CHAPTER 8. MISCELLANEOUS FISCAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
IC 36-1-8
Chapter 8. Miscellaneous Fiscal and Administrative Provisions
IC 36-1-8-1
Application of chapter
Sec. 1. This chapter applies to all political subdivisions.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.211, SEC.1.
IC 36-1-8-2
Cash change fund; establishment; use
Sec. 2. (a) The fiscal body of a political subdivision may permitany of its officers or employees having a duty to collect cashrevenues to establish a cash change fund. Such a fund must beestablished by a warrant drawn on the appropriate fund of thepolitical subdivision in favor of the officer or employee, in anamount determined by the fiscal body, without need forappropriation to be made for it.
(b) The officer or employee who establishes a cash change fundshall convert the warrant to cash, shall use it to make change whencollecting cash revenues, and shall account for it in the same manneras is required for other funds of the political subdivision.
(c) The fiscal body shall require the entire cash change fund to bereturned to the appropriate fund whenever there is a change in thecustodian of the fund or if the fund is no longer needed.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.211, SEC.1.
IC 36-1-8-3
Petty cash fund; establishment; use; reimbursement
Sec. 3. (a) The fiscal body of a political subdivision may establisha petty cash fund for any of its offices in a like manner to thatprescribed by section 2 of this chapter.
(b) The custodian of a petty cash fund shall use it to pay small oremergency items of operating expense. A receipt shall be taken foreach expenditure made from the fund.
(c) The custodian of a petty cash fund shall periodically file avoucher, with all original receipts totaling the cash claimed expendedbeing attached to it, so that the fund can be reimbursed forexpenditures from it. Reimbursement must be approved and made inthe same manner as is required for other expenditures of the politicalsubdivision.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.211, SEC.1.
IC 36-1-8-4
Transfer of prescribed amount to fund in need of money for cashflow purposes; extension of time for transfer
Sec. 4. (a) The fiscal body of a political subdivision may, byordinance or resolution, permit the transfer of a prescribed amount,for a prescribed period, to a fund in need of money for cash flowpurposes from another fund of the political subdivision if all theseconditions are met: (1) It must be necessary to borrow money to enhance the fundthat is in need of money for cash flow purposes.
(2) There must be sufficient money on deposit to the credit ofthe other fund that can be temporarily transferred.
(3) Except as provided in subsection (b), the prescribed periodmust end during the budget year of the year in which thetransfer occurs.
(4) The amount transferred must be returned to the other fundat the end of the prescribed period.
(5) Only revenues derived from the levying and collection ofproperty taxes or special taxes or from operation of the politicalsubdivision may be included in the amount transferred.
(b) If the fiscal body of a political subdivision determines that anemergency exists that requires an extension of the prescribed periodof a transfer under this section, the prescribed period may beextended for not more than six (6) months beyond the budget year ofthe year in which the transfer occurs if the fiscal body does thefollowing:
(1) Passes an ordinance or a resolution that contains thefollowing:
(A) A statement that the fiscal body has determined that anemergency exists.
(B) A brief description of the grounds for the emergency.
(C) The date the loan will be repaid that is not more than six(6) months beyond the budget year in which the transferoccurs.
(2) Immediately forwards the ordinance or resolution to thestate board of accounts and the department of local governmentfinance.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.211, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.57-1991,SEC.3; P.L.10-1997, SEC.24; P.L.90-2002, SEC.460.
IC 36-1-8-5
Funds raised by general or special tax levy; disposition of unusedbalance; transfers to local rainy day fund
Sec. 5. (a) This section applies to all funds raised by a general orspecial tax levy on all the taxable property of a political subdivision.
(b) Whenever the purposes of a tax levy have been fulfilled andan unused and unencumbered balance remains in the fund, the fiscalbody of the political subdivision shall order the balance of that fundto be transferred as follows, unless a statute provides that it betransferred otherwise:
(1) Funds of a county, to the general fund or rainy day fund ofthe county, as provided in section 5.1 of this chapter.
(2) Funds of a municipality, to the general fund or rainy dayfund of the municipality, as provided in section 5.1 of thischapter.
(3) Funds of a township for redemption of township assistanceobligations, to the township assistance fund of the township orrainy day fund of the township, as provided in section 5.1 of
this chapter.
(4) Funds of any other political subdivision, to the general fundor rainy day fund of the political subdivision, as provided insection 5.1 of this chapter. However, if the political subdivisionis dissolved or does not have a general fund or rainy day fund,then to the general fund of each of the units located in thepolitical subdivision in the same proportion that the assessedvaluation of the unit bears to the total assessed valuation of thepolitical subdivision.
