1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to local government; clarifying Cook county's 
  1.3             powers and authority in relation to the Cook county 
  1.4             hospital district; providing for a maximum tax levy; 
  1.5             amending Laws 1989, chapter 211, section 8, as amended.
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Laws 1989, chapter 211, section 8, as amended 
  1.8   by Laws 1992, chapter 505, section 3, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Sec. 8.  [COOK COUNTY; HOSPITAL DISTRICT.] 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [CREATION; REFERENDUM.] The board of 
  1.11  commissioners of Cook county may by resolution create a Cook 
  1.12  county hospital district.  The resolution providing for creation 
  1.13  of the district must be published in the official newspaper of 
  1.14  the county.  If within ten days after the publication a petition 
  1.15  is filed with the county board that is signed by qualified 
  1.16  voters of the county at least equal in number to ten percent of 
  1.17  the number of voters voting at the most recent election of 
  1.18  county commissioners, requesting a referendum on the resolution, 
  1.19  it shall not be effective until it is approved by a majority of 
  1.20  qualified voters voting on the question at a special or general 
  1.21  election.  
  1.22     Subd. 2.  [OPERATION OF DISTRICT.] A hospital district 
  1.23  created under this section shall be subject to Minnesota 
  1.24  Statutes, sections 397.06 to 397.102 447.32, except subdivision 
  1.25  1, to 447.41, and except as provided otherwise in this act.  
  2.1      Subd. 3.  [BOARD.] Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, 
  2.2   section 397.06 447.32, the board of the district shall be 
  2.3   comprised of one member from each county commissioner district 
  2.4   elected by the voters at the first general election in the 
  2.5   county after the resolution has become effective.  At the 1992 
  2.6   general election, the board members from districts one, three, 
  2.7   and five shall be elected to two-year terms and board members 
  2.8   from districts two and four to four-year terms.  Their 
  2.9   successors shall be elected to regular four-year terms in 1994, 
  2.10  1996, and thereafter.  Terms shall begin on the first day of 
  2.11  January following the election.  
  2.12     If members are elected in 1990, their terms shall be two 
  2.13  years.  When the district is first created, the county 
  2.14  commissioner from each district shall appoint a member of the 
  2.15  board to serve until the commencement of the term of a successor.
  2.16     When a vacancy occurs, the county commissioner from the 
  2.17  district affected majority of the remaining members of the board 
  2.18  of the hospital district shall appoint a member to serve until 
  2.19  January 1 following the next general election in the county, 
  2.20  when at which a successor shall be elected for a full regular 
  2.21  term if the full regular term of the seat that had the vacancy 
  2.22  is expiring on that January 1 or otherwise, for the unexpired 
  2.23  remainder of the regular that seat's term. 
  2.24     Subd. 4.  [TAX LEVY.] (a) The tax levied under Minnesota 
  2.25  Statutes, section 397.09 447.34, shall not exceed $300,000 in 
  2.26  any year, and its proceeds may be used for all purposes of the 
  2.27  hospital district for taxes levied in 2002.  
  2.28     (b) For taxes levied in 2003, and thereafter, the tax 
  2.29  levied under Minnesota Statutes, section 447.34, must not exceed 
  2.30  the greater of:  (1) $300,000, or (2) $300,000 multiplied by the 
  2.31  ratio of the most recent available annual medical care 
  2.32  expenditure category of the revised Consumer Price Index, U.S. 
  2.33  citywide average, for all urban consumers prepared by the United 
  2.34  States Department of Labor to the same annual index for 2001. 
  2.35     Subd. 5.  [TERRITORY.] The territory of the entire county 
  2.36  of Cook is the hospital district. 
  3.1      Subd. 6.  [REFERENCES.] The county acts in the place of 
  3.2   cities and towns for purposes of Minnesota Statutes, sections 
  3.3   447.32, except subdivision 1, to 447.41; and all references made 
  3.4   to hospital districts in Minnesota Statutes, sections 447.32, 
  3.5   except subdivision 1, to 447.41, apply to the Cook county 
  3.6   hospital district. 
  3.7      Subd. 7.  [APPLICATION.] Minnesota Statutes, section 
  3.8   447.38, subdivision 2, does not apply to the hospital district 
  3.9   created under this section. 
  3.10     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.11     For purposes of Minnesota Statutes, section 645.021, 
  3.12  subdivisions 2 and 3, Cook county and the Cook county hospital 
  3.13  district are the local governmental units affected.  Section 1 
  3.14  is effective the day after the latter of the governing bodies of:
  3.15     (1) Cook county and its chief clerical officer; and 
  3.16     (2) the Cook county hospital district and its chief 
  3.17  clerical officer; 
  3.18  timely complete their compliance with Minnesota Statutes, 
  3.19  section 645.021, subdivisions 2 and 3.