(a) General. Each urban district is funded through:
(1) Urban District Tax.
(A) Except as provided in paragraph (7), each tax year the County Council may levy against all the assessable real and personal property in an urban district a sum not greater than 30 cents on each $100 of assessable property.
(B) The urban district tax is levied and collected as other county taxes are levied and collected by law.
(C) The urban district tax has the same priority, bears the same interest and penalties, and in every respect must be treated the same as other county taxes.
(D) The urban district tax rate may differ from one urban district to another.
(2) Parking Lot District fees.
(A) The County Council may transfer revenue from parking fees to the fund of the urban district in which the fees are collected.
(B) The amount of revenue from parking fees transferred to an urban district must not exceed the amount calculated by multiplying:
(i) The number of parking spaces in the urban district by
(ii) The number of enforcement hours per year by
(iii) 20 cents.
(C) The amount of revenue from parking fees may differ from one urban district to another.
(3) Maintenance charge on optional method developments.
(A) The County Executive may charge each optional method development for the cost of maintaining off-site amenities for that development, including the County's cost of liability insurance.
(B) The County Executive may collect a maintenance charge under this section in the same way that the County collects taxes.
(C) A maintenance charge under this section has the same priority and bears the same interest and penalties as county taxes.
(4) Commercial district charge.
(A) Except as provided in paragraph (7), each tax year the County Council may levy a commercial district charge on each owner of real property within the district used by commercial or residential tenants, computed as:
(i) for Class 2 Properties, excluding hotels and motels, the amount of $0.165 per square foot for each net rentable square foot;
(ii) for hotels or motels, the amount of $120 per hotel or motel room; and
(iii) for Class 1 Properties that contain 5 or more residential units, available for rental for non-transient residential dwelling purposes, $120 per unit.
(B) Except as provided under paragraph (4)(A), Class 1 Properties and residences are exempt from the commercial district charge under this paragraph.
(C) Residential units restricted by law to households earning 100 percent of the area median income or less are exempt from the commercial district charge under this paragraph.
(D) The Director must collect the charge in the same manner as County real property taxes, apply the same interest, penalties, and other remedies (including tax sale) if the charge is not paid, and generally treat the charge for collection and administration purposes as if it were a County real property tax. The Director may treat any unpaid charge as a lien on the property to which the charge applies.
(E) The Director may require each property owner within the district to report annually, on a form provided by the Director and by a deadline specified by the Director:
(i) the number of Class 2, hotel or motel, or Class 1 square footage or units, as applicable, subject to the charge;
(ii) the amount of charge required by this Section to be collected; and
(iii) any other information the Director requires to assure that the proper charge will be remitted to the County.
(5) Transfer from the General Fund. The Council may transfer revenues from the County general fund to an urban district. The transfer may be subject to repayment as specified in the Council resolution approving the district's annual operating budget.
(6) Miscellaneous Revenue. All other revenues collected by an urban district, including charges for services and private contributions, must remain in the respective urban district fund, and, subject to appropriation, may be used to fund the urban district budget.
(7) Exclusivity of urban district tax or commercial district charge. Within a single urban district, the Council may levy under this Section either an urban district tax or a commercial district charge, but not both.
(b) Urban district fund; surplus balances.
(1) The Director of Finance must establish a separate fund for each urban district.
(2) Monies in an urban district fund and not appropriated for use by an urban district corporation under Section 68A-11 may be appropriated by the County Council for use by County departments, subject to the limitations of subsection (d). If in any fiscal year a balance remains in an urban district fund, the Director of Finance must maintain this balance for use in funding the budget of that urban district in later years.
(c) Additional funding restrictions.
The proceeds from either the urban district tax or parking fees transferred into an urban district fund must not exceed 90 percent of their combined total.
(d) Use of funds. The County government must use funds obtained under this section only:
(1) for the urban district in which they are obtained; and
(2) for the purposes of an urban district specified in Section 68A-3. (1987 L.M.C., ch. 2, § 2; 1993 L.M.C., ch. 16, § 1; 1997 L.M.C., ch. 7, §§ 1 and 2; 1998 L.M.C., ch. 14, §1; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 14, § 1.)