§ 32-4-510 — Powers of the district

Colorado § 32-4-510

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 32: Special
• Art.: Water and Sanitation Districts

Text

(1) Any district has the following powers:

(a) To have powers, privileges, immunities, rights, liabilities, no-rights,
disabilities, and duties appertaining to a public body politic and corporate
constituting a quasi-municipal district and political subdivision of the state
established as an instrumentality exercising public and essential governmental and
proprietary functions to provide for the public health, safety, and general welfare;
and to have perpetual existence and succession;

(b) To adopt, have, and use a corporate seal, and to alter the same at
pleasure;

(c) To sue and to be sued;

(d) To enter into contracts and agreements including but not limited to
contracts with the federal government and the state;

(e) To borrow money and to issue securities evidencing any loan to or amount
due by the district, to provide for and secure the payment of any securities and the
rights of the holders thereof, and to purchase, hold, and dispose of securities, as
provided in this part 5;

(f) To purchase, trade, exchange, lease, buy, sell, encumber, and otherwise
acquire and dispose of real and personal property and interests therein, including
water and water rights;

(g) To refund any bonded indebtedness of the district without an election;

(h) In addition to all other means of providing revenue as provided in this
section, during the first five years of the district's existence, to levy general ad
valorem taxes on all taxable property within the district; but the total tax levy for
the five-year period shall not exceed an aggregate total of three-fourths of one
mill. When the district, within said period of five years, has levied taxes to the total
of three-fourths of one mill, or when the district has been organized for a full five-year period, whichever occurs first, the district shall have no further power to levy
general ad valorem taxes. Nothing in this part 5 shall be construed as preventing
the collection of the proceeds in full of any tax levies authorized in this part 5,
including but not limited to any delinquencies, as provided in this paragraph (h) and
paragraph (m) of this subsection (1), and in section 32-4-511. The board, if it desires
to levy in any year all or any portion of the mill levy tax authorized in this paragraph
(h), shall, in accordance with the schedule prescribed by section 39-5-128, C.R.S.,
certify to the body having authority to levy taxes within each county wherein the
district has any territory the rate so fixed, in order that, at the time and in the
manner required by law for the levying of taxes, such body having authority to levy
taxes shall levy such tax upon the valuation for assessment of all taxable property
within the district. The levy and collection of taxes shall be as provided in section
32-4-511.

(i) To hire and retain officers, agents, employees, engineers, attorneys, and
any other persons, permanent or temporary, necessary or desirable to effect the
purposes hereof, to defray any expenses incurred thereby in connection with the
district, and to acquire office space, equipment, services, supplies, fire and
extended coverage insurance, use and occupancy insurance, workers'
compensation insurance, property damage insurance, public liability insurance for
the district and its officers, agents, and employees, and other types of insurance, as
the board may determine. No provision in this part 5 authorizing the acquisition of
insurance shall be construed as waiving any immunity of the district or any director,
officer, or agent thereof, and otherwise existing under the laws of the state.

(j) To condemn property for public use;

(k) To acquire, hold, operate, maintain, equip, improve, and dispose of a
sewage disposal system and appurtenant works or any interest therein, wholly
within the district, or partially within and partially without the district, and wholly
within, wholly without, or partially within and partially without any public body all or
any part of the area of which is situated within the district; to acquire and, subject
to mortgages, deeds of trust, or other liens, or otherwise, to hold, operate, maintain,
equip, improve, and dispose of property of every kind appertaining to any such
sewage disposal system and any improvements thereto, and necessary or
convenient to the full exercise of any power provided in this part 5; to pay or
otherwise defray the cost of any project; to pay or otherwise defray and to contract
so to pay or defray, without an election, the principal of, any interest on, and any
other charges appertaining to any securities or other obligations of any municipality
or person incurred in connection with any such property so acquired by the district;
and to establish and maintain facilities within or without the district, across or along
any public street, highway, bridge, viaduct, or other public right-of-way, or in, upon,
under, or over any vacant public lands, which public lands are the property of the
state, or across any stream of water or watercourse, without first obtaining a
franchise from the municipality, county, or other public body having jurisdiction
over the same, but the district shall cooperate with any public body having such
jurisdiction, shall promptly restore any such street, highway, bridge, viaduct, or
other public right-of-way to its former state of usefulness as nearly as may be, and
shall not use the same in such manner as to impair completely or unnecessarily the
usefulness thereof;

(l) To fix and from time to time increase or decrease rates and charges to
municipalities within the district for the services provided by the district, including
the power to fix and determine minimum charges and charges for availability of
service; to pledge such revenue for the payment of any securities of the district;
and to enforce the collection of such rates and charges by civil action or by any
other means provided by law;

