(a)

(1) The governing body of any county, or the governing body of any town or city, is authorized and empowered, in its discretion, to enter into contracts with individuals, firms or corporations to render advice or assistance to the local assessor of property and the local board of equalization in the assessment and equalization of taxes.

(2) Such contracts may provide that such person, firm or corporation shall go over all the tax rolls of the county or city, as the case may be, and examine all taxable property in the county or city, and make recommendations to the assessor of property and to the board of equalization, to the end that all property may be assessed in the correct amount and name of its lawful owner, and that all errors and double assessments on the tax rolls may be eliminated; provided, that the function of the person, firm or corporation rendering such services shall be advisory only, and the final decision as to the amount of assessments and the equalization of assessments shall be made by the assessor of property and the board of equalization as provided by law. Nothing herein shall be construed to apply to assessments that are required to be made by the comptroller of the treasury.

(3) Counties, cities and towns are authorized to enter into such contracts and to appropriate and expend such amounts as may be deemed necessary for such purposes in the discretion of the governing body of the county, city or town involved.

(4) Counties, cities and towns may contract with the state board of equalization, under title 4, chapter 3, part 51, for advice and assistance in the preparation and awarding of the contracts and inspection and approval of services rendered thereunder.

(b) The governing body of any county and the governing body of any city or town are authorized and empowered to enter into joint contracts for such purposes for the employment of corporations, firms or individuals to render the services provided for in this section jointly to the county and to cities or towns located therein. The cost as between the county and the cities and towns located therein shall be in such amounts as may be mutually agreed upon by the governing bodies of the counties, cities or towns.

(c)

(1) No contract entered into by authority of this section shall contain any provisions whereby the person, firm or corporation employed thereunder shall be paid upon a percentage basis, or on any basis whereby the compensation under the contract is in anywise dependent or conditioned upon increasing or reducing the aggregate assessment of property in the county, city or town involved.

(2) Any contract containing a provision whereby the compensation is conditioned upon or measured directly or indirectly by an increase or a reduction in assessments shall be void and unenforceable.

(d) This section shall not be construed to repeal or amend any existing statute with respect to the assessment and equalization of taxes, but shall be supplementary to existing statutes.

(e)

(1) Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, in the event that a county governing body contracts with a person, firm or corporation to examine the tax rolls of the county for personal property, and to give advice and assistance to the county assessor of property regarding personal property identification and valuation, all municipalities in the county that levy a property tax shall share in the cost of such contract and shall contribute their respective share to the county general fund within one (1) year of the execution of the contract. The share of the cost of the county contract for each municipality in the county that levies a property tax shall be a percentage of the cost of the contract based upon the following formula: the percentage that the total amount of the personal property values located within the municipality bear to the total personal property values of the entire county, located both within and outside of the municipal boundaries, times the percentage that the municipal property tax rate bears to the combined county and municipal property tax rate. The property valuation and tax rates used in this formula shall be the latest available at the time of the execution of the contract.

(2) Subdivision (e)(1) does not apply in any county having a charter form of government and having a population in excess of eight hundred thousand (800,000), according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census.