(c) Whenever an unused and unencumbered balance remains inthe civil township fund of a township and a current tax levy for thefund is not needed, the township fiscal body may order any part ofthe balance of that fund transferred to the debt service fund of theschool corporation located in or partly in the township. However, ifmore than one (1) school corporation is located in or partly in thetownship, then any sum transferred shall be transferred to the debtservice fund of each of those school corporations in the sameproportion that the part of the assessed valuation of the schoolcorporation in the township bears to the total assessed valuation ofthe township.
(d) If there is:
(1) an unexpended balance in the debt service fund of anyschool township; and
(2) no outstanding bonded or other indebtedness of the schooltownship to the payment of which the unexpended balance orany part of the unexpended balance can be legally applied;
the township trustee of the township, with the approval of thetownship board, may transfer the unexpended balance in the debtservice fund to the school general fund of the school township.
(e) Whenever any township has collected any fund for the specialor specific purpose of erecting or constructing a school building andthe township trustee of the township decides to abandon the proposedwork of erecting or constructing the school building, the townshiptrustee of the township shall transfer the fund collected for thespecial or specific purpose to the township fund of the township,upon the order of the township board to make the transfer. It islawful thereafter to use the funds for any purpose for which thetownship funds of the township may be used.
(f) Transfers to a political subdivision's rainy day fund may bemade at any time during the political subdivision's fiscal year.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.211, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.251-2001,SEC.1; P.L.173-2003, SEC.18; P.L.73-2005, SEC.171;P.L.169-2006, SEC.46; P.L.2-2006, SEC.185; P.L.1-2007, SEC.238.
IC 36-1-8-5.1
Rainy day funds established by political subdivisions
Sec. 5.1. (a) A political subdivision may establish a rainy day fundby the adoption of:
(1) an ordinance, in the case of a county, city, or town; or
(2) a resolution, in the case of any other political subdivision. (b) An ordinance or a resolution adopted under this section mustspecify the following:
(1) The purposes of the rainy day fund.
(2) The sources of funding for the rainy day fund, which mayinclude the following:
(A) Unused and unencumbered funds under:
(i) section 5 of this chapter;
(ii) IC 6-3.5-1.1-21.1;
(iii) IC 6-3.5-6-17.3; or
(iv) IC 6-3.5-7-17.3.
(B) Any other funding source:
(i) specified in the ordinance or resolution adopted underthis section; and
(ii) not otherwise prohibited by law.
(c) The rainy day fund is subject to the same appropriationprocess as other funds that receive tax money.
(d) In any fiscal year, a political subdivision may transfer undersection 5 of this chapter not more than ten percent (10%) of thepolitical subdivision's total annual budget for that fiscal year,adopted under IC 6-1.1-17, to the rainy day fund.
(e) A political subdivision may use only the funding sourcesspecified in subsection (b)(2)(A) or in the ordinance or resolutionestablishing the rainy day fund. The political subdivision may adopta subsequent ordinance or resolution authorizing the use of anotherfunding source.
(f) The department of local government finance may not reducethe actual or maximum permissible levy of a political subdivision asa result of a balance in the rainy day fund of the political subdivision.
As added by P.L.251-2001, SEC.2. Amended by P.L.90-2002,SEC.461; P.L.173-2003, SEC.19; P.L.267-2003, SEC.15;P.L.81-2004, SEC.45.
IC 36-1-8-6
Reversion of unused appropriation; funds received from state orthe United States
Sec. 6. (a) The unused and unencumbered balance of anappropriation made by a unit for any purpose reverts, at the end ofthe unit's fiscal year, to the fund from which the appropriation wasmade, unless a statute provides otherwise.
(b) Any amount necessary to pay a bill, judgment, or valid claimconcerning any balance that reverts under subsection (a) shall betaken from the fund to which it reverted to pay the bill, judgment, orvalid claim.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if an appropriation is made bya unit to establish or maintain a program of self-insurance by theunit, the balance described in subsection (a) reverts to the fund onlyif the fiscal body of the unit specifically adopts subsection (a) whenit makes the appropriation.
(d) Subsection (a) does not apply to dedicated or appropriatedfunds received from the state or the United States, to funds of
municipal utilities, or to balances of appropriations made from thegeneral fund of a city for transfer to the aviation fund of the city.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.211, SEC.1.
IC 36-1-8-7
Bank deposit or cash on hand constituting pledge or guaranty
Sec. 7. A bank deposit or cash on hand, together with any accruedinterest, constituting a pledge or guaranty on behalf of a politicalsubdivision shall be deposited as a part of the funds of the politicalsubdivision and be credited to the proper funds by the officers havingcustody of those funds after one (1) year has elapsed after the periodfor which the pledge or guaranty has been posted to a specialaccount.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.211, SEC.1.
