(1) The board of directors has the power to fix the amount of an assessment upon the property within the district not to exceed two and onehalf mills for every dollar of valuation for assessment therein, as a level or general levy to be used for the purpose of paying the expenses of organization, for surveys and plans, to pay the salary of officers, and the per diem allowed to directors and their expenses, for expenses which may be incurred in the administration of the affairs of the district, and for all other lawful purposes of the district including capital construction.
The amount of assessment on each dollar of valuation for assessment shall, in accordance with the schedule prescribed by section 39-5-128, C.R.S., be certified to boards of county commissioners of the various counties in which the district is located and by them included in their next annual levy for state and county purposes. Such amount so certified shall be collected for the use of such district in the same manner as are taxes for county purposes, and the revenue laws of the state for the levy and collection of taxes on real estate for county purposes, except as modified in this article, shall be applicable to the levy and collection of the amount certified by the board of directors of said district as aforesaid, including the enforcement of penalties, forfeiture, and sale for delinquent taxes.
All collections made by the county treasurer pursuant to such levy shall be paid tothe treasurer of the conservancy district on or before the tenth day of the next succeeding calendar month. If any items of expense have already been paid in whole or in part from any other sources by said district, they may be repaid from receipts of such levy. Such levy may be made, although the work proposed, or any part thereof, may have been found impracticable, or for other reasons abandoned. The collection of data and the payment of expenses therefor, including salaries of engineers, attorneys, and others, to conserve the water of said district and to enable said district to adopt plans for the orderly development of said district are hereby declared to be a matter of general benefit to the public welfare, and such that a tax for said purposes may be properly imposed, in the opinion of the general assembly.
If any provision of this section is held unconstitutional or invalid by any court ofcompetent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity or force of any other part of this section, or any other part of this article, and the general assembly hereby declares it would have enacted the remainder of this article without this section.
Source: L. 67: p. 666, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 150-10-7. L. 69: p. 1237, § 3. L. 83: (1) amended, p. 1397, § 1, effective March 22. L. 87: (2) amended, p. 1409, § 11, effective April 22.