Minnesota Session Laws - 1984, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1984 

                        CHAPTER 528-H.F.No. 1875 
           An act relating to local government; providing for 
          changes in the administration of county nursing homes 
          and the issuance of general obligation bonds for such 
          homes; authorizing the establishment of facilities for 
          the provision of supportive services; allowing for a 
          change in the reporting year for municipal nursing 
          homes; amending Minnesota Statutes 1982, sections 
          376.55; 376.56; 376.57; 376.58; 376.59; 376.60; and 
          471.696; repealing Minnesota Statutes 1982, sections 
          376.573; 376.61; 376.62; 376.63; 376.64; 376.65; and 
          376.66. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1982, section 376.55, is 
amended to read: 
    376.55 [COUNTY NURSING HOME.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [AUTHORITY.] (a) Any county singly, or any 
group of counties acting jointly are hereby authorized to 
establish a county nursing home, in sections 376.55 to 376.66 
376.57 and 376.58 to 376.60 also termed "nursing home", for the 
care and treatment of chronically ill or convalescent persons 
with the consent of a majority of the county board;  
    (b) In addition to its usual meaning, the phrase 
"chronically ill or convalescent persons" as used in sections 
376.55 to 376.66 376.57 and 376.58 to 376.60 includes persons 
who need nursing home care because old age or infirmity renders 
them unable to properly care for themselves;  
    (c) Nursing homes established under sections 376.55 to 
376.66 shall be devoted primarily to the care and treatment of 
persons requiring welfare services Any county, or group of 
counties, which owns a nursing home, may establish and operate 
an attached or related facility for the purpose of providing 
supportive services to elderly persons who are not yet in need 
of nursing home care.  Supportive services may include 
congregate housing, adult day care, and respite care services.  
    Subd. 2.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] The county board of any county, 
or any group of counties acting jointly, may establish a nursing 
home and a facility for supportive services as provided in 
sections 376.55 to 376.66 376.57 and 376.58 to 376.60, by 
converting suitable existing county owned buildings, or by 
leasing suitable premises for a term of not to exceed 15 years 
with suitable provision in the instrument of leasing for 
additional terms of not to exceed 15 years, exercisable at the 
election and option of the lessee or lessees, or by acquiring a 
suitable site by gift, purchase, or condemnation proceedings 
instituted in the name of the county, or counties, a suitable 
site, and erecting suitable buildings thereon, and to equip, 
maintain, enlarge or add thereto which are equipped, maintained, 
enlarged or otherwise modified to be the same as a nursing home 
for chronically ill and convalescent persons.  
    Subd. 3.  [FINANCING.] The county board of any county in 
this state may transfer surplus funds from any fund except the 
road and bridge, sinking or drainage ditch funds for the purpose 
of establishing, maintaining, enlarging, or adding to a county 
nursing home.  When surplus funds are not available for 
transfer, a county board may issue bonds to defray the cost of 
establishing, equipping, furnishing, enlarging, or adding to a 
county nursing home, subject to the provisions of section 376.56.
    Subd. 4.  [PURCHASE OF INTEREST IN EXISTING HOME.] Any 
county, not maintaining a nursing home, either alone or in 
connection with another or other counties, may purchase an 
interest in an existing county nursing home if the county board 
or boards owning such nursing home decide by majority vote of 
each county board to admit such county.  The sum to be paid for 
admission to ownership shall be fixed by the county board or 
boards owning such home with due regard for their investment in 
such home.  Any county admitted under this provision shall have 
all the rights and privileges provided for in sections 376.55 to 
376.66 376.57 and 376.58 to 376.60.  
    Subd. 5.  [COUNTY DEFINED.] Whenever in sections 376.55 to 
376.66 376.57 and 376.58 to 376.60 the word "county" is used, it 
refers to a county acting singly, or as one of a group of 
counties acting jointly, unless the context clearly indicates 
otherwise.  
    Subd. 6.  [WITHDRAWAL OF INTEREST.] Any county board may 
withdraw its interest in any county nursing home if the county 
board or boards owning such nursing home decide by majority vote 
of each county board to allow such withdrawal.  The sum to be 
paid to the county withdrawing shall be fixed by the county 
board or boards owning such home with due regard for their 
investment in such home.  