IC 36-1-8-8
Protection of employees reporting violations of federal, state, orlocal laws; disciplinary actions; procedures
Sec. 8. (a) An employee of a political subdivision may report inwriting the existence of:
(1) a violation of a federal law or regulation;
(2) a violation of a state law or rule;
(3) a violation of an ordinance of a political subdivision; or
(4) the misuse of public resources;
first to a supervisor or appointing authority, unless the supervisor orappointing authority is the person whom the employee believes iscommitting the violation or misuse of public resources. In that case,the employee may report the violation or misuse of public resourcesin writing to either the supervisor or appointing authority or anyofficial or agency entitled to receive a report from the state ethicscommission under IC 4-2-6-4(b)(2)(G) or IC 4-2-6-4(b)(2)(H). If agood faith effort is not made to correct the problem within areasonable time, the employee may submit a written report of theincident to any person, agency, or organization.
(b) For having made a report under subsection (a), an employeemay not:
(1) be dismissed from employment;
(2) have salary increases or employment related benefitswithheld;
(3) be transferred or reassigned;
(4) be denied a promotion that the employee otherwise wouldhave received; or
(5) be demoted.
(c) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), an employee mustmake a reasonable attempt to ascertain the correctness of anyinformation to be furnished and may be subject to disciplinaryactions for knowingly furnishing false information, includingsuspension or dismissal, as determined by the employee's appointingauthority or the appointing authority's designee. However, anyemployee disciplined under this subsection is entitled to process an
appeal of the disciplinary action under the procedure set forth in anypersonnel policy or collective bargaining agreement adopted by thepolitical subdivision.
(d) An employer who violates this section commits a Class Ainfraction.
As added by P.L.32-1987, SEC.4. Amended by P.L.9-1990, SEC.16.
IC 36-1-8-9
Riverboat fund establishment; administration and investment offunds
Sec. 9. (a) Each unit that receives:
(1) tax revenue under IC 4-33-12-6 or IC 4-33-13;
(2) revenue under an agreement to share the tax revenuereceived under IC 4-33-12 or IC 4-33-13 by another unit; or
(3) revenue under a development agreement (as defined insection 9.5 of this chapter);
may establish a riverboat fund. Money in the fund may be used forany legal or corporate purpose of the unit.
(b) The riverboat fund established under subsection (a) shall beadministered by the unit's treasurer, and the expenses ofadministering the fund shall be paid from money in the fund. Moneyin the fund not currently needed to meet the obligations of the fundmay be invested in the same manner as other public funds may beinvested. Interest that accrues from these investments shall bedeposited in the fund. Money in the fund at the end of a particularfiscal year does not revert to the unit's general fund.
As added by P.L.90-1997, SEC.7. Amended by P.L.199-2005,SEC.28.
IC 36-1-8-9.2
Separate fund for deposit of county slot machine wagering feerevenue
Sec. 9.2. (a) Each unit that receives:
(1) tax revenue under IC 4-35-8.5; or
(2) revenue under an agreement to share the tax revenuereceived under IC 4-35-8.5 by another unit;
shall establish a fund, separate from the unit's general fund, intowhich the revenue shall be deposited. Money in the fund may beused for any legal or corporate purpose of the unit.
(b) The fund established by subsection (a) shall be administeredby the unit's treasurer, and the expenses of administering the fundshall be paid from money in the fund. Money in the fund notcurrently needed to meet the obligations of the fund may be investedin the same manner as other public funds may be invested. Interestthat accrues from these investments shall be deposited in the fund.Money in the fund at the end of a particular fiscal year does notrevert to the unit's general fund.
As added by P.L.142-2009, SEC.31.
IC 36-1-8-9.5 "Development agreement"
Sec. 9.5. (a) As used in this section, "development agreement"means an agreement between a licensed owner (as defined inIC 4-33-2-13) and a unit setting forth the licensed owner's financialcommitments to support economic development in the unit.
(b) Funds received by a unit under a development agreement arepublic funds (as defined in IC 5-13-4-20).
(c) Funds received under a development agreement:
(1) may not be used to reduce the unit's maximum levy underIC 6-1.1-18.5 but may be used at the discretion of the unit toreduce the property tax levy of the unit for a particular year;
(2) may be used for any legal or corporate purpose of the unit,including the pledge of money to bonds, leases, or otherobligations under IC 5-1-14-4; and
(3) are considered miscellaneous revenue.
As added by P.L.199-2005, SEC.29.
