426B.1 Appropriations--property tax relief fund.

1. A property tax relief fund is created in the state treasury under the authority of the department of human services. The fund shall be separate from the general fund of the state and shall not be considered part of the general fund of the state except in determining the cash position of the state for payment of state obligations. The moneys in the fund are not subject to the provisions of section 8.33 and shall not be transferred, used, obligated, appropriated, or otherwise encumbered except as provided in this chapter. Moneys in the fund may be used for cash flow purposes, provided that any moneys so allocated are returned to the fund by the end of each fiscal year. However, the fund shall be considered a special account for the purposes of section 8.53, relating to elimination of any GAAP deficit. For the purposes of this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, "property tax relief fund" means the property tax relief fund created in this section.

2. There is appropriated to the property tax relief fund for the indicated fiscal years from the general fund of the state the following amounts:

a. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1995, sixty-one million dollars.

b. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1996, seventy- eight million dollars.

c. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1997, and succeeding fiscal years, ninety-five million dollars.

3. There is annually appropriated from the property tax relief fund to the department of human services to supplement the medical assistance appropriation for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1997, and for succeeding fiscal years, six million six hundred thousand dollars to be used for the nonfederal share of the costs of services provided to minors with mental retardation under the medical assistance program to meet the requirements of section 249A.12, subsection 4. The appropriation in this subsection shall be charged to the property tax relief fund prior to the distribution of moneys from the fund under section 426B.2 and the amount of moneys available for distribution shall be reduced accordingly. However, the appropriation in this subsection shall be considered to be a property tax relief payment for purposes of the combined amount of payments required to achieve fifty percent of the counties' base year expenditures as provided in section 426B.2, subsection 2.

426B.2 Property tax relief fund distributions.

1. The moneys in the property tax relief fund available to counties for a fiscal year shall be distributed as provided in this section. A county's proportion of the moneys shall be equivalent to the sum of the following three factors:

a. One-third based upon the county's proportion of the state's general population.

b. One-third based upon the county's proportion of the state's total taxable property valuation assessed for taxes payable in the previous fiscal year.

c. One-third based upon the county's proportion of all counties' base year expenditures, as defined in section 331.438.

Moneys provided to a county for property tax relief in a fiscal year in accordance with this subsection shall not be less than the amount provided for property tax relief in the previous fiscal year.

2. The distributions under subsection 1 shall continue to be made until the combined amount of the distributions made under subsection 1 are equal to fifty percent of the total of all counties' base year expenditures as defined in section 331.438.

3. The director of human services shall draw warrants on the property tax relief fund, payable to the county treasurer in the amount due to a county in accordance with subsection 1 and mail the warrants to the county auditors in September and March of each year.

4. As used in this chapter, and in sections 331.438 and 331.439, "population" means the latest applicable population estimate issued by the federal government.

426B.3 Notification of relief fund payment.

1. The county auditor shall reduce the certified budget amount received from the board of supervisors for the succeeding fiscal year for the county mental health, mental retardation, and developmental disabilities services fund created in section 331.424A by an amount equal to the amount the county will receive from the property tax relief fund pursuant to section 426B.2, for the succeeding fiscal year and the auditor shall determine the rate of taxation necessary to raise the reduced amount. On the tax list, the county auditor shall compute the amount of taxes due and payable on each parcel before and after the amount received from the property tax relief fund is used to reduce the county budget. The director of human services shall notify the county auditor of each county of the amount of moneys the county will receive from the property tax relief fund pursuant to section 426B.2, for the succeeding fiscal year.

2. The amount of property tax dollars reduced on each parcel as a result of the moneys received from the property tax relief fund pursuant to section 426B.2, shall be noted on each tax statement prepared by the county treasurer pursuant to section 445.23.

426B.4 Rules.

The council on human services shall consult with the state- county management committee created in section 331.438 and the director of human services in prescribing forms and adopting rules pursuant to chapter 17A to administer this chapter.

426B.5 Funding pools.

1. Per capita expenditure target pool.

a. A per capita expenditure target pool is created in the property tax relief fund. The pool shall consist of the moneys credited to the pool by law.

b. A statewide per capita expenditure target amount is established. The statewide per capita expenditure target amount shall be equal to the seventy-fifth percentile of all county per capita expenditures in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1997, and ending June 30, 1998.

c. Only a county levying the maximum amount allowed for the county's mental health, mental retardation, and developmental disabilities services fund under section 331.424A is eligible to receive moneys from the per capita expenditure target pool for a fiscal year. Moneys available in the pool for a fiscal year shall be distributed to those eligible counties whose per capita expenditure in the latest fiscal year for which the actual expenditure information is available is less than the statewide per capita expenditure target amount.

d. The distribution amount a county receives from the moneys available in the pool shall be determined based upon the county's proportion of the general population of the counties eligible to receive moneys from the pool for that fiscal year. However, a county shall not receive moneys in excess of the amount which would cause the county's per capita expenditure to equal the statewide per capita expenditure target. Moneys credited to the per capita expenditure target pool which remain unobligated or unexpended at the close of a fiscal year shall remain in the pool for distribution in the succeeding fiscal year.

e. The department of human services shall annually calculate the amount of moneys due to eligible counties in accordance with this subsection. The department shall authorize the issuance of warrants payable to the county treasurer for the amounts due and the warrants shall be issued in January.

