12-1927. Annual budget; hearing; notice; submission to district board of education; tax levy; increase in levy, subject to protest; annual audit, when required. (a) (1) The recreation commission shall prepare an annual budget for the operation of the recreation system. Prior to the certification of its budget to the city or school district, the recreation commission shall meet for the purpose of answering and hearing objections of taxpayers relating to the proposed budget and for the purpose of considering amendments to such proposed budget. The recreation commission shall give at least 10 days' notice of the time and place of the meeting by publication in a weekly or daily newspaper having a general circulation in the taxing district. Such notice shall include the proposed budget and shall set out all essential items in the budget except such groupings as designated by the director of accounts and reports on a special publication form prescribed by the director of accounts and reports and furnished with the regular budget form. The public hearing required to be held herein shall be held not less than 10 days prior to the date on which the recreation commission is required to certify its budget to the city or school district.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (b), after such hearing the budget shall be adopted or amended and adopted by the recreation commission. In order to provide funds to carry out the provisions of this act and to pay a portion of the principal and interest on bonds issued pursuant to K.S.A. 12-1774, and amendments thereto, the recreation commission shall annually, not later than August 1 of any year, certify its budget to such city or school district which shall levy a tax sufficient to raise the amount required by such budget on all the taxable tangible property within the taxing district.

(3) Each year a copy of the budget adopted by the recreation commission shall be filed with the city clerk in the case of a city-established recreation system or with the clerk of the school district in the case of a school district-established recreation system or with the clerk of the taxing district in the case of a jointly established recreation system. A copy of such budget also shall be filed with the county clerk of the county in which the recreation system is located. If the recreation system is located in more than one county, a copy of the budget shall be filed with the clerk of the county in which the greater portion of the assessed valuation of the recreation system is located. The city or school district shall not be required to levy a tax in excess of the maximum tax levy set by the city or school district by current resolution. In the case of a new recreation commission established under the provisions of this act, such levy shall not be required to exceed one mill. Whenever the recreation commission determines that the tax currently being levied for the commission, as previously established by the city or school district, is insufficient to operate the recreation system and the commission desires to increase the mill levy above the current levy, the commission shall request that the city or school district authorize an increase by adopting a resolution declaring it necessary to increase the annual levy. The city or school district may authorize the increase by resolution, but such increase shall not exceed one mill per year. The maximum annual mill levy for the recreation commission general fund shall not exceed a total of four mills.

(b) Prior to adopting the budget pursuant to subsection (a)(2), the Blue Valley recreation commission appointed by the Blue Valley unified school district no. 229 shall submit its proposed budget to the board of education of the school district. The board either shall approve or modify and approve the proposed budget. The recreation commission shall adopt the budget as approved or modified and approved by the school district board.

(c) Any resolution adopted under subsection (a) shall state the total amount of the tax to be levied for the recreation system and shall be published once each week for two consecutive weeks in the official newspaper of the taxing district. Whereupon, such annual levy in an amount not to exceed the amount stated in the resolution may be made for the ensuing budget year and each successive budget year unless a petition requesting an election upon the proposition to increase the tax levy in excess of the current tax levy, signed by at least 5% of the qualified voters of the taxing district, is filed with the county election officer within 30 days following the date of the last publication of the resolution. In the event a valid petition is filed, no such increased levy shall be made without such proposition having been submitted to and having been approved by a majority of the voters of the taxing district voting at an election called and held thereon. All such elections shall be called and held in the manner provided by the general bond law, and the cost of the election shall be borne by the recreation commission. Such taxes shall be levied and collected in like manner as other taxes, which levy the city or school district shall certify, on or before August 25 of each year, to the county clerk who is hereby authorized and required to place the same on the tax roll of the county to be collected by the county treasurer and paid over by the county treasurer to the ex officio treasurer of the recreation commission.

(d) The tax levy provided in this section shall not be considered a levy of such city or school district under any of the statutes of this state, but shall be in addition to all other levies authorized by law and, with respect to any such levy made for the first time in 1989, shall not be subject to the provisions of K.S.A. 79-5021 et seq., and amendments thereto.

(e) (1) At any time after the making of the first tax levy pursuant to this act, the amount of such tax levy may be reduced by a majority of the voters of the taxing district voting at an election called pursuant to a petition and conducted in the same manner as that prescribed by subsection (c). The authority of any recreation commission in existence on the effective date of this act or any recreation commission established under the provisions of this act to operate and conduct its activities may be revoked in any year following the third year of its operation by a majority of the voters of the taxing district voting at an election called pursuant to a petition and conducted in the same manner as that prescribed by subsection (c). If the petition submitted is for the purpose of reducing the mill levy, it shall state the mill levy reduction desired. Upon revocation, all property and money belonging to the recreation commission shall become the property of the taxing authority levying the tax for the commission, and the recreation commission shall be dissolved. In the event the authority of a recreation commission is revoked pursuant to this subsection, the taxing authority may continue to levy a tax in the manner prescribed by the petition language for the purpose of paying any outstanding obligations of the recreation commission which exist on the date such authority is revoked. The authority to levy a tax for this purpose shall continue only as long as such outstanding obligations exist.

(2) If the recreation district whose authority is revoked owns any real property at the time of such revocation, title to such real property shall revert to the taxing authority.

(f) All financial records of the recreation commission shall be audited as provided in K.S.A. 75-1122, and amendments thereto, and a copy of such annual audit report shall be filed with the governing body of the city or school district, or both, in the case of a jointly established recreation system. A copy of such audit also shall be filed with the county clerk of the county in which the recreation system is located. If the recreation system is located in more than one county, a copy of the budget shall be filed with the clerk of the county in which the greater portion of the assessed valuation of the recreation system is located. The cost of each audit shall be borne by the recreation commission.

History: L. 1987, ch. 71, § 6; L. 1989, ch. 63, § 1; L. 1993, ch. 46, § 2; L. 1994, ch. 150, § 2; L. 2002, ch. 176, § 2; L. 2016, ch. 112, § 25; July 1.