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1982, section 376.56, is 
amended to read: 
    [376.56] [TAX LEVY LEVIES AND BONDS.] 
    Subdivision 1.  The county board of any county establishing 
or participating in establishing a nursing home, under the 
authority granted in section 376.55, shall may annually levy a 
tax in such the amount as is necessary to defray all or its 
proportion of the net costs of maintenance and operation of such 
the nursing home after taking into consideration payments 
received for care of patients residents, and in addition thereto 
a tax to repay the cost of acquiring such nursing home, and for 
the retirement of bonds issued for, establishing, equipping, 
furnishing, enlarging, or adding to a county nursing home, and 
to pay the principal of and interest on general obligation bonds 
issued by it for that purpose.  
    Subd. 2.  The proceeds of taxes for costs of maintenance 
and operation shall be paid by the county by which they are 
collected into a county nursing home fund, which, in the case of 
counties operating jointly, shall be kept in the treasury of the 
county in which the nursing home is located and shall be 
expended therefrom as provided in sections 376.55 to 376.66.  
    Subd. 3.  Any Bonds issued under the authority of sections 
376.55 to 376.66 shall be known as county nursing home bonds and 
shall section 376.55, subdivision 3, may be general obligations 
of the county and shall may be issued and sold, and tax levies 
taxes levied for the their payment thereof made in accordance 
with the provisions of sections 475.53 to 475.72 and acts 
amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto chapter 475.  No 
election shall be required to authorize the issuance of such 
bonds for the purpose of improving, remodeling, or replacing an 
existing nursing home without increase of the number of 
accommodations for residents.  The revenues of the nursing home 
shall also be pledged for the payment of the bonds and interest 
and premium, if any, thereon.  A portion of the proceeds may be 
deposited in the debt service fund for the issue, to capitalize 
interest and create a reserve for the purpose of reducing or 
eliminating the tax otherwise required by section 475.61 to be 
levied before issuing the bonds.  The remaining proceeds from 
the sale of those the bonds and any surplus funds transferred 
pursuant to the provisions of section 376.55, subdivision 3 
shall be credited to and deposited in the county nursing home 
building fund by the county auditor and deposited to the credit 
of such fund by the county treasurer of the county in which the 
nursing home is located.  
     Subd. 4.  The county treasurer of the county in which the 
nursing home is located shall make payments out of the county 
nursing home fund and county nursing home building fund on 
properly authenticated vouchers of the county nursing home 
administrative board, as in sections 376.55 to 376.66 provided 
in sections 376.58 and 376.59.  The county treasurer of each 
county issuing general obligation bonds pursuant to subdivision 
3 shall pay such bonds and interest thereon from the county's 
debt service fund and shall be the custodian of net revenues 
transmitted by the administrative board for the payment of such 
bonds. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1982, section 376.57, is 
amended to read: 
    376.57 [DETERMINATION TO ESTABLISH.] 
    In establishing a jointly owned and operated county nursing 
home or facility for supportive services, each of the 
cooperating counties shall determine by a majority vote of the 
county board of that county that it is in favor of the 
establishment of such the home or of the facility, the place of 
its location, the approximate amount to be expended for the 
establishment of the proposed nursing home or facility under the 
authority provided in section 376.55 and authorize the payment 
by that county of its proportionate share of that cost of 
establishment.  The proportion of costs of that establishment, 
and of costs of maintenance and operation of the nursing home or 
facility to be paid by each county shall be on the basis of the 
proportion that the assessed valuation in that county bears to 
the total assessed valuation in all of the cooperating counties 
set by terms agreed upon by each of the participating counties.  
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1982, section 376.58, is 
amended to read: 
    376.58 [SUPERVISION.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [DESIGNATION OF COUNTY WELFARE NURSING HOME 
ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD.] The county board of any county 
establishing a county nursing home as herein authorized singly 
shall and facility for supportive services may designate the 
county welfare board any board under the jurisdiction and 
control of the county board to supervise that nursing home as an 
integral part of county welfare services and facility, and that 
county welfare board shall constitute the county nursing home 
nursing home's administrative board for that county.  
