Senate Study Bill 1181 - Introduced SENATE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON WEBSTER) A BILL FOR An Act prohibiting franchise fees imposed by cities and 1 counties. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 2818XC (3) 91 jm/md
S.F. _____ Section 1. Section 331.301, Code 2025, is amended by adding 1 the following new subsection: 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 26. Beginning on July 1, 2025, a county 3 shall not assess or collect a franchise fee. 4 Sec. 2. Section 364.2, subsection 4, paragraph f, 5 subparagraph (1), subparagraph division (a), Code 2025, is 6 amended to read as follows: 7 (a) A franchise fee assessed by a city may be based upon 8 a percentage of gross revenues generated from sales of the 9 franchisee within the city not to exceed five percent except 10 as provided in subparagraph division (b), without regard to 11 the citys cost of inspecting, supervising, and otherwise 12 regulating the franchise. Beginning on July 1, 2025, a city 13 shall not assess a franchise fee related to any franchise 14 granted by the city. 15 Sec. 3. Section 480A.6, Code 2025, is amended to read as 16 follows: 17 480A.6 Franchise ordinance not superseded. 18 This chapter does not modify or supersede the rights and 19 obligations of a local government and the public utility 20 established by the terms of any existing or future franchise 21 granted, approved, and accepted pursuant to section 364.2, 22 subsection 4 . A For fiscal years beginning before July 1, 23 2025, a city which collects a city franchise fee from an entity 24 pursuant to section 364.2, subsection 4 , under an existing or 25 future franchise, shall not also collect a fee from that entity 26 under section 480A.3 . 27 EXPLANATION 28 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 29 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 30 Currently, a city may grant a franchise to erect and maintain 31 essential city services described in Code section 364.2(4)(a), 32 and may impose a franchise fee upon the gross sales amount 33 of such services not to exceed 5 percent. In cities with a 34 population exceeding 200,000, the franchise fee allowed to be 35 -1- LSB 2818XC (3) 91 jm/md 1/ 2
S.F. _____ imposed shall not exceed 7 percent of the gross sales amount. 1 This bill eliminates a citys ability to impose any franchise 2 fees beginning July 1, 2025. 3 The bill also prohibits a county from imposing or collecting 4 a franchise fee beginning July 1, 2025. 5 -2- LSB 2818XC (3) 91 jm/md 2/ 2