Missouri 2024 Regular Session

Missouri Senate Bill SB764 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2	EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
3	3	and is intended to be omitted in the law.
4	4	SECOND REGULAR SESSION
5	5	SENATE BILL NO. 764
6	6	102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
7	7	INTRODUCED BY SENATOR WILLIAMS.
8	8	3692S.03I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	To repeal sections 72.418 and 321.300, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections
11	11	relating to fire protection districts.
12	12
13	13	Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
14	14	Section A. Sections 72.418 and 321.300, RSMo, are repealed 1
15	15	and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as 2
16	16	sections 72.418 and 321.300, to read as fo llows:3
17	17	72.418. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law 1
18	18	to the contrary, no new city created pursuant to sections 2
19	19	72.400 to 72.423 shall establish a municipal fire department 3
20	20	to provide fire protection services, including emergency 4
21	21	medical services, if such city formerly consisted of 5
22	22	unincorporated areas in the county or municipalities in the 6
23	23	county, or both, which are provided fire protection services 7
24	24	and emergency medical services by one or more fire 8
25	25	protection districts. Such fire protection districts shall 9
26	26	continue to provide services to the area comprising the new 10
27	27	city and may levy and collect taxes the same as such 11
28	28	districts had prior to the creation of such new city. 12
29	29	2. Fire protection districts serving the area included 13
30	30	within any annexation by a city having a fire department, 14
31	31	including simplified boundary changes, shall continue to 15
32	32	provide fire protection services, including emergency 16
33	33	medical services to such area. The annexing city shall pay 17
34	34	annually to the fire protection district an amount equal to 18 SB 764 2
35	35	that which the fire protection district would have levied on 19
36	36	all taxable property within the annexed area. Such annexed 20
37	37	area shall not be subject to taxation for any purpose 21
38	38	thereafter by the fire protection dist rict except for bonded 22
39	39	indebtedness by the fire protection district which existed 23
40	40	prior to the annexation. The amount to be paid annually by 24
41	41	the municipality to the fire protection district pursuant 25
42	42	hereto shall be a sum equal to the annual assessed v alue 26
43	43	multiplied by the annual tax rate as certified by the fire 27
44	44	protection district to the municipality, including any 28
45	45	portion of the tax created for emergency medical service 29
46	46	provided by the district, per one hundred dollars of 30
47	47	assessed value in such area. The tax rate so computed shall 31
48	48	include any tax on bonded indebtedness incurred subsequent 32
49	49	to such annexation, but shall not include any portion of the 33
50	50	tax rate for bonded indebtedness incurred prior to such 34
51	51	annexation. Notwithstanding any othe r provision of law to 35
52	52	the contrary, the residents of an area annexed on or after 36
53	53	May 26, 1994, may vote in all fire protection district 37
54	54	elections and may be elected to the fire protection district 38
55	55	board of directors. 39
56	56	3. The fire protection distri ct may approve or reject 40
57	57	any proposal for the provision of fire protection and 41
58	58	emergency medical services by a city. 42
59	59	4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the 43
60	60	contrary, no city shall have any obligation to make any 44
61	61	payments for the provision of fire protection services for 45
62	62	any territory or tract of land included in a fire protection 46
63	63	district pursuant to subsection 3 of section 321.300. 47
64	64	5. No corporation, organization, or other entity that 48
65	65	is annexed into a fire protection dist rict that has its own 49
66	66	fire department providing fire protection services, 50 SB 764 3
67	67	including emergency medical services, shall be subject to 51
68	68	taxes for fire protection services levied by a fire 52
69	69	protection district serving the area where the corporation, 53
70	70	organization, or entity is located. 54
71	71	6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the 55
72	72	contrary, if any city which has annexed fire protection 56
73	73	service areas pursuant to this section no longer maintains a 57
74	74	municipal fire department the following shall oc cur without 58
75	75	delay: 59
76	76	(1) For the purpose of the provision of fire 60
77	77	protection services, any annexed service area shall revert 61
78	78	back to the district boundaries of the fire protection 62
79	79	district that provided services prior to such annexation; 63
80	80	(2) For the purpose of the provision of emergency 64
81	81	medical services, any annexed service area shall revert back 65
82	82	to the district boundaries of the fire protection district 66
83	83	that provided services prior to such annexation; and 67
84	84	(3) All property reverting b ack to a fire protection 68
85	85	district shall thereafter be subject to taxation by the fire 69
86	86	protection district and the city which no longer maintains a 70
