_________ Bill No. _______

Introduced By _______________________________________________________________________________

A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act requiring the county treasurer to deposit one-half of the 2 percent penalty collected on delinquent taxes to the county general fund; amending section

20-9-212, MCA; and providing an effective date and a retroactive applicability date."

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:

NEW SECTION. Section 1.  One-half of penalty deposited to county general fund. The county treasurer shall deposit one-half of the 2% penalty collected on delinquent taxes, as provided in 15-16-102, to the county general fund.

Section 2.  Section 20-9-212, MCA, is amended to read:

"20-9-212.   Duties of county treasurer. The county treasurer of each county shall:

(1)  must receive and hold all school money subject to apportionment and keep a separate accounting of its apportionment to the several districts that are entitled to a portion of the money according to the apportionments ordered by the county superintendent or by the superintendent of public instruction. A separate accounting must be maintained for each county fund supported by a countywide levy for a specific, authorized purpose, including:

(a)  the basic county tax in support of the elementary BASE aid;

(b)  the basic special tax for high schools in support of the high school BASE aid;

(c)  the county tax in support of the transportation schedules;

(d)  the county tax in support of the elementary and high school district retirement obligations; and

(e)  any other county tax for schools, including the community colleges, that may be authorized by law and levied by the county commissioners.

(2)  whenever requested, shall notify the county superintendent and the superintendent of public instruction of the amount of county school money on deposit in each of the funds enumerated in subsection (1) and the amount of any other school money subject to apportionment and apportion the county and other school money to the districts in accordance with the apportionment ordered by the county superintendent or the superintendent of public instruction;

(3)  shall keep a separate accounting of the receipts, expenditures, and cash balances for each fund;

(4)  except as otherwise limited by law, shall pay all warrants properly drawn on the county or district school money;

(5)  must receive all revenue collected by and for each district and deposit these receipts in the fund designated by law or by the district if a fund is not designated by law. Interest and one-half of the penalties on delinquent school taxes must be credited to the same fund and district for which the original taxes were levied.

(6)  shall send all revenue received for a joint district, part of which is situated in the county, to the county treasurer designated as the custodian of the revenue, no later than December 15 of each year and every 3 months after that date until the end of the school fiscal year;

(7)  at the direction of the trustees of a district, shall assist the district in the issuance and sale of tax and revenue anticipation notes as provided in Title 7, chapter 6, part 11;

(8)  shall register district warrants drawn on a budgeted fund in accordance with 7-6-2604 when there is insufficient money available in all funds of the district to make payment of the warrant. Redemption of registered warrants must be made in accordance with 7-6-2116, 7-6-2605, and 7-6-2606.

(9)  shall invest the money of any district as directed by the trustees of the district within 3 working days of the direction;

(10) each month, shall give to the trustees of each district an itemized report for each fund maintained by the district, showing the paid warrants, registered warrants, interest distribution, amounts and types of revenue received, and the cash balance;

(11) shall remit promptly to the state treasurer receipts for the county tax for a vocational-technical program within a unit of the university system when levied by the board of county commissioners under the provisions of 20-25-439;

(12) shall invest the money received from the basic county tax, the basic special tax, the county levy in support of the elementary and high school district retirement obligations, and the county levy in support of the transportation schedules within 3 working days of receipt. The money must be invested until the working day before it is required to be distributed to school districts within the county or remitted to the state. Permissible investments are specified in 20-9-213(4). All investment income must be deposited, and credited proportionately, in the funds established to account for the taxes received for the purposes specified in subsections (1)(a) through (1)(d).

(13) shall remit on a monthly basis to the state treasurer, in accordance with the provisions of 15-1-504, all county equalization revenue received under the provisions of 20-9-331 and 20-9-333, including all interest earned and excluding any amount required for high school out-of-county tuition under the provisions of 20-9-334, in repayment of the state advance for county equalization prescribed in 20-9-347. Any funds in excess of a state advance must be used as required in 20-9-331(1)(b) and 20-9-333(1)(b)."

NEW SECTION. Section 3.  Codification instruction. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 15, chapter 16, part 1, and the provisions of Title 15, chapter 16, part 1, apply to [section 1].

NEW SECTION. Section 4.  Effective date -- retroactive applicability. [This act] is effective July 1, 1997, and applies retroactively, within the meaning of 1-2-109, to property tax years beginning after December 31, 1996.

-END-