2014 Indiana Code TITLE 36. LOCAL GOVERNMENT ARTICLE 10. RECREATION, CULTURE, AND COMMUNITY FACILITIES CHAPTER 5. MISCELLANEOUS MUNICIPAL PARK PROVISIONS
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IC 36-10-5
Chapter 5. Miscellaneous Municipal Park Provisions
IC 36-10-5-1
Application of chapter
Sec. 1. This chapter applies to the municipalities indicated in each
section.
As added by Acts 1981, P.L.309, SEC.112.
IC 36-10-5-2
Designation and powers and duties of park authority in certain
municipalities; powers of municipality; tax levy; borrowing and
issuance of bonds; deposit of funds
Sec. 2. (a) This section applies to:
(1) third class cities and towns, unless otherwise provided by
law; and
(2) each second class city that:
(A) adopted second class city status by ordinance under
IC 36-4-1-1.1, as a result of the 2010 federal decennial
census; and
(B) has adopted all or part of this section by ordinance or
resolution.
(b) As used in this section, "park authority" means:
(1) the municipal legislative body; or
(2) any of the following designated by the legislative body as
the park authority:
(A) The governing body of the school corporation.
(B) A recreation board.
(C) The municipal works board.
(D) Any other appropriate board or commission.
(c) If a recreation board is established under subsection (b)(2)(B),
it must consist of five (5) resident freeholders appointed by the city
executive or the town legislative body. At least one (1) member must
be a member of the governing body of the school corporation and no
members may serve on the municipal legislative body. All members
must be qualified by an interest in and knowledge of the social and
educational value of recreation. The members serve without
compensation. The members shall be appointed for four (4) year
terms from January 1 of the year of their appointment or until their
successors are appointed. The initial terms of board members,
however, are as follows:
(1) One (1) for a term of one (1) year.
(2) One (1) for a term of two (2) years.
(3) One (1) for a term of three (3) years.
(4) Two (2) for terms of four (4) years.
A vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority for the
remainder of the unexpired term.
(d) The park authority shall manage all public parks, including
approaches, that belong to the municipality.
(e) If a municipality decides, by ordinance, to establish, lay out,
or improve a public park or grounds, or to make an extension of a
park or grounds, it may locate the park or grounds, including
appurtenances, and it may lay out and open the public ways necessary
for the improvement. If it is necessary to acquire land, water rights,
or easements, or a pool, lake, or natural stream of water, the park
authority may condemn that property and take possession of it if it is
located within five (5) miles of the municipality. Before the park
authority condemns the property, it shall assess the damages to the
owners of the property at a meeting of the authority. Additional
condemnation proceedings are the same as those provided for the
taking of property to open streets.
(f) The park authority may adopt rules concerning the laying out,
improvement, preservation, ornamentation, and management of
parks. The park authority shall allow monuments or buildings for
libraries, works of art, or historical collections to be erected in a park,
as long as they are under the control of the persons in charge of the
park and no inclosure separates them from the rest of the park.
(g) The legislative body of the municipality may also levy a tax on
all taxable property in the municipality to pay for park property and
for its improvement. The legislative body may also borrow money
and issue the bonds of the municipality at any rate of interest payable
annually or semiannually and may sell them for at least par value.
The money derived from the sale of bonds may be used only for the
purchase or improvement of parks. The legislative body shall
annually levy a tax sufficient to pay the interest on the debt on all
taxable property in the municipality to create a sinking fund for the
liquidation of the principal of the debt.
(h) If the park authority of a city decides to lease any buildings or
grounds belonging to the city and located in a public park when they
are not required for public use, the proceeds shall be deposited with
the city fiscal officer to the credit of park funds and devoted to the
improvement of public parks.
(i) Any nonreverting fund that was created under IC 19-7-6
(before its repeal on September 1, 1981) continues until abolished by
ordinance of the municipal legislative body. The legislative body may
include in the park authority's annual budget an item and an
appropriation for the specific purposes of a nonreverting capital fund.
Money put in the fund may not be withdrawn except for the purposes
for which the fund was created, unless the legislative body repeals the
ordinance creating the fund. The repeal may not be made under
suspension of the rules. Money procured from fees shall be deposited
at least once each month with the municipal fiscal officer. The fiscal
officer shall deposit the money either in a special nonreverting
operating fund or in the nonreverting capital fund as directed by the
park authority. The legislative body may provide by ordinance that
expenditures may be made from the special nonreverting operating
fund without appropriation. Money from fees procured from golf
courses, swimming pools, skating rinks, or other similar facilities
requiring major expenditures for management and maintenance may
not be deposited in this fund. Money from either fund shall be
disbursed only on approved claims that are allowed and signed in the
same manner as other claims of the municipality are allowed and
signed.
As added by Acts 1981, P.L.309, SEC.112. Amended by Acts 1981,
P.L.320, SEC.19; P.L.3-1990, SEC.142; P.L.119-2012, SEC.238.
