Section 45-26-71.01
Levy of motor vehicle and watercraft license issuance fees.
(a) This section shall apply only to Elmore County.
(b) The County Commission of Elmore County may, in addition to all other charges, costs, taxes, or fees levied on the issuance of all motor vehicle license plates of any nature, levy a fee of up to ten dollars ($10) per license plate. The county commission may also levy a user fee of up to five dollars ($5) on each license decal issued for all watercraft of not more than 16 feet in length and a user fee of up to ten dollars ($10) for any watercraft more than 16 feet in length. The vehicle and watercraft license may be levied for a period beginning July 1, 1997, and continuing through June 30, 1998, and shall apply to any vehicle or watercraft subject to registration, or transfer of ownership, during that period.
(c) If the county commission imposes a fee authorized by this section, the authority shall be exercised in the following manner: A proposed resolution shall be advertised for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in Elmore County. The resolution shall then be introduced at a regularly scheduled meeting of the commission, and shall, without amendment, be approved at a subsequent regularly scheduled meeting. Should the advertised resolution require amendment, it cannot be approved at the same scheduled meeting at which it is amended, but must be enacted at a subsequent meeting.
(d) All funds received from the fees authorized by this section shall be placed in a special fund in the county treasury to be called the Debt Reduction Fund. All funds deposited in the Debt Reduction Fund shall be used to reduce any general fund debt of the county which exists on June 30, 1997.
(e) The county commission shall seek advice from persons or groups with expertise in county government budgeting and accounting in an effort to make its operation more efficient. The county commission shall devise, with considerable input from county residents, a permanent plan to eliminate the present funding crisis, and shall submit the plan to qualified electors of the county on the ballots with the candidates seeking nomination in the June 1998 party primary elections.
(f) The county commission shall devise a simplified financial statement which it shall distribute quarterly. An accounting of the receipts and expenditures of the Debt Reduction Fund shall be made public monthly at a regularly scheduled commission meeting.
(Act 97-465, p. 818, §§1-6.)