Effective 28 Aug 2013

68.250. Conducting of election, procedure. — 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 115 except the provisions of section 115.125, when applicable, an election for any proposed real property tax or proposed sales and use tax, or both, within a district pursuant to this act shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of this section.

2. After the board has passed a resolution approving the levy of a real property tax or a sales and use tax, or both, the board shall provide written notice of such resolution, along with the circuit court's certified question regarding the real property tax or the sales and use tax, or both, as applicable, to the election authority. The board shall be entitled to repeal or amend such resolution provided that written notice of such repeal or amendment is delivered to the election authority prior to the date that the election authority mails the ballots to the qualified voters.

3. Upon receipt of written notice of a port authority's resolution, along with the circuit court's certified question, for the levy of a real property tax or a sales and use tax, or both, the election authority shall:

(1) Specify a date upon which the election shall occur, which date shall be a Tuesday and shall be, unless otherwise approved by the board and election authority and applicable circuit court pursuant to section 115.125, not earlier than the tenth Tuesday, and not later than the fifteenth Tuesday, after the date the board passes the resolution and shall not be on the same day as an election conducted pursuant to the provisions of chapter 115;

(2) Publish notice of the election in a newspaper of general circulation within the municipality two times. The first publication date shall be not more than forty-five, but not less than thirty-five, days prior to the date of the election and the second publication date shall be not more than twenty, and not less than ten, days prior to the date of the election. The published notice shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:

(a) The name and general boundaries of the district;

(b) The type of tax proposed (real property tax or sales and use tax or both), its rate or rates, and its purpose or purposes;

(c) The date the ballots for the election shall be mailed to qualified voters;

(d) The date of the election;

(e) The applicable definition of qualified voters;

(f) A statement that persons residing in the district shall register to vote with the election authority on or before the thirtieth day prior to the date of the election in order to be a qualified voter for purposes of the election;

(g) A statement that the ballot shall be returned to the election authority's office in person, or by depositing the ballot in the United States mail addressed to the election authority's office and postmarked not later than the date of the election; and

(h) A statement that any qualified voter that did not receive a ballot in the mail or lost the ballot received in the mail may pick up a mail-in ballot at the election authority's office, specifying the dates and time such ballot will be available and the location of the election authority's office;

(3) The election authority shall mail the ballot, a notice containing substantially the same information as the published notice and a return addressed envelope directed to the election authority's office with a sworn affidavit on the reverse side of such envelope for the qualified voter's signature, to each qualified voter not more than fifteen days and not less than ten days prior to the date of the election. For purposes of mailing ballots to real property owners, only one ballot shall be mailed per capita at the address shown on the official, or recorded, real estate records of the county recorder, or the city recorder of deeds if the district is located in a city not within a county, as of the thirtieth day prior to the date of the election. Such affidavit shall be in substantially the following form:

­­All persons or entities having a fee ownership in the property shall sign the ballot. Additional signature pages may be affixed to this ballot to accommodate all required signatures.

4. Each qualified voter shall have one vote. Each voted ballot shall be signed with the authorized signature.

5. Mail-in ballots shall be returned to the election authority's office in person, or by depositing the ballot in the United States mail addressed to the election authority's office and postmarked no later than the date of the election. The election authority shall transmit all voted ballots to a team of judges of not less than four. The judges shall be selected by the election authority from lists it has compiled prior to the date by which the mail-in ballots must be returned. Upon receipt of the voted ballots, the judges shall verify the authenticity of the ballots, canvass the votes, and certify the results. Certification by the election judges shall be final and shall be immediately transmitted to the election authority. Any qualified voter who voted in such election may contest the result in the same manner as provided in chapter 115.

6. The results of the election shall be entered upon the records of the election authority and two certified copies of the election results shall be filed with the port authority and entered upon the records of the port authority.

7. The port authority shall reimburse the election authority for the costs it incurs to conduct an election under this section.

8. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, nothing in this act shall prevent a port authority from proposing both a real property tax levy question and a sales and use tax levy question to the district's qualified voters in the same election.

9. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, this section shall not apply when the port authority is the owner of all of the real property within the proposed district.

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(L. 2010 S.B. 578, A.L. 2013 S.B. 257)