(m) To enforce the collection of rates and charges made by the district to
any municipality which fails to pay any such rates and charges within ninety days
after said rates and charges become due and payable, in addition to the foregoing
powers and not in limitation thereof, by an action in the nature of mandamus or
other suit, action, or proceeding at law or in equity to compel the levy without
limitation as to rate or amount by the governing body of the municipality and the
collection of general ad valorem taxes on and against all taxable property within
the municipality sufficient in amount to pay such delinquent rates and charges,
together with the expenses of collection, including but not necessarily limited to
reasonable penalties for delinquencies, interest on the amount due from any date
due at a rate of not exceeding one percent per month, or fraction thereof, court
costs, reasonable attorneys' fees, and any other costs of collection. Nothing in this
part 5 shall be so construed as to prevent the governing body of any municipality
from levying such taxes sufficient for the payment of such rates and charges as the
same become due and payable, nor from applying therefor any other funds that
may be in the treasury of the municipality and available for that purpose, whether
derived from any rates and charges imposed for the use of or otherwise in
connection with its sewer system or sewer facilities, or from any other source, and
upon such payments being made, the general ad valorem tax levy provided in this
part 5 may thereupon to that extent be diminished. Except to that extent, there
shall be levied without limitation of rate or amount by the governing body of each
municipality, in addition to all other taxes, direct annual general ad valorem taxes
on all taxable property within the municipality sufficient in amount to pay said rates
and charges of the district promptly as the same respectively become due. The levy
and collection of taxes shall be as provided in section 32-4-511.

(n) To sell and otherwise dispose of any by-products resulting from the
operation and activities of the district;

(o) To appropriate revenues for the purpose of carrying on investigations and
research in the treatment and disposal of sewage and industrial wastes;

(p) To deposit any moneys of the district in any banking institution within or
without the state or in any depository authorized in section 24-75-603, C.R.S., and
to invest any surplus money in the district treasury, including such money in any
sinking fund established for the purpose of retiring any securities of the district, not
required for the immediate necessities of the district in securities meeting the
investment requirements established in part 6 of article 75 of title 24, C.R.S., and
such investment may be made by direct purchase of any such securities at the
original sale of the same or by the subsequent purchase of such securities. Any
securities thus purchased and held may be sold, from time to time, and the
proceeds reinvested in securities, as provided in this paragraph (p). Sales of any
securities thus purchased and held shall be made, from time to time, in season so
that the proceeds may be applied to the purposes for which the money with which
the securities were originally purchased was placed in the treasury of the district.

(q) To accept contributions or loans from the federal government for the
purpose of financing the planning, construction, maintenance, and operation of any
enterprise in which the district is authorized to engage, and to enter into contracts
and cooperate with, and accept cooperation from, the federal government in the
planning, construction, maintenance, and operation, and in financing the planning,
construction, maintenance, and operation, of any such enterprise in accordance
with any legislation which congress may adopt, under which aid, assistance, and
cooperation may be furnished by the federal government in the planning,
construction, maintenance, and operation, or in financing the planning,
construction, maintenance, and operation, of any such enterprise, including, without
limiting the generality of the foregoing, costs of engineering, architectural, and
economic investigations and studies, surveys, designs, plans, working drawings,
specifications, procedures, and other action preliminary to the acquisition,
improvement, or equipment of any project; and to do all things necessary in order to
avail itself of such aid, assistance, and cooperation under any federal legislation
enacted;

(r) (I) To enter, without an election, into joint operating or service contracts
and agreements, acquisition, improvement, or disposal contracts or other
arrangements with any municipality or person concerning sewage facilities, sewers,
sewer systems, intercepting sewers, project or sewage disposal systems, and any
water and water rights appertaining thereto, whether acquired by the district or by
any public body or other person, and to accept grants and contributions from any
public body or other person in connection therewith; and when determined by the
board to be in the public interest and necessary for the protection of the public
health, to enter into and perform, without an election, contracts and agreements
with any municipality or person for the provision and operation by the district of
sewage facilities, sewers, sewer systems, intercepting sewers, and a project or
sewage disposal system to abate or reduce the pollution of waters or other
nuisance caused by discharges of sewage, liquid wastes, solid wastes, night soil,
and industrial wastes by the municipality or person, and for the payment
periodically by the municipality or person to the district of amounts at least
sufficient, in the determination of the board, to compensate the district for the cost
of providing, operating, and maintaining the sewage facilities, sewers, sewer
system, intercepting sewers, project, or sewage disposal system serving such
municipality or person.

(II) Subject to the rights and privileges of the holder or holders of any bonds
or other securities of the district, any such joint operating or service contract
between the district and ten or more municipalities may be amended, from time to
time, by written agreement, duly authorized and signed by representatives of two-thirds of the parties thereto. This subparagraph (II) shall apply to any existing as
well as any future joint operating or service contract entered into with such
municipalities.

