(1) As used in this article,
unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) County includes a city and county.
(a.5) Division means the division of local government in the department of
local affairs.
(b) Eligible entity means a county, municipality, or special district which
has created a conservation trust fund pursuant to this section and which has
certified to the department of local affairs that it has created such fund.
(c) Interests in land and water means any and all rights and interests in
land or water, or both, including fee interests and less than full fee interests such
as future interests, developmental rights, easements, covenants, and contractual
rights. Every interest in land or water may be in perpetuity or for a fixed term and
shall be deemed to run with the land or water to which it pertains for the benefit of
the citizens of this state.
(d) Municipality means a statutory or home rule city or town or a territorial
charter city.
(e) New conservation sites means interests in land and water, acquired
after establishment of a conservation trust fund pursuant to this section, for park or
recreation purposes, for all types of open space, including but not limited to
floodplains, greenbelts, agricultural lands, or scenic areas, or for any scientific,
historic, scenic, recreational, aesthetic, or similar purpose.
(f) Population means the current population estimate prepared by the
division of planning pursuant to section 24-32-204, C.R.S.
(g) Special district means:
(I) A special district organized under article 1 of title 32, C.R.S., which
provides park or recreation facilities or programs pursuant to the district's service
plan, which facilities or programs are open to public use; or
(II) A school district which owned or operated as a successor in interest to a
previously established park and recreation district a system of public recreation
and playgrounds prior to January 1, 1987, and who, prior to said date, collected
moneys and separately accounted for and devoted such moneys exclusively to the
operation of a system of public recreation and playgrounds.
(1.5) School districts which are special districts, as defined in paragraph (g)
of subsection (1) of this section, are deemed to have been authorized to create
conservation trust funds pursuant to this section, and any moneys, collected and
separately accounted for and devoted exclusively to the operation of a system of
public recreation and playgrounds prior to January 1, 1987, are deemed to be
conservation trust funds. Nothing in this section shall be construed to entitle school
districts which are special districts to the receipt of state conservation trust funds
prior to April 22, 1987.
(2) (a) (I) There is hereby created in the division the conservation trust fund.
(II) Each county share shall be apportioned according to that percentage
which the population of each county is to the total population of all counties, and,
within each county, each municipality's share shall be apportioned according to the
percentage which the population within each municipality is to the total population
of the county in which such municipality is located. Each special district's share
shall be determined as follows:
(A) The special district's share relating to the unincorporated area of the
county in which all or part of such special district is located shall be apportioned
according to one-half of the percentage which the population of the special
district's unincorporated area is to the total population of the unincorporated area
of the county.
(B) The special district's share relating to the incorporated area of the
county in which all or part of such special district is located shall be one-half of the
percentage which the population of the special district's incorporated area is to the
total population of the municipality in which the special district's incorporated area
is located. The population of any area which is located within a municipality or a city
and county and has been excluded from a special district shall not be counted as
part of the special district's population, even if the excluded area remains within
the district for the purpose of paying outstanding debt.
(C) No special district which has been ordered dissolved shall receive any
conservation trust fund money.
(b) (I) The division shall annually determine the eligible entities and shall
distribute eligible entity shares as soon as possible after receiving distributions
from the lottery fund pursuant to section 44-40-111 (10) in the following manner:
(A) To each eligible county, its share, less the share of all eligible
municipalities and special districts located within the county;
(B) To each eligible municipality, its share of the county share, less the
shares of any eligible special districts located within the municipality;
(C) To each eligible special district, its proportionate share of the county and
municipal share; and
(D) To each eligible county, municipality, and special district, its
proportionate share of any ineligible county share, less the shares of any eligible
municipalities and special districts within the ineligible county.
(II) All moneys received from the state by any eligible entity pursuant to this
section shall be accounted for separately from any other source of moneys
available to the entity for the acquisition of new conservation sites or recreational
facilities as defined in this article. No moneys received from the state by any
eligible entity pursuant to this section shall be used to acquire real property
through condemnation by eminent domain.
(c) In the event that an eligible municipality's share is less than twenty
dollars, such amount shall be distributed to the eligible county for the benefit of
such municipalities as determined by the board of county commissioners.
(3) The division may utilize the fund to recover its direct and indirect costs in
the administration of moneys pursuant to this section.
(4) All moneys received from the state by each eligible entity pursuant to
this section shall be deposited in its conservation trust fund and shall be expended
only for the acquisition, development, and maintenance of new conservation sites or
for capital improvements or maintenance for recreational purposes on any public
site. An eligible entity shall not deposit any other moneys in its conservation trust
fund. All interest earned on the investment of moneys in a local conservation trust
fund shall be credited to the fund and shall be expended only for purposes
authorized by this article.
(5) In the utilization of moneys received pursuant to this section, each
eligible entity may cooperate or contract with any other government or political
subdivision, including a conservation district established in accordance with the
provisions of article 70 of title 35, C.R.S., or a local noxious weed control program,
pursuant to part 2 of article 1 of this title. Subject to the separate accounting
requirement of subparagraph (II) of paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section,
such cooperation may include the sharing of moneys held by any such entities in
their respective conservation trust funds for joint expenditures for the acquisition,
development, and maintenance of new conservation sites, as defined in paragraph
(e) of subsection (1) of this section, in accordance with the provisions of article
XXVII of the state constitution.
(6) On forms supplied by the division, each eligible entity shall annually
submit to the division a statement showing the total amount of state moneys in its
local conservation trust fund, the amount of any state moneys encumbered or
expended from such fund since the previous year's report, and the purpose of the
encumbrance or expenditure.