    Subd. 2.  [NURSING HOME ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD; CREATION; 
COMPENSATION.] Whenever two or more counties, through their 
boards of county commissioners, have agreed to maintain a county 
nursing home and facility for supportive services under the 
authority provided in section 376.55 herein, the county 
commissioners of each county shall designate the county welfare 
boards a board from each of the cooperating counties as the 
county nursing home administrative board.  Immediately after 
their designation as the county nursing home administrative 
board, the welfare boards of the cooperating counties shall hold 
a joint meeting and elect a chairman, vice chairman and 
secretary who shall be the executive committee; provided, 
however, that each county shall have not less than one 
representative on the executive committee, provided also that 
where more than three counties participate in establishing a 
nursing home, the executive committee shall be expanded by one 
member for each additional county above three to the end that no 
county will have less than one member on the executive 
committee.  The joint meeting of the county welfare boards that 
have been designated as the county nursing home administrative 
board shall, in the first instance, be called by the chairman of 
the county welfare board of the county wherein in which the 
county commissioners have agreed to locate the proposed home and 
facility, and thereafter they shall meet annually, and at such 
other times as are deemed necessary.  Members of the county 
nursing home administrative board, and its executive committee, 
other than members of board of county commissioners, for each 
day spent in transacting the business of the board or the 
committee shall be compensated and each member, including 
members of board of county commissioners, may be reimbursed for 
necessary expenses incurred by them in connection with their 
official duties; such compensation and reimbursement for 
expenses shall be paid from the county nursing home fund and 
shall be the same as for service as a member of a county welfare 
board.  This compensation shall be in addition to any 
compensation received as a member of such welfare board in a 
manner and amounts agreed upon by the county boards.  Nothing in 
this subdivision shall be construed to prohibit the payment of a 
per diem to county commissioners pursuant to section 375.055, 
subdivision 1. 
    Subd. 3.  [NURSING HOME ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD; POWERS, 
DUTIES.] The county nursing home administrative board herein 
authorized shall have the power to establish, operate and 
maintain a county nursing home and facility for supportive 
services within the limits prescribed in sections 376.55 to 
376.66 376.57 and 376.58 to 376.60.  The county nursing home 
administrative board may delegate to the executive committee 
herein defined in subdivision 2 the authority to supervise the 
establishment, management and operation of the county nursing 
home and facility for supportive services including the approval 
of expenditures and such other business as is necessary for the 
efficient operation of the home within such general policies as 
have been established by the county nursing home administrative 
board.  The county nursing home administrative board may 
authorize a sum to pay incidental expenses of the nursing home 
in accordance with the provisions of section 375.16.  
    Subd. 4.  [EXPENDITURES, APPROVAL.] The county nursing home 
administrative board, or its executive committee, if so 
designated as provided in subdivision 2, shall approve by a 
majority vote all expenditure vouchers, and the chairman of the 
board or committee approving them shall thereafter transmit them 
to the county auditor of the county in which the home is and 
facility are located for payment through the county welfare 
board office of that county in the same manner as other county 
welfare expenditures, accompanied by his certification that they 
have been approved by a majority of the board or the executive 
committee of the board as the case may be.  The county welfare 
board of the county in which the home is located shall perform 
all clerical and accounting functions other than the maintaining 
of medical records.  
    Subd. 5.  [ESTIMATES OF COST.] The provisions of Minnesota 
Statutes 1949, Section 393.08, as to the preparation of 
estimates of cost for the county welfare board are hereby made 
applicable to costs of operation of the county nursing home 
under sections 376.55 to 376.66 Preparation of estimates of 
costs for the operation of the nursing home and the facility for 
supportive services shall be submitted as required by the 
administrative board of the nursing home or as called for by the 
county board.  The fiscal year for the nursing home, and the 
facility for supportive services if it is appropriate, may be 
the reporting year designated by the commissioner of public 
welfare.  
    Subd. 6.  [ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS.] The county nursing home 
county's nursing home administrative board is empowered to 
accept as a trust any gift, donation, or endowment from any 
source, whether subject to special provisions of the donor or 
not, and such gifts, donations, or endowments shall be placed to 
the credit of the county nursing home fund in the treasury of 
the county in which the home is and facility are located and, 
disbursed, as to principal or income as the donors may have 
indicated, by the county nursing home administrative board.  
