(1) (a) Except as provided in subsection (2.5) of this
section, before any water conservancy district is established under this article
having a valuation for assessment of irrigated land, together with improvements
thereon within the proposed district, of twenty million dollars or more, a petition
shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the court vested with jurisdiction in a
county in which all or part of the lands embraced in such proposed water
conservancy district are situated, signed by not fewer than fifteen hundred owners
of irrigated land situated within the limits of the territory proposed to be organized
into a district but not embraced within the incorporated limits of a city or town; and
each tract of land shall be listed opposite the name of the signer, each such tract,
together with improvements thereon, to have a valuation for assessment of not less
than two thousand dollars. Such petition shall be also signed by not fewer than five
hundred owners of nonirrigated land or lands embraced in the incorporated limits of
a city or town, all situated in the proposed district; and each tract of land shall be
listed opposite the name of the signer, each such tract, together with improvements
thereon, to have a valuation for assessment of not less than one thousand dollars.
(b) In the event a petitioner signs the petition both as owner of irrigated and
nonirrigated land situated within a municipality, his name shall be counted only as
an owner of irrigated lands. A signing petitioner shall not be permitted, after the
filing of the petition, to withdraw his name therefrom.
(c) No district shall be formed under this subsection (1) unless the valuation
for assessment of irrigated land, together with improvements thereon, within the
proposed district, is twenty million dollars or more, and no city, or city and county,
having a population of more than twenty-five thousand as determined by the last
United States census shall be included within such district unless by and with the
written consent of the chief executive officer of such city, or city and county, and
with the approval of the legislative body of such municipality, and such consent
may specify that the rate of taxation on the valuation for assessment of property
within said city, or city and county, under section 37-45-122, shall not exceed a
maximum rate which may be less than the rates set out in section 37-45-122, and, in
such case, the district shall not have power to levy an assessment on the property
in said city, or city and county, at a greater rate than that specified in said consent.
(2) (a) Except as provided in subsection (2.5) of this section, before any water
conservancy district shall be established under this article having a valuation for
assessment of irrigated land, together with improvements thereon, within the
proposed district of less than twenty million dollars, a petition shall be filed in the
office of the clerk of the court vested with jurisdiction in a county in which all or
part of the lands embraced in such proposed water conservancy district are
situated, signed by not fewer than twenty-five percent of the owners of irrigated
lands to be included in the district but not embraced within the incorporated limits
of a city or town; and each tract of land shall be listed opposite the name of the
signer, each such tract, together with improvements thereon, to have a valuation for
assessment of not less than one thousand dollars. Such petition shall be also
signed by not fewer than five percent of the owners of nonirrigated land or lands
embraced in the incorporated limits of a city or town, all situated in the proposed
district; and each tract of land shall be listed opposite the name of the signer, each
such tract, together with improvements thereon, to have a valuation for assessment
of not less than one thousand dollars.
(b) In the event a petitioner signs such a petition both as owner of irrigated
and nonirrigated land situated within a municipality, his name shall be counted only
as an owner of irrigated land. A signing petitioner shall not be permitted, after the
filing of the petition, to withdraw his name therefrom.
(c) No district shall be formed under this subsection (2) unless the valuation
for assessment of irrigated land, together with improvements thereon, within the
proposed district, is less than twenty million dollars, and no city, or city and county,
having a population of more than twenty-five thousand as determined by the last
United States census shall be included within such district unless by and with the
written consent of the chief executive officer of such city, or city and county, with
the approval of the legislative body of such municipality, and such consent may
specify that the rate of taxation on the valuation for assessment of property within
said city, or city and county, under section 37-45-122, shall not exceed a maximum
rate which may be less than the rates set out in section 37-45-122, and, in such
case, the district shall not have power to levy an assessment on the property in said
city, or city and county, at a greater rate than that specified in said consent.
(2.5) (a) As an alternative to the procedures set forth in subsections (1) and
(2) of this section, a petition for an election on the organization of a water
conservancy district may be filed with the clerk of the court vested with jurisdiction
in a county in which all or part of the lands embraced in such proposed district is
situated. The petition shall be signed by not less than ten percent or two hundred
electors of the proposed special district, whichever number is smaller. The
proposed boundary of the special district may include any part or all of any city or
city and county of any size. Such petition and the hearing thereon shall otherwise
comply with the provisions of this article which are not inconsistent with the
provisions of this subsection (2.5).
(b) On the day fixed for the hearing, or at a continuance thereof, the court
shall first ascertain, from such evidence which may be adduced, that the required
number of electors of the proposed district have signed the petition. Upon said
hearing, if it appears that the petition for the organization of the district has been
signed and presented in conformity with this subsection (2.5) and that the
allegations of the petition are true, the court, by order duly entered of record, shall
direct that the question of the organization of the water conservancy district shall
be submitted at an election to be held for that purpose in accordance with the
procedures set forth in sections 37-45-139 to 37-45-141. The court shall exercise
all functions which are the responsibility of the board of directors of a water
conservancy district as set forth in said sections.
(c) At such election, the voter shall vote for or against the organization of the
water conservancy district. If a majority of the votes cast at said election are in
favor of the organization, the court shall declare the district organized and give it
the corporate name designated in the petition, by which it shall thereafter be known
in all proceedings. However, if the proposed district includes any territory within a
municipality and a majority of the votes cast by voters residing within that
incorporated area are against formation of the district, the governing body of said
municipality may, within thirty days after certification of the election results,
petition the court organizing the district for exclusion from the district of all such
incorporated territory, and the court shall exclude such territory from the district.
Thereupon, the district shall be a political subdivision of the state of Colorado and a
body corporate with all the powers of a public or municipal corporation.
(3) The petition shall set forth:
(a) The proposed name of said district;
(b) In cases where an election will not be held on the organization of the
district, that property within the proposed district will be benefited by the
accomplishment of the purposes enumerated in section 37-45-108;
(c) A general description of the purpose of the contemplated improvement
and of the territory to be included in the proposed district. The description need not
be given by metes and bounds or by legal subdivision, but it shall be sufficient to
enable a property owner to ascertain whether his property is within the territory
proposed to be organized as a district. The territory need not be contiguous if it is
so situated that the organization of a single district of the territory described is
calculated to promote one or more of the purposes enumerated in section 37-45-108.
(d) Whether or not any part of the proposed district is included within the
boundaries of a district already in existence under the provisions of this article and,
if so, the general description, as defined in paragraph (c) of this subsection (3), of
the overlapping area;
(e) The valuation for assessment of all irrigated land within the boundaries of
the proposed district if the district is to be organized without holding an election on
the question of organization;
(f) A general designation of divisions of the district and the number of
directors of the district proposed for each subdivision;
(g) A prayer for the organization of the district by the name proposed and, in
the case of a petition for an election under subsection (2.5) of this section, a
request for the holding of an election on the question of the organization of the
district.
(4) No petition with the requisite signatures shall be declared void on
account of alleged defects, but the court may permit the petition to be amended at
any time to conform to the facts by correcting any errors in the description of the
territory or in any other particular. However, similar petitions or duplicate copies of
the same petition for the organization of the same district may be filed and together
shall be regarded as one petition. All such petitions filed prior to the hearing on the
first petition filed shall be considered by the court the same as though filed with
the first petition placed on file.
(5) In determining whether the requisite number of landowners have signed
the petition, the court shall be governed by the names as they appear upon the tax
roll which shall be prima facie evidence of such ownership.