Download This Version in Microsoft Word format
TO AMEND ACT 1095 OF 1962, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE LOWER FLORENCE COUNTY HOSPITAL DISTRICT, SO AS TO PROVIDE A PROCESS BY WHICH THE FLORENCE COUNTY COUNCIL MAY LEVY MILLAGE WITHIN THE DISTRICT FOR PURPOSES OF CONSTRUCTING, EQUIPPING, AND MAINTAINING HOSPITAL FACILITIES WITHIN THE DISTRICT.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Act 1095 of 1962, as last amended by Act 378 of 2008, is further amended by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION at the end to read:
"SECTION ___. (A) Subject to the requirements of this section, the Board of Directors of the Lower Florence County Hospital District may petition the Florence County Council to levy millage within district for purposes of meeting costs incurred in the construction, equipping, and maintaining hospital facilities within the district.
(B)(1) Upon receipt of an ordinance from Florence County Council authorizing the levying of millage within the district, the Florence County election commission shall conduct a referendum on the question of levying millage within the district. A referendum for this purpose must be held on the first Tuesday ninety days after the adoption of the resolution, or at the next general election, whichever is specified in the ordinance. Two weeks before the referendum, the election commission shall publish in a newspaper of general circulation the question that is to appear on the ballot. The state election laws apply to the referendum, mutatis mutandis. The election commission shall publish the results of the referendum and certify them to the county council. The mills must not be levied in the district unless a majority of the qualified electors within the district voting in the referendum approve the question.
(2) The ballot must read substantially as follows:
'Must the Lower Florence County Hospital District levy millage on all real and personal property within the district for the purpose of constructing, equipping, and maintaining hospital facilities within the district?
(3) If a majority of the votes cast are in favor of levying millage, then the mills may be levied beginning in the next property tax year. The initial levy may not exceed ten mills.
(C) Upon the levy of millage pursuant to this section, the board of directors may issue additional general obligation bonds of Lower Florence County Hospital District in the same manner and with the same full faith and credit as provided in Section 8. The board may issue general obligation bonds in an amount equal to seventy-five percent of the projected revenue in the current property tax year resulting from the levy of millage and these bonds do not count towards the bond limits in Section 8."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
This web page was last updated on March 22, 2011 at 3:13 PM