Government - Municipal - Digest of Bills

Digest of Bills - 2000

GOVERNMENT - MUNICIPAL
H.B. 00-1005 Fire and police pension association - waiver of interest on delinquent payments for new accounts in hardship cases. Permits the board of directors of the fire and police pension association to waive the interest charge against any delinquent payments owed to the fire and police members' benefit fund under the statewide defined benefit plan for new accounts in hardship cases, subject to rules adopted by the board.

APPROVED by Governor March 10, 2000
EFFECTIVE August 2, 2000
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date, see the note from page vi of this digest.

H.B. 00-1006 Fire and police pension association - elimination of transfers to the disability and death benefits account. Eliminates the possibility of reducing a fire and police pension association statewide defined benefit plan member's separate retirement account to make transfers to the disability and death benefits account of the fire and police members' benefit fund. Eliminates transfers, under specified circumstances, from the stabilization reserve account to the death and disability benefits account.

H.B. 00-1017 Fire and police pension association - irrevocable election to receive disability benefit option. Specifies than an election by a member of the fire and police pension association to receive an annual total disability benefit option in lieu of the normal annual disability benefit shall be irrevocable.

H.B. 00-1018 Fire and police pension association - investment of money purchase plan fund assets - fiduciary duties. Specifies that the board of the fire and police pension association is the trustee of the fire and police members' money purchase plan benefit fund, subject to the members' allocation of moneys in their accounts to the investment alternatives offered by the board. States that a member shall not be deemed a fiduciary by reason of exercising control over assets in the member's account and that the board shall not be liable for losses resulting from members exercising that control.

Eliminates the unrestricted authority of the board to invest the assets of the fire and police members' money purchase plan benefit fund. Specifies that the investment and management of assets allocated to the fire and police members' benefit fund, rather than the fire and police members' money purchase plan benefit fund, are subject to the "Uniform Prudent Investor Act".

H.B. 00-1022 Fire and police pensions - authority to increase contribution rates above statutory minimum. Authorizes employer and employee contribution rates for the police officers' and firefighters' statewide money purchase plan to be increased above the existing statutory minimum contribution rates. Requires the employer to request the change and a specified percentage of the employer's active members of the plan to approve the change. Allows a member and employer to make voluntary contributions to the plan by payroll deduction. Provides that any increased contributions resulting from a higher contribution rate shall not cause a member to exceed the limit on annual additions under the internal revenue code.

H.B. 00-1080 Volunteer firefighter pension funds - investment of fund moneys - compliance with the Colorado uniform prudent investor act. Requires the board of trustees of a volunteer firefighter pension fund to invest fund moneys in accordance with the "Colorado Uniform Prudent Investor Act".

APPROVED by Governor March 30, 2000
EFFECTIVE March 30, 2000

H.B. 00-1095 Municipal elections - revisions and clarifications. Makes revisions and clarifications to provisions governing municipal elections.

Generally. Allows a governing body to withdraw a ballot issue from the ballot without cancelling the election. Allows a governing body to cancel an election for public officials and on ballot issues or ballot questions only if the candidates are unopposed and the ballot issues or ballot questions have been withdrawn. Establishes a closing date for local elections reporting periods under the "Fair Campaign Practices Act". Excludes any election that is not a regularly scheduled municipal election from the definition of a "regular election".

Municipal home rule. Requires the governing body of a municipality seeking a home rule charter to set the ballot title for the charter election within 60 days after the date that the proposed charter is submitted. Requires any ordinance adopted by a governing body for purposes of amending the home rule charter to include a ballot title for the proposed charter amendment. Requires a governing body to set the ballot title for a petition to amend a home rule charter at the body's next meeting after the petition is deemed sufficient. Allows revisions to petitions deemed insufficient within 15 days after the inefficiency is declared. Removes the presumption that the signatures on a petition for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a home rule charter are authentic if the petition is accompanied by an affidavit of the circulator of the petition. Requires the municipal clerk to inspect petitions for adoption, amendment, or repeal of a home rule charter and petitions for the nomination of a municipal officer and the affidavits attached to those petitions to ensure compliance with applicable laws. Removes the requirement that circulators of petitions be registered electors of the municipality.

Officers' recall. Requires municipal clerks to mail a copy of any protest to a recall election to the officer who is the subject of the recall petition. Clarifies that the governing body of a municipality must set a recall election within 90 days from the date of submission of the recall petition. Limits inclusion of a recall election as part of a coordinated election to cases where the recall election ballot has been determined by the date of certification of the ballot content for the election. Requires termination of the recall proceedings upon submission of a written resignation by the officer to the clerk prior to the election. Prohibits the counting of the votes cast on a recall question when the officer resigns at a time when the recall question cannot be removed from the ballot. Requires the absentee polling place for recall elections to be open between the 10th and 5th day before the election. Clarifies that the circulation or filing of a recall petition against an officer is prohibited until the officer has held office for at least 6 months following election or reelection to office, and prohibits the continuation of pending recall proceedings against an officer until the officer has held office for at least 6 months following the elections or reelection. Subjects officers and candidates involved in a recall election to the "Fair Campaign Practices Act" reporting requirements. Authorizes the municipal clerk or the deputy clerk to resolve controversies concerning recall questions and initiative and referendum petitions.

Municipal election code. Clarifies that special elections may be called either by ordinance or resolution of the municipal governing body. Modifies the signature requirements for petitions to nominate municipal officers and permits the use of abbreviations that reasonably identify the registered elector's residence and date of signing. Authorizes the municipal clerk to determine the validity of or reject the signature of a registered elector that appears more than once on a nominating petition. Permits any registered elector in Colorado to serve as an election judge. Allows relatives of an applicant to sign an application for an absentee voter's ballot on behalf of the applicant and allow applicants who cannot sign to affix their mark on the application as long as such mark is witnessed by another person. Modifies provisions on when a recount is to be conducted. Starts the period within which an election contest must be filed on the date on which a recount must be requested or completed rather than the date on which the votes were canvassed.

Municipal initiatives, referenda, and referred measures. Modifies the municipal initiatives, referenda, and referred measures provisions relating to the computation of time, the submission of a proposed ordinance, petition forms and circulator affidavits, the protest period, and the duties of the clerk.

APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2000
EFFECTIVE August 2, 2000
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date, see the note from page vi of this digest.