87	87	municipal fire department shall no longer make any payments 71
88	88	to a fire protection district for fire protec tion or 72
89	89	emergency medical services. 73
90	90	321.300. 1. The boundaries of any district organized 1
91	91	pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may be changed in 2
92	92	the manner prescribed in this section; but any change of 3
93	93	boundaries of the distri ct shall not impair or affect its 4
94	94	organization or its rights in or to property, or any of its 5
95	95	rights or privileges whatsoever; nor shall it affect or 6
96	96	impair or discharge any contract, obligation, lien or charge 7
97	97	for or upon which it might be liable or c hargeable had any 8
98	98	change of boundaries not been made. 9 SB 764 4
99	99	2. The boundaries may be changed as follows: 10
100	100	(1) Twenty-five percent of the number of voters who 11
101	101	voted in the most recent gubernatorial election in the area 12
102	102	to be annexed may file with th e board a petition in writing 13
103	103	praying that such real property be included within the 14
104	104	district; provided that in the case of a municipality having 15
105	105	less than twenty percent of its total population in one fire 16
106	106	protection district, the entire remaining por tion may be 17
107	107	included in another district so that none of the city is 18
108	108	outside of a fire protection district at the time. The 19
109	109	petition shall describe the property to be included in the 20
110	110	district and shall describe the property owned by the 21
111	111	petitioners and shall be deemed to give assent of the 22
112	112	petitioners to the inclusion in the district of the property 23
113	113	described in the petition; and such petition shall be in 24
114	114	substantially the form set forth in section 321.495 dealing 25
115	115	with referendums and verified in like manner; provided, 26
116	116	however, that in the event that there are more than twenty - 27
117	117	five property owners or taxpaying electors signing the 28
118	118	petition, it shall be deemed sufficient description of their 29
119	119	property in the petition as required in this section t o list 30
120	120	the addresses of such property; or 31
121	121	(2) All of the owners of any territory or tract of 32
122	122	land near or adjacent to a fire protection district who own 33
123	123	all of the real estate in such territory or tract of land 34
124	124	may file a petition with the board praying that such real 35
125	125	property be included in the district. The petition shall 36
126	126	describe the property owned by the petitioners and shall be 37
127	127	deemed to give assent of the petitioners to the inclusion in 38
128	128	the district of the property described in the peti tion; 39
129	129	(3) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the 40
130	130	contrary, in any fire protection district which is partly or 41 SB 764 5
131	131	wholly located in a noncharter county of the first 42
132	132	classification with a population of less than one hundred 43
133	133	thousand which adjoins any county of the first 44
134	134	classification with a charter form of government with a 45
135	135	population of nine hundred thousand or more inhabitants, if 46
136	136	such fire protection district serves any portion of a city 47
137	137	which is located in both such counties, the boundari es of 48
138	138	the district may be expanded so as to include the entire 49
139	139	city within the fire protection district, but the boundaries 50
140	140	of the district shall not be expanded beyond the city limits 51
141	141	of such city, as the boundaries of such city existed on 52
142	142	January 1, 1993. Such change in the boundaries of the 53
143	143	district shall be accomplished only if twenty -five percent 54
144	144	of the number of voters who voted in the most recent 55
145	145	gubernatorial election in the area to be annexed file with 56
146	146	the board a petition in writing pray ing that such real 57
147	147	property be included within the district. The petition 58
148	148	shall describe the property to be included in the district 59
149	149	and shall describe the property owned by the petitioners and 60
150	150	shall be deemed to give assent of the petitioners to the 61
151	151	inclusion in the district of the property described in the 62
152	152	petition; and such petition shall be in substantially the 63
153	153	form set forth in section 321.495 dealing with referendums 64
154	154	and verified in like manner. 65
155	155	3. Notwithstanding any other provision of chapter 321 66
156	156	to the contrary, in any county with a charter form of 67
157	157	government where fifty or more cities, towns, and villages 68
158	158	have been established, any territory or tract of land in a 69
159	159	city with a population greater than twenty -four thousand 70
160	160	inhabitants but less than twenty -eight thousand inhabitants, 71
161	161	which territory or tract of land was previously excluded 72
162	162	from a fire protection district following a municipal 73 SB 764 6
163	163	annexation and which receives fire protection and emergency 74
164	164	medical services from that fi re protection district, may be 75
165	165	also included in that fire protection district as follows: 76