IC 36-1-8-10
"Board" defined; political affiliation of board appointees
Sec. 10. (a) As used in this section, "board" means anadministration, an agency, an authority, a board, a bureau, acommission, a committee, a council, a department, a division, aninstitution, an office, a service, or another similarly designated bodyof a political subdivision.
(b) Whenever a law or political subdivision's resolution requiresthat an appointment to a board be conditioned upon the politicalaffiliation of the appointee, or that the membership of a board notexceed a stated number of members from the same political party, atthe time of an appointment, one (1) of the following must apply tothe appointee:
(1) The most recent primary election in which the appointeevoted was a primary election held by the party with which theappointee claims affiliation.
(2) If the appointee has never voted in a primary election, theappointee claims a party affiliation.
(3) The appointee is certified as a member of that party by theparty's county chairman for the county in which the appointeeresides.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, if the term of an appointedmember of a board expires and the appointing authority does notmake an appointment to fill the vacancy, the member may continueto serve on the board for only sixty (60) days after the expiration dateof the member's term.
As added by P.L.185-1988, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.68-1996, SEC.4;P.L.167-2001, SEC.10; P.L.199-2001, SEC.28; P.L.126-2002,SEC.91.
IC 36-1-8-10.5
Employee of political subdivision as candidate for or appointed tooffice Sec. 10.5. (a) This section does not apply to the following:
(1) An elected or appointed officer.
(2) An individual described in IC 20-26-4-11.
(b) An employee of a political subdivision may:
(1) be a candidate for any elected office and serve in that officeif elected; or
(2) be appointed to any office and serve in that office ifappointed;
without having to resign as an employee of the political subdivision.
As added by P.L.26-2000, SEC.45. Amended by P.L.1-2005,SEC.231.
IC 36-1-8-11
Methods of payments to subdivisions or utilities
Sec. 11. (a) This section does not apply to a county treasurergoverned by IC 36-2-10-23.
(b) As used in this section, "credit card" means a:
(1) credit card;
(2) debit card;
(3) charge card; or
(4) stored value card.
(c) A payment to a political subdivision or a municipally ownedutility for any purpose may be made by any of the following financialinstruments that the fiscal body of the political subdivision or theboard of the municipally owned utility authorizes for use:
(1) Cash.
(2) Check.
(3) Bank draft.
(4) Money order.
(5) Bank card or credit card.
(6) Electronic funds transfer.
(7) Any other financial instrument authorized by the fiscalbody.
(d) If there is a charge to the political subdivision or municipallyowned utility for the use of a financial instrument, the politicalsubdivision or municipally owned utility may collect a sum equal tothe amount of the charge from the person who uses the financialinstrument.
(e) If authorized by the fiscal body of the political subdivision orthe board of the municipally owned utility, the political subdivisionor municipally owned utility may accept payments under this sectionwith a bank card or credit card under the procedures set forth in thissection. However, the procedure authorized for a particular type ofpayment must be uniformly applied to all payments of the same type.
(f) The political subdivision or municipally owned utility maycontract with a bank card or credit card vendor for acceptance ofbank cards or credit cards.
(g) The political subdivision or municipally owned utility may payany applicable bank card or credit card service charge associatedwith the use of a bank card or credit card under this subsection. (h) The authorization of the fiscal body of the politicalsubdivision is not required by the bureau of motor vehicles or thebureau of motor vehicles commission to use electronic funds transferor other financial instruments to transfer funds to the politicalsubdivision.
As added by P.L.40-1996, SEC.5. Amended by P.L.18-1996, SEC.32;P.L.2-1997, SEC.78; P.L.173-2003, SEC.20.
IC 36-1-8-12
Special fund for state grant money and local matching money;reversion of unused money
Sec. 12. (a) If a political subdivision other than a schoolcorporation receives state grant money requiring local matchingmoney, the political subdivision shall create a special fund anddeposit the grant money and matching money into the special fund.The money in the fund may be used only for the purposes of thegrant.
(b) If a political subdivision completes the project for which thestate grant money was provided and money remains in the fund:
(1) the political subdivision shall transfer the state's share of theremaining money to the treasurer of state for deposit in the fundfrom which the grant was made; and
(2) the political subdivision's pro rata share of the remainingmoney reverts to the political subdivision's general fund.
As added by P.L.10-1997, SEC.25. Amended by P.L.68-2001, SEC.9.
IC 36-1-8-13
Referral of dishonored checks to prosecuting attorney
Sec. 13. A unit that is unable to obtain payment of a dishonoredcheck shall, not later than ninety (90) days after the check is initiallyreceived by the unit, refer the matter to the prosecuting attorney forthe county where the dishonored check was received for prosecution.
