Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 388.4 (2026)

Utility board

✓ current as of July 2026

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The title of a utility board must be appropriate to the city utility, city utilities, or combined utility system administered by the board. A utility board may be a party to legal action. A utility board may exercise all powers of a city in relation to the city utility, city utilities, or combined utility system it administers, with the following exceptions:

1. A board may not certify taxes to be levied, pass ordinances or amendments, or issue general obligation or special assessment bonds.

2. The title to all property of a city utility or combined utility system must be held in the name of the city, but the utility board has all the powers and authorities of the city with respect to the acquisition by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, lease, sale, or other disposition of such property, and the management, control, and operation of the same, subject to the requirements, terms, covenants, conditions, and provisions of any resolutions authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds, pledge orders, or other obligations which are payable from the revenues of the city utility or combined utility system, and which are then outstanding.

3. A board shall make to the council a detailed annual report, including a complete financial statement.\n\nTue Dec 09 22:13:18 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 388 (31, 0) §388.4, CITY UTILITIES 4\n\n 4. Immediately following a regular or special meeting of a utility board, the secretary shall prepare a condensed statement of the proceedings of the board and cause the statement to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the city. The statement must include a list of all claims allowed, showing the name of the person or firm making the claim, the reason for the claim, and the amount of the claim. If the reason for the claims is the same, two or more claims made by the same vendor, supplier, or claimant may be consolidated if the number of claims consolidated and the total consolidated claim amount are listed in the statement. However, the utility board shall provide at its office upon request an unconsolidated list of all claims allowed. Salary claims must show the gross amount of the claim except that salaries paid to persons regularly employed by the utility, for services regularly performed by them, must be published once annually showing the gross amount of the salary. In cities having more than one hundred fifty thousand population, the utility board shall each month prepare in pamphlet form the statement herein required for the preceding month and furnish copies to the city library, the daily newspapers of the city, the city clerk, and to persons who apply at the office of the secretary, and the pamphlet shall constitute publication as required. Failure by the secretary to make publication is a simple misdemeanor. [S13, §1056-a7, -c24; C24, §5678, 6149; C27, 31, 35, §5676-a2, 6149, 6159-a1; C39, §5676.2, 6149, 6159.1; C46, 50, §363.52, 397.34, 398.11; C54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, §368A.7, 368A.24, 397.34, 398.11; C75, 77, 79, 81, §388.4] 2006 Acts, ch 1018, §6 \n

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 4 cases, 1982–2015 · leading case: Clarke Cnty. Reservoir Comm'n v. Linda Sue Abbott, 862 N.W.2d 166 (Iowa 2015).

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Clarke Cnty. Reservoir Comm'n v. Linda Sue Abbott, 862 N.W.2d 166 (Iowa 2015). · cites it 4× “The power of the waterworks board is found in section 388.4(2). The Rural Water Association’s eminent domain power is provided by section 357A.”

Koethe v. Johnson, 328 N.W.2d 293 (Iowa 1982). · cites it 2× “Iowa Code § 388.4 . Furthermore, the court of appeals in Iowa Power and Light Co.”

Zuendel Inv., Inc. v. Bd. of Trs. of the Waterworks & Elec. Light & Power Plant of the City of Winterset, Iowa (Iowa Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 2× “Zuendel contends the Board’s action in entering into the 2011 Lease is ultra vires as outside the scope of powers conferred on utility boards pursuant to Iowa Code section 388.4. The Board contends this issue was not preserved for appellate review because it was not raised…”

Amended June 22, 2015 Clarke Cnty. Reservoir Comm'n v. Linda Sue Abbott (Iowa 2015). · cites it 2× “The power of the waterworks board is found in section 388.4(2). The Rural Water Association’s eminent domain power is provided by section 357A.”

— Iowa Code § 388.4(2) — 2 cases

Clarke Cnty. Reservoir Comm'n v. Linda Sue Abbott, 862 N.W.2d 166 (Iowa 2015). “The power of the waterworks board is found in section 388.4(2). The Rural Water Association’s eminent domain power is provided by section 357A.”

Amended June 22, 2015 Clarke Cnty. Reservoir Comm'n v. Linda Sue Abbott (Iowa 2015). “The power of the waterworks board is found in section 388.4(2). The Rural Water Association’s eminent domain power is provided by section 357A.”

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