AB 645

Generally, under current law, and subject to a number of exceptions, a city,

village, town, or county (political subdivision) may not increase its levy in any year

by a percentage that exceeds its "valuation factor," which is defined as the greater

of either zero percent or the percentage change in the political subdivision's

equalized value due to new construction, less improvements removed. The base

amount of a political subdivision's levy, on which the levy limit is imposed, is the

actual levy for the immediately preceding year.

Under one of the current law exceptions, a political subdivision may exceed the

levy limits that otherwise apply if the political subdivision's governing body adopts

a resolution to that effect and the resolution is approved in a referendum.

Under current law, the wording in the referendum question that appears on the

ballot must include information relating to the maximum allowable levy rate

increase for the next year and the total levy for the next year. However, the

information that is necessary to prepare the question is not available to the political

subdivision in time to put the question on the ballot for the spring primary or election

or partisan primary. The bill requires that in preparing the ballot question for a

referendum at a partisan primary in 2014, a county with a population of at least

30,000, but no more than 40,000, that is adjacent to a county with a population

exceeding 450,000, must use the most recent data that it has and the most recent

data from the Department of Revenue.