(s) To enter into and perform, without an election, contracts and agreements
with any municipality or person for or concerning the planning, construction, lease,
or other acquisition, operation, maintenance, improvement, equipment, disposal,
and the financing of any project;

(t) To enter upon any land, to make surveys, borings, soundings, and
examinations for the purposes of the district, in order to locate the necessary works
of any project and any roadways and other rights-of-way appertaining to any
project authorized in this part 5; to acquire all property necessary for the
acquisition or improvement of said works, including lands for compensating
reservoirs, and all necessary appurtenances;

(u) To carry on technical and other investigations of all kinds, make
measurements, collect data, and make analyses, studies, and inspections pertaining
to water supply, water rights, control of floods, and use of water, sewage facilities,
and any project, both within and without the district;

(v) To have the right to provide from revenues or other available funds an
adequate fund for the improvement of a sewage disposal system or of any parts of
the works and properties of the district;

(w) To prescribe and enforce reasonable rules and regulations for the
availability of service from, the connection with, the use of, and the disconnection
from a sewage disposal system, any other facilities, project, or other property of the
district authorized in this part 5, and the operation of a sewage disposal system and
any sewer system;

(x) To make and keep records in connection with any project or otherwise
concerning the district;

(y) To arbitrate any differences arising in connection with any project or
otherwise concerning the district;

(z) To have the management, control, and supervision of all the business and
affairs appertaining to any project authorized in this part 5, or otherwise concerning
the district, and of the acquisition, improvement, equipment, operation, and
maintenance of any such project;

(aa) To prescribe the duties of officers, agents, employees, and other
persons, and fix their compensation, but the compensation of employees and
officers shall be established at prevailing rates of pay for equivalent work;

(bb) To enter into contracts of indemnity and guaranty, in such form as may
be approved by the board, relating to or connected with the performance of any
contract or agreement which the district is empowered to enter into under the
provisions of this part 5 or of any other law of the state;

(cc) To provide, by any contract, without an election:

(I) For the joint use of personnel, equipment, and facilities of any district and
public bodies, including sewer systems, sewage disposal plants, and public
buildings constructed by or under the supervision of the board of a district or the
governing body of the public body concerned, upon such terms and agreements,
and within such areas within the district, as may be determined, for the promotion
and protection of health, comfort, safety, life, welfare, and property of the
inhabitants of the district and public bodies;

(II) For the joint employment of clerks, stenographers, and other employees
appertaining to any sewer system or sewage disposal system, or both, now existing
or hereafter established in any district, upon such terms and conditions as may be
determined for the equitable apportionment of the expenses therefrom resulting;

(dd) To obtain financial statements, appraisals, economic feasibility reports,
and valuations of any type appertaining to any project or any property pertaining
thereto;

(ee) To adopt any resolution authorizing a project or the issuance of
securities, or both, or otherwise appertaining thereto, or otherwise concerning the
district;

(ff) To make and execute a mortgage, deed of trust, indenture, or other trust
instrument appertaining to a project or to any securities authorized in this part 5, or
to both, except as provided in paragraph (gg) of this subsection (1) and in section
32-4-524 (8);

(gg) To make all contracts, execute all instruments, and do all things
necessary or convenient in the exercise of the powers granted in this part 5, or in
the performance of the district's covenants or duties, or in order to secure the
payment of its securities, if no encumbrance, mortgage, or other pledge of
property, excluding any money, of the district is created thereby, and if no property,
excluding money, of the district is liable to be forfeited or taken in payment of said
securities;

(hh) To have and exercise all rights and powers necessary or incidental to or
implied from the specific powers granted in this part 5. Such specific powers shall
not be considered as a limitation upon any power necessary or appropriate to carry
out the purposes and intent of this part 5.

(ii) To exercise all or any part or combination of the powers granted in this
part 5.

(jj) (I) For authorized inspectors of the district, upon presentation of proper
credentials, to enter and inspect at any reasonable time and in a reasonable
manner, any property, premises, or place for the purpose of investigating any
actual, suspected, or potential violations of the environmental protection agency's
approved industrial pretreatment program pursuant to 40 CFR 403. The inspectors
may obtain samples of wastewater. The district may furnish a copy of the results of
any analysis of the sample to the owner, operator, or person in charge of the
property, premises, or place.

(II) If the owner, operator, or person in charge of any property, premises, or
place denies entry or inspection, the district may obtain from the district court or
county court for the judicial district or county in which such property, premises, or
place is located, a warrant to enter and inspect the property, premises, or place.
The district courts and county courts of the state may issue a warrant as specified
in this subsection (1)(jj)(II) upon a district's proper showing of the need for entry and
inspection.

Legislative History

Source: L. 60: p. 169, � 6. CRS 53: � 89-15-6. L. 62: pp. 188, 192, �� 4, 5. C.R.S. 1963: � 89-15-6. L. 67: p. 535, � 8. L. 71: p. 1214, � 10. L. 77: (1)(h) amended, p. 1505, � 56, effective July 15. L. 79: (1)(p) amended, p. 1624, � 36, effective June 8. L. 81: (1)(r) amended, p. 1638, � 3, effective May 8. L. 89: (1)(p) amended, p. 1118, � 37, effective July 1. L. 90: (1)(i) amended, p. 572, � 66, effective July 1. L. 93: (1)(k), (1)(r)(I), (1)(s), and IP(1)(cc) amended, p. 21, � 2, effective March 4. L. 2024: (1)(jj) added, (HB 24-1062), ch. 71, p. 234, � 1, effective August 7.