(1) In addition to the powers which it may now have, any
county without an election of the qualified electors thereof has power under this
part 4:
(a) To acquire by gift, purchase, lease, or exercise of the right of eminent
domain, to construct, to reconstruct, to improve, to better, and to extend water
facilities or sewerage facilities, or both, wholly within or wholly without the county,
or partially within and partially without the county, and to acquire by gift, purchase,
or the exercise of the right of eminent domain lands, easements, and rights in land
in connection therewith;
(b) To operate and maintain water facilities or sewerage facilities, or both,
for its own use and for the use of public and private consumers and users within and
without the territorial boundaries of the county, but no water service or sewerage
service, or combination of them, shall be furnished in any other county or in any
municipality unless the approval of such other county or municipality is obtained as
to the territory in which the service is to be rendered;
(c) To accept loans or grants, or both, from the United States under any
federal law to aid in financing the cost of engineering, architectural, or economic
investigations or studies, surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications,
procedures, or other action preliminary to the construction of water facilities or
sewerage facilities, or both;
(d) To accept loans or grants, or both, from the United States under any
federal law for the construction of necessary water facilities or sewerage facilities,
or both;
(e) To enter into joint operating agreements, contracts, or arrangements with
consumers concerning water facilities or sewerage facilities, or both, whether
acquired or constructed by the county or consumer, and to accept grants and
contributions from consumers for the construction of water facilities or sewerage
facilities, or both. When determined by its board to be in the public interest and
necessary for the protection of the public health, any county is authorized to enter
into and perform contracts, whether long-term or short-term, but in no event
exceeding fifty years, with any consumer for the provision and operation by the
county of sewerage facilities to abate or reduce the pollution of waters caused by
discharges of wastes by a consumer and the payment periodically by the consumer
to the county of amounts at least sufficient, in the determination of such board, to
compensate the county for the cost of providing, including payment of principal and
interest charges, if any, and of operating and maintaining the sewerage facilities
serving such consumer.
(f) To prescribe, revise, and collect in advance or otherwise from any
consumer or any owner or occupant of any real property connected therewith or
receiving service therefrom rates, fees, tolls, and charges, or any combination
thereof, for the services furnished by, or the direct or indirect connection with, or
the use of, or any commodity from, such water facilities or sewerage facilities, or
both, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, minimum charges,
charges for the availability of service, tap fees, disconnection fees, reconnection
fees, and reasonable penalties for any delinquencies, including but not necessarily
limited to interest on delinquencies from any date due at a rate of not exceeding
one percent per month, or fraction thereof, reasonable attorney fees, and other
costs of collection, without any modification, supervision, or regulation of any such
rates, fees, tolls, or charges by any board, agency, bureau, commission, or official
other than the board of county commissioners collecting them; and, in anticipation
of the collection of the revenues of such water facilities or sewerage facilities, or
joint system, to issue revenue bonds to finance in whole or in part the cost of
acquisition, construction, reconstruction, improvement, betterment, or extension of
the water facilities or sewerage facilities, or both; and to issue temporary bonds
until permanent bonds and any coupons appertaining thereto have been printed and
exchanged for the temporary bonds;
(g) To pledge to the punctual payment of said bonds and interest thereon all
or any part of the revenues of the water facilities or sewerage facilities, or both,
including the revenues of improvements, betterments, or extensions thereto,
thereafter constructed or acquired, as well as the revenues of existing water
facilities or sewerage facilities, or both;
(h) To enter into and perform contracts and agreements with other counties
or with municipalities for or concerning the planning, construction, lease, or other
acquisition and the financing of water facilities or sewerage facilities, or both, and
the maintenance and operation thereof. Any such counties or municipalities so
contracting with each other may also provide in any contract or agreement for a
board, commission, or such other body as their boards or governing bodies may
deem proper for the supervision and general management of the water facilities or
sewerage facilities, or both, and for the operation thereof, and may prescribe its
powers and duties and fix the compensation of the members thereof.
(i) To make all contracts, execute all instruments, and do all things
necessary or convenient in the exercise of the powers granted in this section, or in
the performance of its covenants or duties, or in order to secure the payment of its
bonds; except that no encumbrance, mortgage, or other pledge of property,
excluding any pledged revenues, of the county is created thereby, and except that
no property, other than money, of the county is liable to be forfeited or taken in
payment of said bonds, and except that no debt on the credit of the county is
thereby incurred in any manner for any purpose; and
(j) To issue water, or sewer, or joint water and sewer refunding revenue
bonds to refund, pay, or discharge all or any part of its outstanding water, or sewer,
or joint water and sewer revenue bonds issued under this part 4 or under any other
law, including any interest thereon in arrears or about to become due, or for the
purpose of reducing interest costs or effecting other economies or of modifying or
eliminating restrictive contractual limitations appertaining to the issuance of
additional bonds or to any county water facilities or sewerage facilities, or both, as
provided in section 30-20-410.