repeating the process as stated in this section.

(7) The Plan of Service may be updated as required to remain consistent with locally adopted transportation plans.

(8) For fiscal years after creation of a regional transportation authority, the governing bodies of the municipalities and counties within the service area of the authority publicly must make available information regarding the portion of their budgets which is devoted to the financial support of the authority and the estimated portion of any revenue source which would be utilized to support the authority.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 59-123; 1973 (58) 726; 1985 Act No. 169, Section 2, eff July 1, 1985; 1988 Act No. 625, Section 3, eff June 7, 1988; 1992 Act No. 449, Part V, Sections 9 and 10, eff July 1, 1992; 1997 Act No. 43, Sections 1 to 3, eff May 21, 1997.