IC 36-10-5-3
Municipalities except consolidated cities; recreational facilities and
programs; issuance of bonds or appropriations; revenue bonds
Sec. 3. (a) This section applies to all municipalities except
consolidated cities.
(b) If a municipality decides to acquire, construct, develop,
improve, and operate recreational facilities and programs for park
purposes, it may issue the bonds of the municipality to pay the cost
of acquisition, development, and improvement, subject to statutes
concerning the issuance of bonds and the making of appropriations
by municipalities.
(c) As an alternative method of financing the cost of acquisition,
development, and improvement, the municipality may issue revenue
bonds. The revenue bonds are not obligations of the municipality
within the meaning of constitutional limitations, but are payable
solely from the income and revenues of the recreational facilities and
programs for park purposes for which they are issued. If the proceeds
of the bonds are used to acquire land, the payment of the bonds may
be secured by a pledge of the land. Statutes concerning the issuance
of revenue bonds by municipalities to construct, acquire, extend, or
improve waterworks apply, as far as applicable, to revenue bonds
issued under this section regarding the authorization, issuance, sale,
character, and immunities of the bonds and the rights, privileges, and
powers of the bondholders. However, neither a petition nor an
election is required in these proceedings. If statutes authorizing the
issuance of waterworks revenue bonds contain different provisions
regarding procedure or the rights and remedies of bondholders, the
ordinance authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds under this
section must set out the particular procedure that the municipal
legislative body has adopted and the rights and remedies given to the
bondholders.
As added by Acts 1981, P.L.309, SEC.112. Amended by
P.L.157-1991, SEC.6.
IC 36-10-5-4
Municipalities having populations less than 20,000; sale of
parkland and minerals and mineral rights; disposition of sale
proceeds; transfer of sale proceeds to school corporation; notice;
hearing
Sec. 4. (a) This section applies to municipalities having a
population of less than twenty thousand (20,000).
(b) If the legislative body of a municipality decides to sell the
parkland, a part of it, the minerals, mineral rights, or royalties for
minerals under the parkland, or part of them, the legislative body may
do so upon passing an ordinance for that purpose providing for the
manner and terms of the sale. The legislative body may plat the land
by laying it off into lots and public ways, and then selling the lots,
after passing an ordinance to that effect or including it in the original
ordinance. However, the land may not be sold until it is appraised as
required in cities for the conveyance of property. If there is a board
of park commissioners in a city, the legislative body shall proceed
only upon a resolution of the board filed with the legislative body.
(c) The proceeds derived from the sale of parkland or from
minerals, mineral rights, or royalties for minerals under parkland
shall be expended for:
(1) the improvement of the remaining parkland of the
municipality;
(2) the purchase of other land for park purposes;
(3) the purchase, improvement, equipment, or maintenance of
playgrounds, swimming pools, comfort stations, or recreation
stations in the municipality; or
(4) a combination of these purposes.
In addition, money may be used for these purposes if it is derived in
part from another source or under another statute.
(d) The legislative body of the municipality may transfer the
proceeds or a part of them derived from the sale of parkland or
minerals, mineral rights, or royalties for minerals under parkland to
the school corporation of the municipality. The proceeds shall be
used by the school corporation for providing, equipping, and
maintaining playgrounds, swimming pools, comfort stations, or
recreation stations, whether they are on school grounds, used in
connection with school grounds or school buildings, or on separate
grounds. Before proceeds may be transferred to the school
corporation for any of these purposes, the legislative body must pass
an ordinance providing for the transfer of the proceeds and for what
purposes they may be used.
(e) Before final passage of the ordinance for the platting or sale of
land by a town, notice of a hearing on the ordinance shall be given in
accordance with IC 5-3-1. At the hearing any citizen of the town may
appear and present objections to the ordinance and the sale of the
land. If a remonstrance signed by twenty-five percent (25%) of the
legal voters in the town is filed in the office of the town clerk within
the time limits prescribed in the ordinance, the ordinance may not be
passed or the land sold.
As added by Acts 1981, P.L.309, SEC.112. Amended by Acts 1981,
P.L.45, SEC.101.
IC 36-10-5-5
Municipal boards in certain municipalities
Sec. 5. (a) This section applies to a municipality that:
(1) has a population of more than twenty-five thousand
(25,000); and
(2) is located in a county having a population of more than two
hundred seventy thousand (270,000) but less than three hundred
thousand (300,000).
(b) A municipal board consists of four (4) members appointed by
the executive of the municipality. A member shall be appointed on
the basis of the member's interest in and knowledge of parks and
recreation. The members may include the executive of the
municipality and one (1) or more members of the municipal fiscal
body. The ordinance creating a municipal board governed by this
section may provide for one (1) or two (2) ex officio members.
As added by P.L.157-1991, SEC.7. Amended by P.L.12-1992,
SEC.193; P.L.170-2002, SEC.174; P.L.119-2012, SEC.239.
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