1. The charter commission proposing a city-county consolidated form of government shall prepare, adopt, and cause to be submitted to the voters the charter.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 331.248

  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Board: means the board of supervisors of a county. See Iowa Code 331.101
  • Charter: means a formal document establishing the functions, powers, organization, structure, privileges, rights, and duties of county government not inconsistent with state law. See Iowa Code 331.101
  • Commission: means a body of eligible electors authorized to study, review, analyze, and recommend an alternative form of county government. See Iowa Code 331.101
  • Debt service: means expenditures for servicing the county's debt. See Iowa Code 331.421
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Officer: means a natural person elected or appointed to a fixed term and exercising some portion of the power of a city. See Iowa Code 362.2
  • property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • State law: includes the Constitution of the State of Iowa and state statutes. See Iowa Code 331.101
  • year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. The charter for a city-county consolidated form of government shall:

 a. Provide for adjustment of existing bonded indebtedness and other obligations in a manner which will provide for a fair and equitable burden of taxation for debt service.
 b. Provide for establishment of service areas, except that formation of a city-county consolidated form of government shall not affect the assignment of electric utility service territories pursuant to chapter 476, and shall not affect the rights of a city to grant a franchise under chapter 364.
 c. Provide for the transfer or other disposition of property and other rights, claims, assets, and franchises of the county and each city consolidated under the alternative form.
 d. Provide the official name of the city-county consolidated government.
 e. Provide for the transfer, reorganization, abolition, absorption, and adjustment of boundaries of all existing boards, bureaus, commissions, agencies, special districts, and political subdivisions of the city-county consolidated government.
 f. Provide for the exercise of home rule power and authority not inconsistent with state law.
 g. Provide for a governing body of an odd number of members, not less than five, but which may exceed the number of members specified in sections 331.201, 331.203, and 331.204. The titles of the members of the governing body shall be determined by the charter.
 h. Provide for a representation plan for the governing body which representation plan may differ from the representation plans provided in section 331.206 and in chapter 372. If the plan calls for representation by districts and the charter has been approved in a county whose population is one hundred eighty thousand or more, the plan shall be drawn pursuant to section 331.210A, subsection 2, paragraph “f”. The initial representation plan for such a county shall be drawn as provided in section 331.210A, subsection 2, paragraph “f”, within one hundred twenty days after the election at which the charter is approved. For the initial representation plan, the charter commission shall assume the role of the governing body for purposes of this paragraph and section 331.210A, subsection 2, paragraphs “d” through “f”.
 i. Provide for the initial compensation for members of the governing body and for a method of changing the compensation.
 3. The charter may grant the legislative body of the consolidated government the authority to transfer, reorganize, and provide a method for adjusting the boundaries of the entities within the consolidated government.
 4. a. The consolidation charter may include other provisions which the commission elects to include and which are not irreconcilable with state law. These provisions may include but are not limited to the following:

 (1) Provide for a method of selecting officers of the governing body and fixing their terms of office which may differ from the requirements of sections 331.208 through 331.211 and the provisions of chapter 372.
 (2) Provide for meetings of the governing body and rules of procedure which may differ from the requirements of section 331.213, except that the meetings shall be scheduled and conducted in compliance with chapter 21.
 (3) Provide for combining the duties of elected officials of the county, for eliminating elected offices and the assumption of the duties of those offices by appointed officials, and for adding to, deleting from, or otherwise changing the duties of officials, elected or otherwise, of the county and each consolidated city. If the charter provides that one or more elective offices are combined, the board of supervisors shall appoint one of the elective officers of the combined offices to serve until new officers have been elected at the general election in the even-numbered year and have qualified for office. If the charter calls for the elimination of an elective office, that elective officer‘s term of office shall expire on the date specified in the charter.
 (4) Provide for the organization of city and county departments, agencies, or boards. The organization plan may provide for the abolition or consolidation of a department, agency, board, or commission and the assumption of its powers and duties by the governing body or by another department, agency, board, or commission.
 (5) Provide for a method for the governing body or another office to exercise the powers and duties of the township trustees, in lieu of their election or appointment.
 (6) Provide for a chief executive officer, a method of selecting that officer, the compensation for that officer, a method of changing the compensation, and the powers and duties of that officer.
 (7) If the charter provides for a chief executive office, provide for the appointment of a chief executive officer pro tem, the compensation for that officer, a method of changing the compensation, and the manner in which that officer would exercise the powers and duties of the chief executive officer.
 (8) Provide for the appointment of a city manager, a method for determining and changing the compensation for the city manager, and the powers and duties of the city manager.
 b. This subsection does not apply to the board of trustees of a county hospital or to the board of trustees of a city hospital.
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