Substitute House Bill 444 Summary

• Allows political subdivisions to adopt employee dishonesty and faithful performance of duty insurance policies in place of traditional individual surety bonds for officers and employees.

• Modifies ambulance staffing requirements, changing terminology (EMR, EMT, AEMT, paramedic) and adjusting staffing levels based on volunteer vs. paid personnel composition.

• Makes various technical amendments to township law regarding police protection contracts, building/structure removal, vegetation/debris abatement, and junk motor vehicle removal procedures.

• Abates unpaid property taxes, penalties, and interest charged after December 31, 2014 on property conveyed to townships by state universities that qualifies for tax exemption.

• Updates property tax levy election procedures to allow renewal, increase, or decrease of existing levies to be placed on current tax lists in certain circumstances.