As added by P.L.98-2000, SEC.17.
IC 36-1-8-14
Three-fourths vote rounded to nearest whole number
Sec. 14. Whenever this title requires an action to be taken by athree-fourths (3/4) vote, the number of votes necessary to satisfy therequirement is rounded to the nearest whole number.
As added by P.L.125-2001, SEC.1.
IC 36-1-8-14.2
Payments in lieu of taxes; exemptions
Sec. 14.2. (a) As used in this section, the following terms have themeanings set forth in IC 6-1.1-1:
(1) Assessed value.
(2) Exemption.
(3) Owner.
(4) Person.
(5) Property taxation. (6) Real property.
(7) Township assessor.
(b) As used in this section, "PILOTS" means payments in lieu oftaxes.
(c) As used in this section, "property owner" means the owner ofreal property described in IC 6-1.1-10-16.7.
(d) Subject to the approval of a property owner, the governingbody of a political subdivision may adopt an ordinance to require theproperty owner to pay PILOTS at times set forth in the ordinancewith respect to real property that is subject to an exemption underIC 6-1.1-10-16.7, if the improvements that qualify the real propertyfor an exemption were begun or acquired after December 31, 2001.The ordinance remains in full force and effect until repealed ormodified by the governing body, subject to the approval of theproperty owner.
(e) The PILOTS must be calculated so that the PILOTS are in anamount equal to the amount of property taxes that would have beenlevied by the governing body for the political subdivision upon thereal property described in subsection (d) if the property were notsubject to an exemption from property taxation.
(f) PILOTS shall be imposed as are property taxes and shall bebased on the assessed value of the real property described insubsection (d). Except as provided in subsection (j), the townshipassessor, or the county assessor if there is no township assessor forthe township, shall assess the real property described in subsection(d) as though the property were not subject to an exemption.
(g) PILOTS collected under this section shall be deposited in theunit's affordable housing fund established under IC 5-20-5-15.5 andused for any purpose for which the affordable housing fund may beused.
(h) PILOTS shall be due as set forth in the ordinance and bearinterest, if unpaid, as in the case of other taxes on property. PILOTSshall be treated in the same manner as taxes for purposes of allprocedural and substantive provisions of law.
(i) This section does not apply to a county that contains aconsolidated city or to a political subdivision of the county.
(j) If the duties of the township assessor have been transferred tothe county assessor as described in IC 6-1.1-1-24, a reference to thetownship assessor in this section is considered to be a reference tothe county assessor.
As added by P.L.186-2001, SEC.8. Amended by P.L.181-2006,SEC.61; P.L.219-2007, SEC.105; P.L.146-2008, SEC.686.
IC 36-1-8-15
Shortened term of county office under constitution; benefits
Sec. 15. (a) This section is enacted to implement Article 6,Section 2(b) of the Constitution of the State of Indiana.
(b) This section applies to an individual:
(1) who was elected at least two (2) times to a county office;and (2) who would have served at least eight (8) years in the electedcounty office had the individual's term of office not beenshortened under a statute enacted under Article 6, Section 2(b)of the Constitution of the State of Indiana.
(c) As used in this section, "benefit of office" refers to a benefitto which an individual who holds an elected county office is entitledbecause of a statute, an ordinance, or a contract.
(d) As used in this section, "county office" refers to any of thecounty offices referred to in Article 6, Section 2 of the Constitutionof the State of Indiana.
(e) An individual described in subsection (b) who is otherwiseentitled to a benefit of office may not be deprived of the benefit ofoffice based on a requirement in any other statute or any ordinanceor contract that to be eligible for the benefit of office an individualmust hold elected county office for at least eight (8) years.
As added by P.L.88-2005, SEC.14.
IC 36-1-8-16
Property taxes collected for property disposed by county executive
Sec. 16. (a) If a county executive disposes of real property, theproperty taxes collected for each item of the real property in the firstyear the item of real property is subject to taxation after the year thereal property is sold or otherwise conveyed shall be disbursed to thecounty executive that sold or otherwise conveyed the item of realproperty.
(b) Disbursements to the county executive under subsection (a)shall be deposited into the county general fund, the redevelopmentfund, the unsafe building fund, or the housing trust fund and shall beused only for one (1) or more of the purposes authorized underIC 36-7-14-22.5 or IC 36-7-15.1-15.5.
(c) The county executive shall forward a copy of each resolutionthat disposes or otherwise conveys real property to the countyauditor.
(d) The disbursement of property taxes under subsection (a) shallterminate in the second year the item of real property is subject totaxation after the property is sold or otherwise conveyed.
As added by P.L.169-2006, SEC.47.