Sections 13-801 to 13-827 shall be known and may be cited as the Interlocal Cooperation Act.

It is the purpose of the Interlocal Cooperation Act to permit local governmental units to make the most efficient use of their taxing authority and other powers by enabling them to cooperate with other localities on a basis of mutual advantage and thereby to provide services and facilities in a manner and pursuant to forms of governmental organization that will accord best with geographic, economic, population, and other factors influencing the needs and development of local communities.

For purposes of the Interlocal Cooperation Act:

(1) Joint entity shall mean an entity created by agreement pursuant to section 13-804;

(2) Public agency shall mean any county, city, village, school district, or agency of the state government or of the United States, any drainage district, sanitary and improvement district, or other municipal corporation or political subdivision of this state, and any political subdivision of another state;

(3) Public safety services shall mean public services for the protection of persons or property. Public safety services shall include law enforcement, fire protection, and emergency response services; and

(4) State shall mean a state of the United States and the District of Columbia.

(1) Any power or powers, privileges, or authority exercised or capable of exercise by a public agency of this state may be exercised and enjoyed jointly with any other public agency of this state and jointly with any public agency of any other state or of the United States to the extent that laws of such other state or of the United States permit such joint exercise or enjoyment. Any agency of state government when acting jointly with any public agency may exercise and enjoy all of the powers, privileges, and authority conferred by the Interlocal Cooperation Act upon a public agency.

(2) Any two or more public agencies may enter into agreements with one another for joint or cooperative action pursuant to the Interlocal Cooperation Act. Appropriate action by ordinance, resolution, or otherwise pursuant to law of the governing bodies of the participating public agencies shall be necessary before any such agreement may enter into force.

(3) Any such agreement shall specify the following:

(a) Its duration;

(b) The general organization, composition, and nature of any separate legal or administrative entity created by the agreement together with the powers delegated to the entity;

(c) Its purpose or purposes;

(d) The manner of financing the joint or cooperative undertaking and of establishing and maintaining a budget;

(e) The permissible method or methods to be employed in accomplishing the partial or complete termination of the agreement and for disposing of property upon such partial or complete termination;

(f) The manner of levying, collecting, and accounting for any tax authorized under sections 13-318 to 13-326 or 13-2813 to 13-2816; and

(g) Any other necessary and proper matters.

(4) In the event that the agreement does not establish a separate legal entity to conduct the joint or cooperative undertaking, the agreement shall, in addition to items enumerated in subsection (3) of this section, contain the following:

(a) Provision for an administrator or a joint board responsible for administering the joint or cooperative undertaking. In the case of a joint board, the public agencies party to the agreement shall be represented; and

(b) The manner of acquiring, holding, and disposing of real and personal property used in the joint or cooperative undertaking.

(5) No agreement made pursuant to the Interlocal Cooperation Act shall relieve any public agency of any obligation or responsibility imposed upon it by law except to the extent of actual and timely performance by a joint board or other legal or administrative entity created by an agreement made pursuant to the act, which performance may be offered in satisfaction of the obligation or responsibility.

(6) In the event that an agreement made pursuant to this section creates a joint entity, such joint entity shall be subject to control by its members in accordance with the terms of the agreement; shall constitute a separate public body corporate and politic of this state, exercising public powers and acting on behalf of the public agencies which are parties to such agreement; and shall have power (a) to sue and be sued, (b) to have a seal and alter the same at pleasure or to dispense with its necessity, (c) to make and execute contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of its powers, and (d) from time to time, to make, amend, and repeal bylaws, rules, and regulations, not inconsistent with the Interlocal Cooperation Act and the agreement providing for its creation, to carry out and effectuate its powers and purposes.

(7) No entity created by local public agencies pursuant to the Interlocal Cooperation Act shall be considered a state agency, and no employee of such an entity shall be considered a state employee.

(8) Any governing body as defined in section 13-503 which is a party to an agreement made pursuant to the Interlocal Cooperation Act shall provide information to the Auditor of Public Accounts regarding such agreements as required in section 13-513.

In the event that an agreement made pursuant to the Interlocal Cooperation Act deals in whole or in part with the provision of services or facilities with regard to which an officer or agency of the state government has constitutional or statutory powers of control, the agreement shall, as a condition precedent to its entry into force, be submitted to the state officer or agency having such power of control and shall be approved or disapproved by the officer or agency as to all matters within the officer's or agency's jurisdiction.

Any public agency entering into an agreement pursuant to the Interlocal Cooperation Act may appropriate funds and may sell, lease, give, or otherwise supply the administrative joint board, joint entity, or other legal or administrative entity created to operate the joint or cooperative undertaking by providing such personnel or services therefor as may be within its legal power to furnish.

Any one or more public agencies may contract with any one or more other public agencies to perform any governmental service, activity, or undertaking which at least one of the public agencies entering into the contract is authorized by law to perform. Such contract shall be authorized by the governing body of each party to the contract. Such contract shall set forth fully as provided in the Interlocal Cooperation Act the purposes, powers, rights, objectives, and responsibilities of the contracting parties.