AMENDMENT 369 RATIFIED

Amendment of Amendment No. 239.

1. As used in this amendment, these terms have the meanings here given them: "Service district" means a district for which this amendment provides; "expenses" means the expenses of establishing a district and providing the services and facilities the district is authorized to provide; and "county governing body" means the governing body of Jefferson county.

2. The county governing body may provide for the formation of service districts in Jefferson county for any of the following purposes: to establish and maintain a system to fight or prevent fires and to furnish medical rescue services; to establish and maintain a system to collect and dispose of garbage and trash; and to provide park and recreational facilities; provided, however, that no territory lying within the limits of a municipal corporation at the time of the establishment of any such district shall be included within such district; and provided, further, that no such district shall be established unless the establishment thereof has been first approved by the qualified electors residing within the proposed district at an election held as provided for by laws heretofore or hereafter adopted by the legislature, or as provided for by ordinances hereafter adopted by the county governing body.

A district may be established for any one or more of the foregoing purposes. The county governing body shall provide by ordinance for submitting to the qualified electors within the proposed district the question of whether the district shall be created for one or more of such purposes.

3. The district expenses shall be paid for by the proceeds of service charges or property taxes for which paragraphs 4 and 5, below, provide or by a combination of such proceeds; provided, however, that any funds received from the federal or state government may be used to pay such expenses.

4. Subject to the conditions stated in paragraph 6, below, the governing body of a district may by resolution levy service charges to pay the expenses of the district.

Said service charges shall be levied upon and collected from the persons for whom and the property for which the services and facilities are provided or made available; and such charges shall be a personal obligation of the occupant of such property and shall also be a lien upon such property, enforceable by the sale thereof.

5. Subject to the conditions stated in paragraph 6, below, the county governing body may by ordinance levy a tax on all taxable property in any district in addition to any other tax authorized by law, to pay the expenses of the district.

The taxes levied under this paragraph 5 shall be subject to the laws of the state providing for the following: the time for the levy and the payment of such taxes; the place of the payment of such taxes; the interest and penalties payable on such taxes not paid when due; the lien for the taxes; and the remedies for collection of such taxes unpaid.

6. No service charge or tax provided for by this amendment shall become effective unless before the creation of the district involved such service charge or tax shall have been approved at an election in the territory proposed to be established as a district held at the time of the election on establishing the proposed district or unless after the establishment of the district the following shall have occurred:

(1) The governing body adopting the resolution or ordinance shall have published the same in a newspaper of general circulation in the district involved;

(2) Thirty (30) days shall have elapsed since the publication of such resolution or ordinance; and

(3) One of these two events, called Event A and Event B, shall have occurred: Event A: Thirty days following the said publication shall have passed without any petition for an election being filed under the ordinance paragraph 7, below, requires; Event B: At an election called under said ordinance the proposed service charge or tax shall have been approved.

7. The provisions of this paragraph 7 shall be subject to the conditions and limitations of paragraph 11, below. The county governing body shall adopt ordinances providing for elections to be held on the question of the establishment of districts in the unincorporated areas of the county and on the question of levying service charges or taxes to pay the expenses. The county governing body shall adopt an ordinance, or ordinances, governing elections on the question of the creation of proposed districts in the unincorporated areas of the county and on the question of whether a proposed service charge or tax shall be levied. Such ordinances shall provide for the following: the form of petition for such election; the number of qualified electors residing in the district or in the proposed district required to sign the petition to secure such election; the conduct of the election and the time allowed for filing such petition in the office of the probate judge of the county, which time shall not be less than 30 days following the publication of the resolution or ordinance as required by paragraph 6, above.

8. The provisions of this paragraph 8 shall be subject to the conditions and limitations of paragraph 11, below. The county governing body by ordinance may provide for the enlargement of a district by the addition of territory thereto, subject to the following conditions: (1) No territory lying within a municipal corporation at the time of such enlargement shall be added to a district; (2) subject to (3), next below, no territory shall be added unless the qualified electors thereof have approved the addition of such territory to the district; (3) the county governing body may provide a procedure whereby territory will be included in a district upon the written petition for its inclusion signed by at least seventy percent (70%) of the qualified electors residing within said territory.

9. The provisions of this paragraph 9 shall be subject to the conditions and limitations of paragraph 11, below. The county governing body shall enact ordinances providing for the administration of the affairs of the district by the county governing body, the governing body of the district, or by any agency of the county and empowering the body administering the affairs of the district to levy and collect service charges provided for in paragraph 4, above, and the county governing body to levy the taxes provided for in paragraph 5, above, subject to the restrictions and conditions imposed by this amendment and such additional restrictions and conditions as the county governing body, by ordinance, may impose.

10. The county governing body, by ordinance, may provide for the issuance of bonds for such districts with or without an election; provided, however, that all bonds issued hereunder shall be payable only out of the proceeds of the service charges and taxes authorized hereby, and no such bond shall be a general obligation of the county.

11. The legislature may, from time to time, adopt laws governing service districts, including laws repealing any ordinance of the county governing body inconsistent with any law enacted by the legislature prior to the adoption of this amendment. If there is any inconsistency between any law enacted by the legislature after adoption of this amendment and any ordinance adopted by the county governing body, the law shall prevail over such ordinance. In order for a law enacted subsequent to the adoption of this amendment to prevail over any ordinance in conflict with such law, repeal of such ordinance shall not be necessary, but such repeal of the conflicting ordinance shall be permissible.