    Subd. 7.  [PATIENT RESIDENT FUNDS; UNCLAIMED MONEY.] The 
superintendent administrator of a county nursing home shall have 
the care and custody of all moneys belonging to patients thereof 
residents which may lawfully come into his hands and keep 
accurate accounting records of all transactions concerning such 
moneys, taking vouchers for withdrawals therefrom.  He shall 
give a bond in such amount as required by the county nursing 
home board, conditioned to safely keep and account for such 
funds.  All moneys received from a patient or for the benefit of 
a patient by an officer or employee of the nursing home shall be 
delivered to the superintendent forthwith.  Not more than $500 
shall be accepted by the superintendent for the benefit of any 
one patient.  All money received by the superintendent shall be 
deposited in the county treasury for the purposes expressed in 
this subdivision.  Every superintendent shall, at the close of 
each month, or oftener if required by the county nursing home 
board or its executive committee, forward to the executive 
committee a statement of the amount of all moneys so received 
and the names of the patients from whom received as prescribed 
by the commissioner of health and the commissioner of public 
welfare.  
    When there accumulates money belonging to patients of a 
county nursing home who have died therein, or disappeared 
therefrom, and for which money there is no claimant or person 
entitled thereto known to the superintendent, such money if 
unclaimed for at least five years shall be credited to the 
general fund of the nursing home.  No money shall be so used 
until it shall have remained unclaimed for at least five years. 
If, at any time after the expiration of the five years, the 
legal heirs of the patient shall appear and make proper proof of 
such heirship, they shall be entitled to receive from the county 
nursing home board such sums of money belonging to the patient, 
that have been expended by the superintendent.  
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1982, section 376.59, is 
amended to read: 
    376.59 [COUNTY BUILDING FUNDS.] 
    When a county nursing home administrative board is 
satisfied that each county in a cooperating group of counties 
has available its share of the cost of establishing the nursing 
home and facility for supportive services, it shall so certify 
to the county board of each cooperating county, which shall 
thereupon order the county treasurer of that county to pay over 
to the treasurer of the county in which the nursing home is to 
be located, the county nursing home building funds in the 
possession of such the county treasurer.  The county nursing 
home home's administrative board shall then proceed to carry out 
the purposes of sections 376.55 to 376.66 376.57 and 376.58 to 
376.60.  
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1982, section 376.60, is 
amended to read: 
    376.60 [ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD OR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE; 
POWERS, DUTIES.] 
    The county nursing home administrative board or its 
executive committee as herein provided is hereby authorized: 
    (1) To appoint a superintendent of the county nursing home 
secure an administrator and all necessary employees for the 
management and control of such county the nursing home, and to 
prescribe their compensation and duties;  
    (2) To arrange for physicians' services and other medical 
care for the chronically ill and convalescent patients residents 
in the home, and prescribe the compensation and duties of 
physicians so designated, provided that nothing herein shall 
preclude a patient from being attended by his family physician 
or physician of his choice serving the area in which the nursing 
home is located.  
    (3) To purchase equipment, supplies and services necessary 
in the care and maintenance of the nursing home and the patients 
therein residents; 
    (4) To perform all other acts necessary to carry out the 
provisions of sections 376.55 to 376.66 376.57 and 376.58 to 
376.60, except those with which the county board or boards are 
specifically charged, including all the powers granted the 
county by section 376.55, subdivision 2, and specifically the 
authority to institute condemnation proceedings in the name of 
the county or counties involved, which shall be conducted in the 
manner provided by Minnesota Statutes 1949, chapter 117, in the 
case of other condemnation proceedings by counties. 
    Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1982, section 471.696, is 
amended to read: 
    471.696 [FISCAL YEAR; DESIGNATION.] 
    Beginning in 1979 the fiscal year of a city and all of its 
funds shall be the calendar year.  The state auditor may upon 
request of a city and a showing of inability to conform, extend 
the deadline for compliance with this section for one year, 
except that a city may, by resolution, provide that the fiscal 
year for city owned nursing homes be the reporting year 
designated by the commissioner of public welfare. 
    Sec. 8.  [REPEALER.] 
    Minnesota Statutes 1982, sections 376.573, 376.61, 376.62, 
376.63, 376.64, 376.65, and 376.66, are repealed. 
    Approved April 25, 1984