12-1927.   Annual budget; hearing; notice; tax levy;increase in levy, subject to protest; annual audit, when required.(a) The recreation commission shallprepare an annualbudget for the operation of the recreation system.Prior to the certification of its budget to the city or school district, therecreation commission shall meet for the purpose of answering and hearingobjections of taxpayers relating to the proposed budget and for the purposeof considering amendments to such proposed budget. The recreationcommission shall give at least 10 days' notice of the time and place of themeeting by publication in a weekly or daily newspaper having a generalcirculation in the taxing district. Such notice shall include the proposedbudget and shall set out all essential items in the budget except suchgroupings as designated by the director of accounts and reports on aspecial publication form prescribed by the director of accounts and reportsand furnished with the regular budget form. The public hearing required tobe held herein shall be held not less than 10 days prior to the date onwhich the recreation commission is required to certify its budget to thecity or school district. After such hearing the budget shall be adopted oramended and adopted by the recreation commission. In order to providefunds to carry out the provisions of this act and to pay a portion of theprincipal and interest on bonds issued pursuant to K.S.A. 12-1774, andamendments thereto, the recreation commission shall annually, not laterthan August 1 of any year, certify its budget to such city or schooldistrict which shall levy a tax sufficient to raise the amount required bysuch budget on all the taxable tangible property within the taxing district.Each year a copy of the budget adopted by the recreation commission shall befiled withthe city clerk in the case of a city-established recreation system or withtheclerk of the school district in the case of a school district-establishedrecreation system or with the clerk of the taxing district in the case of ajointly established recreation system. Acopy of such budget also shall be filed with the county clerk of the county inwhich the recreation system is located. If the recreation system is located inmore than one county, a copy of the budget shall be filed with the clerk of thecounty in which the greater portion of the assessed valuation of the recreationsystem is located. The city or school district shall notbe required tolevy a tax in excessof the maximum tax levy set by the city or school district by currentresolution. In the case of a new recreation commissionestablished under the provisions of this act, such levy shall not berequired to exceed one mill. Whenever therecreation commission determines that the tax currently being levied for thecommission, as previously established by the city or school district, isinsufficient to operate the recreation system and thecommission desires to increase the mill levy above the current levy, thecommission shall request that the city or school district authorize anincrease by adopting a resolution declaring it necessary to increase theannual levy. The city or school district may authorize the increase byresolution, but such increase shall not exceed one mill per year. Themaximum annual mill levy for the recreation commission general fund shallnot exceed a total of four mills.

      (b)   Any resolution adopted under subsection (a) shall state the totalamount of the tax to be levied for the recreation system and shall bepublished once each week for two consecutive weeks in the officialnewspaper of the taxing district.Whereupon, such annual levy in an amount not to exceed the amount stated inthe resolution may be made for the ensuing budget year and each successivebudget year unless a petition requesting an election upon the propositionto increase the tax levy in excess of the current tax levy, signed by atleast 5% of the qualified voters of the taxing district,is filed with the county election officer within 30days following the date of the last publication of theresolution. In the event a valid petition is filed, no such increasedlevy shall be made without such proposition having been submitted to andhaving been approved by a majority of the voters of the taxing districtvoting at an electioncalled and held thereon. All such elections shall be called and held inthe manner provided by the general bond law, and the cost of the electionshall be borne by the recreation commission. Suchtaxes shall be levied and collected in like manner as other taxes, whichlevy the city or school district shall certify, on or before August 25of each year, to the county clerk who is hereby authorized andrequired to place the same on the tax roll of the county to becollected by the county treasurer and paid over by the county treasurer tothe ex officio treasurer of the recreation commission.

      (c)   The tax levy provided in this section shall not beconsidered a levyof such city or school district under any of the statutes of this state,but shall be in addition to all other levies authorized by law and, withrespect to any such levy made for the first time in 1989, shallnot be subject to the provisions ofK.S.A. 79-5021 et seq., and amendments thereto.

      (d) (1)   At any time after the making of the first taxlevy pursuant to this act,the amount of such tax levy may be reduced bya majority of the voters of the taxing district voting at an electioncalled pursuant to a petition and conducted in the samemanner as that prescribed by subsection (b). The authority ofanyrecreation commission in existence on the effective date of this act or anyrecreation commission established under the provisions of this act tooperate and conduct its activities may berevokedin any year following thethird year of its operation by a majority of the voters of the taxingdistrict voting at an election called pursuant to a petition and conductedin the same manner as that prescribed by subsection (b).If the petitionsubmitted is for the purpose of reducing the mill levy, it shall state the milllevy reduction desired. Upon revocation, allproperty and money belonging to the recreation commission shall become theproperty of the taxing authority levying the tax for the commission, andthe recreation commission shall be dissolved. In the eventthe authority of a recreation commission is revoked pursuant to thissubsection, the taxing authority may continue to levy a tax in the mannerprescribed by the petition language for the purpose of paying any outstandingobligations of the recreation commission which exist on the date such authorityis revoked. The authority to levy a tax for this purpose shallcontinue only as long as such outstanding obligations exist.

      (2)   If the recreation district whose authority is revoked owns any realproperty at the time of such revocation, title to such real property shallrevert to the taxing authority.

      (e)   All financial records of the recreation commissionshall be auditedas provided in K.S.A. 75-1122, and amendments thereto, and a copy of suchannual audit report shall be filed with the governing body of the city orschool district, or both, in the case of a jointly established recreationsystem. A copy of such audit also shall be filed with the county clerk ofthe county in which the recreation system is located. If the recreationsystem is located in more than one county, a copy of the budget shall be filedwith the clerk of the county in which the greater portion of the assessedvaluation of the recreation system is located. The cost of each auditshall be borne by the recreation commission.

      History:   L. 1987, ch. 71, § 6;L. 1989, ch. 63, § 1;L. 1993, ch. 46, § 2;L. 1994, ch. 150, § 2;L. 2002, ch. 176, § 2; July 1.