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Section A. Sections 72.418 and 321.300, RSMo, are repealed 1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