1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to the reorganization, administration, and 
  1.3             operation of a hospital district in Rice county; 
  1.4             amending Laws 1963, chapter 118, sections 1, 
  1.5             subdivision 3; 2; 4; and 6. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Laws 1963, chapter 118, section 1, subdivision 
  1.8   3, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 3.  For the purpose of this act, the term 
  1.10  "municipality" shall include cities, villages, and towns of the 
  1.11  hospital district, which are as follows:  the cities of 
  1.12  Faribault, Nerstrand, and Morristown; and the townships of 
  1.13  Wheeling, Cannon City, Wells, Shieldsville, Morristown, Warsaw, 
  1.14  Walcott, and Richland. 
  1.15     Sec. 2.  Laws 1963, chapter 118, section 2, is amended to 
  1.16  read: 
  1.17     Sec. 2.  [HOSPITAL BOARD; APPOINTMENT; TERMS.] 
  1.18     Subdivision 1.  The hospital district shall be governed by 
  1.19  a board of directors of nine voting members, hereinafter called 
  1.20  "hospital board", who shall be residents of the district, 
  1.21  appointed by the county board committee described under 
  1.22  subdivision 4.  The members of the hospital board shall be 
  1.23  selected from the several municipalities forming a part of the 
  1.24  district, on the basis of population, so that, as nearly as 
  1.25  practicable, the most populous municipality shall have numerical 
  2.1   representation in proportion to its share of the total district 
  2.2   population. 
  2.3      Subd. 2.  One third of the members of the first hospital 
  2.4   board shall be appointed for a term to expire one year from May 
  2.5   1 next following such appointment, one third for a term to 
  2.6   expire two years from such date, and one third for a term to 
  2.7   expire three years from such date.  Successors to the original 
  2.8   board members shall each be appointed for terms of three years.  
  2.9   All members shall hold office until their successors are 
  2.10  appointed and qualify.  Terms of all members shall expire on May 
  2.11  1.  Members of the hospital board shall be appointed to a 
  2.12  three-year term, expiring on May 1.  Terms of office must be 
  2.13  staggered so that one-third of the positions are up for 
  2.14  appointment each year.  In case of a vacancy on the hospital 
  2.15  board, whether due to death, removal from the district 
  2.16  nonresidency, inability to serve, resignation, or other removal 
  2.17  for cause the county board, at its next regular or special 
  2.18  meeting, shall make an appointment to fill such vacancy shall be 
  2.19  made at a special meeting of the appointment committee for the 
  2.20  then unexpired term.  Tenure of each board member is limited to 
  2.21  three successive three-year terms, or a total of nine successive 
  2.22  years, but a member may be reappointed after one year without 
  2.23  board membership.  The hospital administrative staff shall 
  2.24  facilitate the appointment process, including an open 
  2.25  advertisement for hospital board vacancies. 
  2.26     Subd. 3.  In addition to voting members, the hospital board 
  2.27  may add ex officio members to the board, but without voting 
  2.28  privilege.  The hospital board shall adopt bylaws to provide 
  2.29  grounds and a procedure for removal of board members for cause 
  2.30  and may remove board members in accordance with the bylaws. 
  2.31     Subd. 4.  All members of the hospital board at the time the 
  2.32  hospital district is reorganized shall continue in office until 
  2.33  the members of the first board of the reorganized district are 
  2.34  appointed and qualify.  A five-member appointment committee of 
  2.35  elected officials representing the municipalities of the 
  2.36  hospital district shall be established each year.  Two members 
  3.1   of the appointing committee shall be selected by the Faribault 
  3.2   city council.  Two members of the appointing committee shall be 
  3.3   selected by the representatives of the other municipalities at 
  3.4   the hospital annual meeting.  One county commissioner member, 
  3.5   whose constituency is made up of at least one-third of the city 
  3.6   of Faribault, shall be selected by the Rice county board. 
