Michael H. Haas Sheridan County Attorney P.O. Box 407 Hoxie, Kansas 67740
Dear Mr. Haas:
As the county attorney for Sheridan County, you request our opinion as to whether a rural fire department is a municipality under K.S.A.
Based on the information included in your correspondence, the Sheridan rural fire department is organized under K.S.A.
"Upon the creation of a fire district under the provisions of K.S.A.
19-3601 et seq ., and amendments thereto, the governing body shall have the authority to:
(a) Enter contracts;
(b) acquire and dispose of real and personal property;
(c) acquire, construct, reconstruct, equip, operate, maintain and furnish buildings to house fire fighting equipment;
(d) acquire, operate and maintain fire fighting equipment;
(e) issue bonds as provided in this act;
(f) pay compensation and salaries to fire district employees;
(g) exercise eminent domain;
(h) pay the opration and maintenance expenses of the fire district and any other expenses legally incurred by the fire district; and
(i) do all other things necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act."
The county commissioners may vest this power in a board of trustees under K.S.A.
"Whenever a fire district has been established under the provisions of K.S.A.
19-3601 to 19-3606, both sections inclusive, and the county commissioners determine, by resolution, that it is to the best interests of the county to place the supervision of such fire district under a fire district board of trustees, the said commissioners may appoint a board of not less than three (3) members and not more than nine (9) members, composed of persons other than the board of county commissioners, who shall serve at the pleasure of the commission. The board so established may be vested with all of the powers theretofore vested in the county commissioners, or such supervisory powers as the commissioners may, by resolution, delegate, and the board so appointed may exercise all powers so delegated." (Emphasis added).
In your correspondence with this office, you indicate that the Sheridan county commissioners placed supervision of the rural fire department under a fire district board of trustees. However, your letter did not specify how much of the governing body's authority the commissioners vested in the board of trustees as the governing body of the fire district. Depending on the powers delegated, either the county commission or the board of trustees is statutorily authorized to "acquire, construct, reconstruct, equip, operate, maintain and furnish buildings to house fire fighting equipment." You indicate that under that authority, the Sheridan County fire department wanted to enter into a lease/purchase arrangement on a building leased by the fire department and purchase it through an eight year payback plan.
If the board of trustees of the fire district is vested with authority to acquire a building, the first issue that must be addressed in determining whether the fire department may purchase the building under the proposed plan is whether a rural fire district is a municipality under K.S.A.
"Municipality shall be construed and held to mean county, township, city, municipal university, school district, community junior college, drainage district, and any other similar political subdivision or taxing district of the state." (emphasis added).
We stated in Attorney General Opinion No. 80-89, a fire district is a separate and distinct political or taxing subdivision of the state, vested with certain governmental powers as prescribed by the legislature, and therefore, "empowered to levy a tax, pursuant to K.S.A.
We further stated:
"Acting as the governing body of a fire district, the board of county commissioners conduct the business of the fire district, a separate and distinct political and taxing subdivision of the state, and as noted above, its authority therefore is not coextensive with its authority as the governing body of the county under K.S.A. 1979 Supp.
19-101a et seq."
The board of county commissioners as the fire district's governing body, under K.S.A. 1992 Supp.
The second issue to be addressed is whether the rural fire department may enter into an installment contract lease/purchase agreement by which it would enter into a contract to purchase a building with payments to be made over a period of time, without violating the cash-basis law. K.S.A.
K.S.A.
"Nothing in the provisions of K.S.A.
10-1101 et seq., and amendments thereto, shall prohibit a municipality from entering into. . .(2) a lease agreement, without an option to buy, or (3) a lease-purchase agreement, if any of such agreements specifically state that the municipality is obligated only to pay periodic payments or monthly installments under the agreement as may lawfully be made from (a) funds budgeted and appropriated for that purpose during such municipality's current budget year or (b) funds made available from any lawfully operated revenue producing source. For the purpose of this act, a lease-purchase agreement shall include a lease with an option to buy or an installment-purchase agreement."
This office is not provided with the information regarding the details of the lease-purchase agreement. We, therefore, decline to comment on the propriety of the agreement under K.S.A.
Very truly yours,
ROBERT T. STEPHAN Attorney General of KansasNobuko K. Folmsbee Assistant Attorney General
RTS:JLM:NKF:bas