67.1639.  Guarantee fund, maintenance mandatory, how funded, how used, audited annually, adjust tax rate to meet liabilities. — 1.  Each governing commission and program created pursuant to sections 67.1600 to 67.1663 shall maintain a guarantee fund for the purposes of paying the costs of administering the program and extending protection to members pursuant to the limitations and procedures in sections 67.1600 to 67.1663.

  2.  The guarantee fund shall be raised by means of an annual tax levied on all real property within the area of the program.  The rate of this tax may be changed from year to year by majority vote of the governing body of the municipality or county but in no case shall it exceed a rate of fifteen hundredths of a percent of the equalized assessed valuation of all real property in the area of the program, or the maximum tax rate approved by the voters of the area at the election which created the program or, in the case of a merged program, the maximum tax rate approved by the voters at the election authorizing the merger, whichever rate is lower.  The commissioners shall cause the amount to be raised by taxation in each year to be certified to the county clerk or, in a city not within a county, to the taxing authority of such city in the manner provided by law, and any tax so levied and certified shall be collected and enforced in the same manner and by the same officers as those taxes for the purposes of the county and city within which the area of the commission is located.  Any such tax, when collected, shall be paid over to the proper officer of the commission who is authorized to receive such tax.  The governing commission may issue tax anticipation warrants against the taxes to be assessed for the calendar year in which the program is created and for the first full calendar year after the creation of the program.

  3.  The moneys deposited in the guarantee fund shall, as nearly as practicable, be fully and continuously invested or reinvested by the governing commission in investment obligations which shall be in such amounts, and shall mature at such times, that the maturity or date of redemption at the option of the holder of such investment obligations shall coincide, as nearly as practicable, with the times at which moneys will be required for the purposes of the program.  For the purposes of this section, "investment obligation" shall mean direct general municipal, state, or federal obligations which at the time are legal investments pursuant to the laws of this state and the payment of principal of and interest on which are unconditionally guaranteed by the governing body issuing them.

  4.  The guarantee fund, including principal, interest, fees and all other sources of income, shall be used solely and exclusively for the purpose of providing guarantees to members of the particular guaranteed home equity program and for reasonable salaries, expenses, bills, and fees incurred in administering the program, and shall be used for no other purpose.  Any municipality with a population of less than one thousand shall administer the program in conjunction with another such program in the same county, if another such program exists in such county.

  5.  The guarantee fund shall be maintained, invested, and expended exclusively by the governing commission of the program for whose purposes it was created.  Under no circumstance shall the guarantee fund be used by any person or persons, governmental body, or public or private agency or concern other than the governing commission of the program for whose purposes it was created.  Under no circumstances shall the guarantee fund be commingled with other funds or investments.  No commissioner or family member of a commissioner, or employee or family member of an employee, may receive any financial benefit, either directly or indirectly, from the guarantee fund.  Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit payment of expenses to a commissioner pursuant to sections 67.1603 and 67.1609 or payment of salaries or expenses to an employee pursuant to this section.  As used in this subsection, "family member" means a spouse, child, stepchild, parent, brother, or sister of a commissioner or a child, stepchild, parent, brother, or sister of a commissioner's spouse.

  6.  An independent audit of the guarantee fund and the management of the program shall be conducted annually and made available to the public through any office of the governing commission or a public facility such as a local public library located within the area of the program.

  7.  Each political subdivision enacting a property tax pursuant to this section shall periodically calculate the amount of moneys necessary to pay the liabilities that may occur as a result of members seeking payments and shall adjust the tax rate within the limits allowed in this section to meet the liabilities.  If the political subdivision determines that the fund contains or is likely to contain sufficient moneys, then the tax rate shall be reduced or eliminated until such calculations demonstrate that additional tax revenues are needed to fulfill commitments to members in the program.