(1) (a) The boundaries of any district organized under the provisions of this article may be changed in the manner prescribed in this section, but the change of boundaries of the district shall not impair or affect its organization or its rights in or to property or any of its rights and privileges whatsoever, nor shall it affect or impair or discharge any contract, obligation, lien, or charge for or upon which it might be liable or chargeable had any such change of boundaries not been made. An election for the inclusion of real property in the district may be initiated by a petition, in writing, filed with the secretary of the board.
The petition shall describe the boundaries of the proposed additional territory withsuch certainty as to enable a property owner to determine whether or not his property is within the district and shall contain a prayer for the inclusion of such additional territory. Such petition shall be signed by not less than fifteen percent of the taxpaying electors within the territory sought to be included and acknowledged in the same manner that conveyances of land are required to be acknowledged.
If lands proposed to be included within a district, duly organized under the provisionsof this article, are located within the water basin or aquifer within which the district lies, as determined by the commission, such lands are eligible for inclusion within said district under the provisions of this article and not otherwise.
Within twenty-one days after the filing of the petition, the board shall examine thepetition, and, if it finds that it bears the requisite number of signatures and otherwise meets the stated requirements, it shall accept the petition and shall fix a time and place, not less than thirtyfive days nor more than forty-two days after the date of such acceptance, for a hearing thereon. The secretary of the board shall publish a notice of such hearing by one publication in a newspaper of general circulation in every county in which any portion of the district and the proposed additional territory to be included in the district are located. The publication shall be at least fourteen days prior to the date of the hearing. Such notice shall state the nature of the petition, the description of the proposed additional territory, and that any person owning any interest in real property within the district or within the proposed additional territory to be included in the district may appear at the hearing and show cause in writing why the petition should not be granted.
The board, at the time and place fixed, or at such times to which the hearing may becontinued, shall proceed to hear the petition and all objections thereto presented in writing. The failure of any person to object in writing shall be deemed an assent on his part to the inclusion of the proposed additional territory in the district as prayed for in the petition. Upon completion of the hearing, the board may order changes in the boundaries of the proposed lands to be included in the district by the inclusion or exclusion of land therefrom upon finding that such change in boundaries would be hydrologically, geologically, and geographically sound. The board, in its discretion, and on conditions to be determined by the board and accepted by the petitioners, may grant the petition, deny it, or grant it as to part of the proposed additional territory and deny it as to the remaining portion. Unless the petitioners are the owners of all the territory proposed to be added to the district, the board shall submit the question of the inclusion of the additional territory as so determined, to the taxpaying electors within the territory to be included, in an election held for that purpose.
The board shall appoint three taxpaying electors of the district, including two fromthe area sought to be included, as judges of the election. The secretary of the board shall have published a notice of the time and place of said election to be held in the territory proposed for inclusion in the district by one publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the territory proposed for inclusion in the district. Such election shall not be held less than twenty-one days after said publication of notice.
Such elections shall be held and conducted as nearly as may be in the same mannerfor creating districts as set forth in section 37-90-124. At the election, the taxpaying electors in the territory proposed for inclusion in the district shall vote for or against such inclusion. The judges of election shall certify the returns of the election to the board. If a majority of the votes cast at such election are for the inclusion of the additional territory, the board shall make an order to that effect and file the same with the secretary of the board.
Any action of the board with respect to the inclusion of territory within an existingdistrict may be reviewed by the district court in appeal proceedings filed within fourteen days after the board's decision has been announced.
If the district within which the lands are included has incurred any prior bondedindebtedness, outstanding at the time of such inclusion, such additional land area shall be liable for its proportionate share of such prior indebtedness of said district.
Source: L. 67: p. 278, § 11. C.R.S. 1963: § 148-18-40. L. 2012: (1)(d), (3), and (5) amended, (SB 12-175), ch. 208, p. 885, § 157, effective July 1.