Ind. Code § 36-9-31-5 – Put or pay contract procedure; action to contest validity; tax levy

(a) Any put or pay contract may provide for payments to be made by the consolidated city under the contract from:
1. (1) the levy of taxes;
2. (2) revenues;
3. (3) any other available funds of the consolidated city; or
4. (4) any combination of the foregoing.
(b) A put or pay contract may further provide that payments by the consolidated city to the other person to the contract are required only to the extent and only for the period or periods that person is able to accept and dispose of waste in accordance with the contract had such waste been delivered to the person.
(c) A put or pay contract may be entered into by the consolidated city extending for a period of five (5) years or more only after a public hearing by the board, at which all interested persons shall be heard. After the public hearing, the board may adopt a resolution authorizing the execution of the contract on behalf of the city if it finds that the estimated amount of waste to be provided throughout the term of the contract will not be less than the specified amount of waste required to be provided by the contract.
(d) A put or pay contract providing for payments by the consolidated city in whole or in part from the levy of taxes is not valid unless approved by ordinance of the city-county legislative body. Upon execution of such a contract and approval by the legislative body, the board shall cause notice of the execution of the contract and its approval to be given by public notice. Fifty (50) or more taxpayers residing in the city who will be affected by the contract and who may be of the opinion that no necessity exists for the execution of the contract or that the payments provided for in the contract are not fair and reasonable may file a petition in the office of the county auditor within thirty (30) days after the publication of the notice of execution and approval, setting forth their names, addresses, and objections to the contract and the facts showing that the execution of the contract is unnecessary or unwise or that the payments provided for in the contract are not fair and reasonable, as the case may be. Upon the filing of the petition, the county auditor shall immediately certify a copy of it, together with such other data as may be necessary in order to present the questions involved, to the department of local government finance. Upon receipt of the certified petition and information, the department of local government finance shall fix a time for the hearing of the matter, which must be not less than five (5) nor more than thirty (30) days thereafter in the city. The department of local government finance may either hold the hearing in the affected county or through electronic means. Notice of the hearing shall be given by the department of local government finance to the members of the board and to the first fifty
(50) taxpayer-petitioners upon the petition by a letter signed by the commissioner or deputy commissioner of the department of local government finance and enclosed with fully prepaid postage sent to those persons at their usual place of residence, at least five (5) days before the date of the hearing. The decision of the department of local government finance on the appeal, upon the necessity for the execution of the contract and as to whether the payments under it are fair and reasonable, is final.
(e) An action to contest the validity of the contract or to enjoin the performance of any of its terms and conditions must be brought within thirty (30) days after the publication of notice of the execution and approval of the contract, or if an appeal has been taken to the department of local government finance, then within thirty (30) days after the decision of the department.
(f) After the consolidated city has entered into a put or pay contract under this section, the city-county legislative body shall annually levy a tax sufficient to produce each year the necessary amount, with other amounts available, if any, that is sufficient to pay the amounts that the contract provides are to be paid from the levy of taxes. The tax levies provided for in this chapter are reviewable by other bodies vested by law with authority to ascertain that the levies are sufficient to raise the amount that, with other amounts available, is sufficient to meet the payments under the contract payable from the levy of taxes.
As added by Acts 1982, P.L.77, SEC.27. Amended by P.L.90-2002, SEC.516; P.L.38-2021, SEC.102.