15E.311 - COUNTY ENDOWMENT FUND.
15E.311 COUNTY ENDOWMENT FUND.
1. The purpose of this section is to enhance the quality of life
for citizens of Iowa by providing moneys to new or existing citizen
groups of this state organized to establish county affiliate funds or
community foundations that will address countywide needs.
2. A county endowment fund is created in the state treasury under
the control of the department of revenue. The fund consists of all
moneys appropriated to the fund. Moneys in the fund shall be
distributed by the department as provided in this section.
3. a. At the end of each fiscal year, moneys in the fund
shall be transferred into separate accounts within the fund and
designated for use by each county in which no licensee authorized to
conduct gambling games under chapter 99F was located during that
fiscal year. Moneys transferred to county accounts shall be divided
equally among the counties. Moneys transferred into an account for a
county shall be transferred by the department to an eligible county
recipient for that county. Of the moneys transferred, an eligible
county recipient shall distribute seventy-five percent of the moneys
as grants to charitable organizations for charitable purposes in that
county and shall retain twenty-five percent of the moneys for use in
establishing a permanent endowment fund for the benefit of charitable
organizations for charitable purposes. Of the amounts distributed,
eligible county recipients shall give special consideration to grants
for projects that include significant vertical infrastructure
components designed to enhance quality of life aspects within local
communities. In addition, as a condition of receiving a grant, the
governing body of a charitable organization receiving a grant shall
approve all expenditures of grant moneys and shall allow a state
audit of expenditures of all grant moneys.
b. If a county does not have an eligible county recipient,
moneys in the account for that county shall remain in that account
until an eligible county recipient for that county is established.
4. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise
requires:
a. "Charitable organization" means an organization that is
described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code that is
exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue
Code or an organization that is established for a charitable purpose.
b. "Charitable purpose" means a purpose described in section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or a benevolent, educational,
philanthropic, humane, scientific, patriotic, social welfare or
advocacy, public health, environmental conservation, civic, or other
eleemosynary objective.
c. "Eligible county recipient" means an endow Iowa qualified
community foundation or community affiliate organization, as defined
in section 15E.303, that is selected, in accordance with the
procedures described in section 15E.304, to receive moneys from an
account created in this section for a particular county. To be
selected as an eligible county recipient, a community affiliate
organization shall establish a county affiliate fund to receive
moneys as provided by this section.
5. Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection 2, interest or
earnings on moneys deposited in the county endowment fund shall be
credited to the county endowment fund. Notwithstanding section 8.33,
moneys credited to the county endowment fund shall not revert at the
close of a fiscal year.
6. Three percent of the moneys deposited in the county endowment
fund shall be used by the lead philanthropic organization identified
by the department pursuant to section 15E.304 for purposes of
administering and marketing the county endowment fund. Of the
amounts available to be used by the lead philanthropic organization
pursuant to this subsection, seventy thousand dollars is appropriated
to the department of economic development each fiscal year for
administrative costs related to the endow Iowa program. Section History: Recent Form
2004 Acts, ch 1136, §1; 2005 Acts, ch 150, §78, 79, 81; 2006 Acts,
ch 1151, §4, 5, 8
Referred to in § 99F.11, 421.17 Footnotes
2005 amendments to this section take effect June 9, 2005, and
apply retroactively to January 1, 2005; 2005 Acts, ch 150, §81