  3.7      Sec. 3.  Laws 1963, chapter 118, section 4, is amended to 
  3.8   read: 
  3.9      Sec. 4.  [MEETINGS OF THE BOARD.] 
  3.10     Subdivision 1.  Regular meetings of the hospital board 
  3.11  shall be held at least once a month, at such time and place as 
  3.12  the board shall by resolution determine.  Special meetings may 
  3.13  be held at any time upon the call of the chairman or of any two 
  3.14  other members, upon written notice mailed to each member three 
  3.15  days prior to the meeting, or upon such other notice as the 
  3.16  board, by resolution, may provide, or without notice, if each 
  3.17  member is present or files with the secretary a written consent 
  3.18  to the holding of the meeting, which consent may be filed before 
  3.19  or after the meeting.  Any action within the authority of the 
  3.20  board may be taken by the vote of a majority of the members 
  3.21  present at a regular or adjourned meeting or at a duly called 
  3.22  special meeting if a quorum is present.  A majority of all the 
  3.23  members of the board shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser 
  3.24  number may meet and adjourn from time to time. 
  3.25     Subd. 2.  During the second half of each year, the hospital 
  3.26  board will convene an annual meeting to report to the citizens 
  3.27  of the hospital district on the state of the hospital.  The 
  3.28  agenda will include a report by the chief executive officer on 
  3.29  the status of the hospital, future plans for the hospital, and 
  3.30  the hospital's financial condition, including the need for 
  3.31  revenues derived from the property tax levy.  Each of the 
  3.32  municipalities shall send one official representative.  
  3.33     Sec. 4.  Laws 1963, chapter 118, section 6, is amended to 
  3.34  read: 
  3.35     Sec. 6.  [PAYMENT OF EXPENSES; TAXATION.] 
  3.36     Subdivision 1.  Expenses of acquisition, betterment, 
  4.1   administration, operation, and maintenance of any hospital, 
  4.2   including nursing home facilities, operated by the hospital 
  4.3   district, shall be paid from the revenue derived therefrom and, 
  4.4   to the extent necessary, from ad valorem taxes levied by the 
  4.5   hospital board upon all taxable property situated within the 
  4.6   district.  and, to the extent determined from time to time by 
  4.7   the county board of Rice county, from appropriations made by 
  4.8   said board in accordance with the provisions of Minnesota 
  4.9   Statutes 1961, Section 376.08, or any future laws authorizing 
  4.10  such appropriations.  Any moneys so appropriated by such county 
  4.11  board for the acquisition or betterment of facilities of the 
  4.12  hospital district may be transferred, in the discretion of the 
  4.13  hospital board, to a sinking fund for bonds issued for that 
  4.14  purpose.  The hospital board may agree to repay to the county 
  4.15  any sums so appropriated, out of the net revenues to be derived 
  4.16  from operation of its facilities, subject to such terms as may 
  4.17  be agreed upon.  No taxes levied by the hospital district in any 
  4.18  year, other than taxes levied for payment of bonded 
  4.19  indebtedness, shall exceed a total of five mills, provided that 
  4.20  such limitation may be exceeded if the amount proposed to be 
  4.21  levied in excess of such millage against property in any 
  4.22  municipality within the district added to the levy of such 
  4.23  municipality would not cause such municipal levy to exceed the 
  4.24  limitations of Minnesota Statutes 1961, Section 275.10 or 275.11.
  4.25     Subd. 2.  On or before October 10 September 15 of each year 
  4.26  the hospital board shall determine certify to the county auditor 
  4.27  the total amount required to be raised from ad valorem tax levy 
  4.28  in order to meet estimated expenses during the ensuing year and 
  4.29  shall cause such amount to be certified to the county auditor to 
  4.30  be extended upon the tax rolls. 
  4.31     Subd. 3.  The county auditor shall determine the millage 
  4.32  levy net tax capacity required and certify the same to the 
  4.33  county treasurer for collection with other taxes.  The county 
  4.34  treasurer shall make settlement of such taxes with the treasurer 
  4.35  of the hospital district in the same manner as other taxes are 
  4.36  distributed to political subdivisions.  The levies authorized by 
  5.1   this section shall be in addition to any other taxes authorized 
  5.2   by law. 
  5.3      Subd. 4.  Only an increase in the amount of taxes levied by 
  5.4   the hospital board over three percent of the hospital district's 
  5.5   net tax capacity shall require ratification by a majority vote 
  5.6   of the Faribault city council and a majority of the governing 
  5.7   bodies of the other municipalities in the hospital district.  At 
  5.8   the option of the hospital board, the vote may occur at a 
  5.9   specially scheduled joint meeting of all the municipalities of 
  5.10  the hospital district, or at the hospital's annual meeting. 
  5.11     Sec. 5.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  5.12     Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 645.023, 
  5.13  subdivision 1, sections 1 to 4 are effective without local 
  5.14  approval on the day following final enactment.