Iowa Code 388.4 – Utility board
Current as of: 2024 | Check for updates
|
Other versions
The title of a utility board must be appropriate to the city utility, city utilities, or combined utility system administered by the board. A utility board may be a party to legal action. A utility board may exercise all powers of a city in relation to the city utility, city utilities, or combined utility system it administers, with the following exceptions:
1. A board may not certify taxes to be levied, pass ordinances or amendments, or issue general obligation or special assessment bonds.
Attorney's Note
Under the Iowa Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Simple misdemeanor | up to 30 days | between $105 and $855 |
Terms Used In Iowa Code 388.4
- board: means a board of trustees established to operate a city utility, city utilities, or a combined utility system. See Iowa Code 388.1
- City utility: means all or part of a waterworks, gasworks, sanitary sewage system, storm water drainage system, electric light and power plant and system, heating plant, cable communication or television system, telephone or telecommunications systems or services offered separately or combined with any system or service specified in this subsection or authorized by other law, any of which are owned by a city, including all land, easements, rights-of-way, fixtures, equipment, accessories, improvements, appurtenances, and other property necessary or useful for the operation of the utility. See Iowa Code 362.2
- Clerk: means the recording and recordkeeping officer of a city regardless of title. See Iowa Code 362.2
- Combined utility system: means the same as defined in section 384. See Iowa Code 388.1
- Council: means the governing body of a city. See Iowa Code 362.2
- 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
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- month: means a calendar month, and the word "year" and the abbreviation "A. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Person: means an individual, firm, partnership, domestic or foreign corporation, company, association or joint stock association, trust, or other legal entity, and includes a trustee, receiver, assignee, or similar representative thereof, but does not include a governmental body. See Iowa Code 362.2
- property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
2. The title to all property of a city utility or combined utility system must be held in the name of the city, but the utility board has all the powers and authorities of the city with respect to the acquisition by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, lease, sale, or other disposition of such property, and the management, control, and operation of the same, subject to the requirements, terms, covenants, conditions, and provisions of any resolutions authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds, pledge orders, or other obligations which are payable from the revenues of the city utility or combined utility system, and which are then outstanding.
3. A board shall make to the council a detailed annual report, including a complete financial statement.
4. Immediately following a regular or special meeting of a utility board, the secretary shall prepare a condensed statement of the proceedings of the board and cause the statement to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the city. The statement must include a list of all claims allowed, showing the name of the person or firm making the claim, the reason for the claim, and the amount of the claim. If the reason for the claims is the same, two or more claims made by the same vendor, supplier, or claimant may be consolidated if the number of claims consolidated and the total consolidated claim amount are listed in the statement. However, the utility board shall provide at its office upon request an unconsolidated list of all claims allowed. Salary claims must show the gross amount of the claim except that salaries paid to persons regularly employed by the utility, for services regularly performed by them, must be published once annually showing the gross amount of the salary. In cities having more than one hundred fifty thousand population, the utility board shall each month prepare in pamphlet form the statement herein required for the preceding month and furnish copies to the city library, the daily newspapers of the city, the city clerk, and to persons who apply at the office of the secretary, and the pamphlet shall constitute publication as required. Failure by the secretary to make publication is a simple misdemeanor.