2. Incentive and efficiency pool.

a. An incentive and efficiency pool is created for making incentive payments to those counties achieving desired results and efficiently providing needed services.

b. The state-county management committee shall propose desired results which are attainable by those counties working to transform the service system to best meet the needs of persons with mental illness, mental retardation, or developmental disabilities in a cost-effective manner. The committee shall propose desired results on an annual or other regular basis which will provide for continuous improvement of the service system. In addition, the committee shall identify objective performance measures for the desired results which may include but are not limited to rates of service provision among eligible populations, access to a range of services, movement toward less facility-based services, and medical loss ratio.

c. The desired results and performance measures shall be implemented in a manner that measures a county's progress compared to its prior history for purposes of making incentive and efficiency payments. The desired results and performance measures proposed by the state-county management committee shall be adopted in rule by the mental health and developmental disabilities commission.

d. Moneys shall be distributed from the incentive and efficiency pool to eligible counties based upon a percentage score for the degree of a county's attainment of the desired results and performance measures. The maximum amount which may be distributed to an eligible county is the county's percentage share of the state's general population applied to the amount available for distribution from the pool. The amount actually paid to an eligible county shall be the product of the county's percentage score and the county's maximum amount.

e. Moneys remaining unexpended or unobligated in the pool at the close of a fiscal year shall remain available for distribution in the succeeding fiscal year.

f. The department of human services shall annually calculate the amount of moneys due to an eligible county in accordance with this subsection. The department shall authorize the issuance of warrants payable to the county treasurer for the amounts due and the warrants shall be issued in January.

3. Risk pool.

a. A risk pool is created in the property tax relief fund. The pool shall consist of the moneys credited to the pool by law.

b. A risk pool board is created. The board shall consist of two county supervisors, two county auditors, a member of the state-county management committee created in section 331.438 who was not appointed by the Iowa state association of counties, a member of the county finance committee created in chapter 333A who is not an elected official, and two single entry point process administrators, all appointed by the governor, and one member appointed by the director of human services. All members appointed by the governor shall be subject to confirmation by the senate. Members shall serve for three-year terms. A vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. Expenses and other costs of the risk pool board members representing counties shall be paid by the county of origin. Expenses and other costs of risk pool board members who do not represent counties shall be paid from a source determined by the governor. Staff assistance to the board shall be provided by the department of human services and counties. Actuarial expenses and other direct administrative costs shall be charged to the pool.

c. (1) A county must apply to the board for assistance from the risk pool on or before April 1 to cover an unanticipated cost in excess of the county's current fiscal year budget amount for the county's mental health, mental retardation, and developmental disabilities services fund. For purposes of applying for risk pool assistance and for repaying unused risk pool assistance, the current fiscal year budget amount shall be deemed to be the higher of either the budget amount in the management plan approved under section 331.439 for the fiscal year in which the application is made or the prior fiscal year's gross expenditures from the services fund.

(2) Basic eligibility for risk pool assistance shall require a projected need in excess of the sum of one hundred five percent of the county's current fiscal year budget amount and any amount of the county's prior fiscal year ending fund balance in excess of twenty-five percent of the county's gross expenditures from the services fund in the prior fiscal year.

(3) The board shall review the fiscal year-end financial records for all counties that are granted risk pool assistance. If the board determines a county's actual need for risk pool assistance was less than the amount of risk pool assistance granted to the county, the county shall refund the difference between the amount of assistance granted and the actual need. The county shall submit the refund within thirty days of receiving notice from the board. Refunds shall be credited to the risk pool.

(4) A county receiving risk pool assistance in a fiscal year in which the county did not levy the maximum amount allowed for the county's mental health, mental retardation, and developmental disabilities services fund under section 331.424A shall be required to repay the risk pool assistance in the succeeding fiscal year. The repayment amount shall be limited to the amount by which the actual amount levied was less than the maximum amount allowed.

(5) The board shall determine application requirements to ensure prudent use of risk pool assistance. The board may accept or reject an application for assistance in whole or in part. The decision of the board is final.

(6) The total amount of risk pool assistance shall be limited to the amount available in the risk pool for a fiscal year. If the total amount of eligible assistance exceeds the amount available in the risk pool the amount of assistance paid shall be prorated among the counties eligible for assistance.

d. A county may apply for preapproval for risk pool assistance based upon an individual who has an unanticipated disability condition with an exceptional cost and the individual is either new to the county's service system or the individual's unanticipated disability condition is new to the individual.

e. The department of human services shall annually calculate the amount of moneys due to eligible counties in accordance with the board's decisions. The department shall authorize the issuance of warrants payable to the county treasurer for the amounts due and the warrants shall be issued before the close of the fiscal year.