166	166	(1) Any owner of property within a territory or tract 77
167	167	of land proposed to be included in the fire protection 78
168	168	district serving that territory or tract of land may file a 79
169	169	petition with the board of directors of the fire protection 80
170	170	district. If the county election authority determines there 81
171	171	were no registered voters residing within the territory or 82
172	172	tract of land as of the date of the earliest signature on 83
173	173	the petition, no election as provided in section 321.301 84
174	174	shall be held with regard to inclusion of such a territory 85
175	175	or tract of land; 86
176	176	(2) If the petition does not include the signatures of 87
177	177	all property owners within the territory or tract of land, 88
178	178	the board of directors of the fire protection district shall 89
179	179	schedule a public hearing and provide notice of the filing 90
180	180	of the petition as provided in subsection 4 of this section, 91
181	181	at which the board shall determine whether to grant the 92
182	182	petition or part thereof, as provided in subsection 5 of 93
183	183	this section; 94
184	184	(3) If the board grants the petition, in whole or in 95
185	185	part, any person aggrieved by the decision of the board may 96
186	186	appeal the decision as provided in subsection 6 of this 97
187	187	section. 98
188	188	4. The secretary of the board shall cause notice of 99
189	189	the filing of any petition filed pursuant to this section to 100
190	190	be given and published in the county in which the property 101
191	191	is located, which notice shall recite the filing of such 102
192	192	petition, the number of pet itioners, a general description 103
193	193	of the boundaries of the area proposed to be included and 104
194	194	the prayer of the petitioners; giving notice to all persons 105 SB 764 7
195	195	interested to appear at the office of the board at the time 106
196	196	named in the notice and show cause in writ ing, if any they 107
197	197	have, why the petition should not be granted. The board 108
198	198	shall at the time and place mentioned, or at such time or 109
199	199	times to which the hearing may be adjourned, proceed to hear 110
200	200	the petition and all objections thereto presented in writin g 111
201	201	by any person showing cause why the petition should not be 112
202	202	granted. The failure of any person interested to show cause 113
203	203	in writing why such petition shall not be granted shall be 114
204	204	deemed as an assent on his part to the inclusion of such 115
205	205	lands in the district as prayed for in the petition. 116
206	206	[4.] 5. If the board deems it for the best interest of 117
207	207	the district, it shall grant the petition, but if the board 118
208	208	determines that some portion of the property mentioned in 119
209	209	the petition cannot as a practical matter be served by the 120
210	210	district, or if it deems it for the best interest of the 121
211	211	district that some portion of the property in the petition 122
212	212	not be included in the district, then the board shall grant 123
213	213	the petition in part only. If the petition is gran ted, the 124
214	214	board shall make an order to that effect and file the same 125
215	215	with the circuit clerk; and upon the order of the court 126
216	216	having jurisdiction over the district, the property shall be 127
217	217	included in the district. If the petition contains the 128
218	218	signatures of all the owners of the property pursuant to the 129
219	219	provisions of subdivision (2) of subsection 2 of this 130
220	220	section, the property shall be included in the district upon 131
221	221	the order of the court. If the petition contains the 132
222	222	signatures of twenty -five percent of the number of voters 133
223	223	who voted in the most recent gubernatorial election in the 134
224	224	area to be annexed pursuant to subdivision (1) or 135
225	225	subdivision (3) of subsection 2 of this section, the 136
226	226	property shall be included in the district subject to the 137 SB 764 8
227	227	election provided in section 321.301. The circuit court 138
228	228	having jurisdiction over the district shall proceed to make 139
229	229	any such order including such additional property within the 140
230	230	district as is provided in the order of the board, unless 141
231	231	the court shall find t hat such order of the board was not 142
232	232	authorized by law or that such order of the board was not 143
233	233	supported by competent and substantial evidence. 144
234	234	[5.] 6. Any person aggrieved by any decision of the 145
235	235	board made pursuant to the provisions of this section may 146
236	236	appeal that decision to the circuit court of the county in 147
237	237	which the property is located within thirty days of the 148
238	238	decision by the board. 149
239	239	[6.] 7. No fire protection district, or employee 150
240	240	thereof, in which territory is annexed pursuant to th is 151
241	241	section shall be required to comply with any prescribed 152
242	242	firefighter training program or regimen which would not 153
243	243	otherwise apply to the district or its employees, but for 154
244	244	the requirements applicable to the annexed territory. 155
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