(1) Upon final approval by the court for the organization of the special district, the facilities, services, and financial arrangements of the special district shall conform so far as practicable to the approved service plan.
(2) (a) After the organization of a special district pursuant to the provisions of this part 2 and part 3 of this article, material modifications of the service plan as originally approved may be made by the governing body of such special district only by petition to and approval by the board of county commissioners or the governing body of the municipality that has adopted a resolution of approval of the special district pursuant to section 32-1-204.5 or 32-1-204.7 in substantially the same manner as is provided for the approval of an original service plan; but the processing fee for such modification procedure shall not exceed two hundred fifty dollars. Such approval of modifications shall be required only with regard to changes of a basic or essential nature, including but not limited to the following: Any addition to the types of services provided by the special district; a decrease in the level of services; a decrease in the financial ability of the district to discharge the existing or proposed indebtedness; or a decrease in the existing or projected need for organized service in the area. Approval for modification shall not be required for changes necessary only for the execution of the original service plan or for changes in the boundary of the special district; except that the inclusion of property that is located in a county or municipality with no other territory within the special district may constitute a material modification of the service plan or the statement of purposes of the special district as set forth in section 32-1-208. In the event that a special district changes its boundaries to include territory located in a county or municipality with no other territory within the special district, the special district shall notify the board of county commissioners of such county or the governing body of the municipality of such inclusion. The board of county commissioners or the governing body of the municipality may review such inclusion and, if it determines that the inclusion constitutes a material modification, may require the governing body of such special district to file a modification of its service plan in accordance with the provisions of this subsection (2).
Except as otherwise described in paragraph (d) of this subsection (2), a special district shall not furnish domestic water or sanitary sewer service directly to residents and property owners in unincorporated territory located in a county that has not approved the special district's service plan unless the special district notifies the board of county commissioners of the county of its plan to furnish domestic water or sanitary sewer service directly to residents and property owners in the county and receives approval from the board to do so. Within forty-five days of receiving the notification, the board may review the special district's planned action and may, in its own discretion and following notice by the board, require a public hearing prior to giving approval of the planned action, prior to which hearing the governing body of the special district shall provide such information and data as the board reasonably requests. Failure to provide information as requested by the board is grounds for the board to delay the public hearing until the board receives the information. The board shall either approve or deny the proposed action within one hundred twenty days of the public hearing.
Before approving a planned special district action described in paragraph (b) of thissubsection (2), the board of county commissioners of a county shall, not less than forty-five days prior to the first meeting of the board at which the approval specified in paragraph (b) of this subsection (2) may be given, provide public notice in the manner that the county requires of the possible approval within the newly described area to be served. The notice is required to include specific notification that any property owner wishing to have his or her property excluded from the proposed area to be served shall, not later than forty days from the first public notice, request that his or her property be excluded from the proposed area to be served by the special district. The board is not limited in its action with respect to exclusion of territory based on the request. A request for exclusion shall include a legal description of the property subject to the request, and the board shall act upon the request before taking final action on the request for approval pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection (2).
The requirements detailed in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subsection (2) do notapply in the following circumstances:
A special district provides domestic water or sanitary sewer service only to privateproperty owners pursuant to written agreement between the special district and the property owners;
A special district provides domestic water or sanitary sewer service within the boundaries of another governmental entity, including, without limitation, a city, a municipality, or another special district, pursuant to an intergovernmental agreement;
A special district provides any storm drainage or storm sewer services or facilitieswithin the county; or
Domestic water service and sanitary sewer service is being provided, or a water orsanitary sewer service area extension has been approved by the county into which the service area is to be expanded, within unincorporated territory located in the county as of May 11, 2012.
(a) Any material departure from the service plan as originally approved or, if the same has been modified, from the service plan as modified, which constitutes a material modification thereof as set forth in subsection (2) of this section, may be enjoined by the court approving the organization of such special district upon its own motion, upon the motion of the board of county commissioners or governing body of a municipality from which a resolution of approval is required by this part 2, or upon the motion of any interested party as defined in section 32-1-204 (1).
No action may be brought to enjoin the construction of any facility, the issuance ofbonds or other financial obligations, the levy of taxes, the imposition of rates, fees, tolls and charges, or any other proposed activity of the special district unless such action is commenced within forty-five days after the special district has published notice of its intention to undertake such activity. Such notice shall describe the activity proposed to be undertaken by the special district and provide that any action to enjoin such activity as a material departure from the service plan must be brought within forty-five days from publication of the notice. The notice shall be published one time in a newspaper of general circulation in the district. The district shall also provide notice to the district court. On or before the date of publication of the notice, the district shall also mail notice to the board of county commissioners or governing body of a municipality from which a resolution is required by this part 2.
A board of county commissioners may request any special district located wholly orpartially within the county's unincorporated area, and the governing body of any municipality may request any special district located wholly or partially within the municipality's boundaries, to file, not more than once a year, a special district annual report. The annual report shall be filed with the board of county commissioners, any municipality in which the special district is wholly or partially located, the division, and the state auditor, and such report shall be deposited with the county clerk and recorder for public inspection, and a copy of the report shall be made available by the special district to any interested party pursuant to section 32-1-204 (1). If a special district files an annual report pursuant to this paragraph (c), such report shall include but shall not be limited to information on the progress of the special district in the implementation of the service plan. The board of county commissioners or the governing body of the municipality may review the annual reports in a regularly scheduled public meeting, and such review shall be included as an agenda item in the public notice for such meeting.
Any special district created on or after July 1, 1991, shall annually file the reportspecified in paragraph (c) of this subsection (3) with the board of county commissioners or the governing body of the municipality that has adopted a resolution of approval of the special district pursuant to section 32-1-204.5 or 32-1-204.7 for five years after its organization and for succeeding annual periods, if so requested by the board of county commissioners or the governing body of the municipality. The annual report shall also be filed with the division and with the state auditor. The state auditor shall review the annual report and report any apparent decrease in the financial ability of the district to discharge its existing or proposed indebtedness in accordance with the service plan to the division. In such event, the division shall confer with the board of the special district and the board of county commissioners or the governing body of the municipality regarding such condition. The division may establish a standard form for the annual report that the board of a special district may elect to use.
In the case of a health service district, a change in service by the district shall not bedeemed material unless the change affects the license or certificate of compliance issued by the department of public health and environment. A health service district shall be exempt from paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (3) of this section.
Source: L. 81: Entire article R&RE, p. 1551, § 1, effective July 1. L. 85: (3) amended and (4) added, p. 1102, §§ 8, 9, effective May 3. L. 90: (2) amended, p. 1452, § 11, effective July 1. L. 91: (2) and (3)(c) amended and (3)(d) added, p. 784, § 7, effective June 4. L. 94: (4) amended, p. 2803, § 569, effective July 1. L. 96: (4) amended, p. 473, § 11, effective July 1. L. 2003: (2) and (3)(d) amended, p. 1316, § 3, effective August 6. L. 2009: (3)(d) amended, (SB 09-087), ch. 325, p. 1732, § 2, effective September 1. L. 2012: (2) amended, (HB 12-1239), ch. 175, p. 628, § 1, effective May 11.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 32-1-209 as it existed prior to 1981. For a detailed comparison, see the table located in the back of the index.