(1)(a) As soon as the district has
been organized and a board of directors has been appointed and qualified, such
board of directors shall have the power and authority to fix the amount of an
assessment upon the property within the district not to exceed six-tenths of one
mill for every dollar of valuation for assessment therein, as a level or general levy to
be used for the purpose of paying the expenses of organization, for surveys and
plans, to pay the salary of officers and the per diem allowed to directors and their
expenses, and for other incidental expenses which may be incurred in the
administration of the affairs of the district. A two-thirds vote of the membership of
said board shall be required to fix the amount of said levy.
(b)The amount of assessment on each dolla
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(1) (a) As soon as the district has
been organized and a board of directors has been appointed and qualified, such
board of directors shall have the power and authority to fix the amount of an
assessment upon the property within the district not to exceed six-tenths of one
mill for every dollar of valuation for assessment therein, as a level or general levy to
be used for the purpose of paying the expenses of organization, for surveys and
plans, to pay the salary of officers and the per diem allowed to directors and their
expenses, and for other incidental expenses which may be incurred in the
administration of the affairs of the district. A two-thirds vote of the membership of
said board shall be required to fix the amount of said levy.
(b) The amount of assessment on each dollar of valuation for assessment
shall, in accordance with the schedule prescribed by section 39-5-128, C.R.S., be
certified to boards of county commissioners of the various counties in which the
district is located and by them included in their next annual levy for state and
county purposes. Such amount so certified shall be collected for the use of such
district in the same manner as are taxes for county purposes, and the revenue laws
of the state for the levy and collection of taxes on real estate for county purposes,
except as modified in this article, shall be applicable to the levy and collection of
the amount certified by the board of directors of said district as aforesaid, including
the enforcement of penalties, forfeiture, and sale for delinquent taxes.
(c) All collections made by the county treasurer pursuant to such levy shall
be paid to the treasurer of the conservancy district on or before the tenth day of the
next succeeding calendar month. If any items of expense have already been paid in
whole or in part from any other sources by the said district, they may be repaid from
receipts of such levy. Such levy may be made, although the work proposed or any
part thereof may have been found impracticable or for other reasons abandoned.
The collection of data and the payment of expenses therefor, including salaries of
engineers and attorneys and clerical assistants, to conserve the water of said
district and to enable said district to adopt plans for the orderly development of
said district are hereby declared to be a matter of general benefit to the public
welfare, and such that a tax for said purposes may be properly imposed, in the
opinion of the general assembly.
(d) If this subsection (1) or any clause, phrase, or part thereof is held
unconstitutional or invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision
shall not affect the validity or force of any other part of this section or any other
part of this article, and the general assembly hereby declares it would have
enacted the remainder of this article without this subsection (1).
(2) In lieu of the level or general tax authorized by subsection (1) of this
section, the board may levy special assessments upon all real estate within the
district, except such real estate as is exempted in this article, to raise funds to pay
expenses of organization, salaries, expenses, and per diem allowances of officers
and directors and to prepare a general plan for the maintenance of constant
streamflow and adequate water supplies in all the principal tributaries and the main
stream of the San Juan and Dolores rivers in said district and provide for future
development of the district and ensure water therefor. Such assessments shall be
made in proportion to the benefits to each piece of real estate accruing by reason
of the adoption of a comprehensive plan of development of the natural resources of
the district as a whole. The board of directors, if it deems it advisable at any time
before levying special assessments, shall appraise the benefits to the several
parcels of real estate within the district which shall result from the organization of
said district and the general plans and development. The board may adopt rules for
such purpose and provide inter alia for notice and hearing to all persons affected
thereby. A permanent record arranged by counties of the benefits which will accrue
to each tract of land shall be kept, and such benefits shall be apportioned over a
series of years, the amount to be collected each year to be in the discretion of the
board; but the amount of such assessment to be levied and assessed against the
real property in said district in any one year shall not exceed a total of seven
thousand five hundred dollars, and it is hereby declared that the amount of special
benefits accruing annually to the real estate in said district is in excess of such
amount. All property owned by the state, counties, cities, towns, school districts, or
other governmental agencies shall be exempt from taxation or special levies under
this article.
(3) Prior to October 15 of each year in which an assessment is made, the
board of directors shall appoint a time and place where it will meet within the
district for the purpose of hearing objections to assessments at least thirty days
prior to the dates so appointed. Notice of such hearing shall be given by posting a
notice thereof at or near the door of the treasurer's office in each county in said
district and by publishing said notice in a legal newspaper not less than three
consecutive times within a period of thirty days, immediately prior to the hearing.
The notice posted in each county shall be sufficient if it pertains to the property
subject to assessment in said county only and need not contain the description of or
any reference to property situated in other counties also affected by such
assessment. Said notice shall contain a description of the real estate so assessed in
the county in which said notice is posted and published, the amount of the
assessment fixed by the board, and the time and place or places fixed by the board
for the hearing of objection to such assessments. It shall not be necessary for the
said notice to contain a separate description of the lots or tracts of real estate, but
it shall be sufficient if the said notice contains such descriptions as will inform the
owner whether or not his real estate is covered by such descriptions, and to inform
the owner of the amount of special assessments thereon.
(4) If, in the opinion of any person whose real estate is assessed, his property
has been assessed too high or has been erroneously or illegally assessed, at any
time before the date of such hearing, he may file written objections to such
assessments, stating the ground of such objections, which statement shall be
verified by the affidavit of said person or some other person familiar with the facts.
At such hearing the board shall hear evidence and argument offered concerning the
correctness or legality of such assessment and may modify or amend the same. Any
owner of property desiring to appeal from the finding of the board as to
assessments within thirty days from the finding of the board shall file with the clerk
of the district court of the county in which the property is situated a written notice
making demand for a trial by the court. At the same time, the appellant shall file a
bond with good and sufficient security, to be approved by the clerk of said court, in
a sum not exceeding two hundred dollars, to the effect that, if the finding of the
court is not more favorable to the appellant than the finding of the board, the
appellant will pay the costs of the appeal. The appellant shall state definitely from
what part of the order the appeal is taken. In case more than one appeal is taken,
upon a showing that the appeals may be consolidated without injury to the interests
of anyone, the court may consolidate and try the same together.
(5) The court shall not disturb the findings of the board unless the finding of
the board in any case is manifestly disproportionate to the assessments imposed
upon other property in the district created under this article. The trial shall be to the
court, and the matter shall take precedence before the court and shall be taken up
as promptly as may be after the appeal is filed. If no appeal is taken from the
finding of the board within the time prescribed in this section, or after the finding of
the district court in case an appeal is taken from the finding of the board, then said
assessments shall be final and conclusive evidence that said assessments have
been made in proportion to the benefits conferred upon each tract of real estate of
said district by reason of the general plans of survey, comprehensive plan of
development, and the completion of improvements to be constructed under the
provisions of this article, and such assessments shall constitute a perpetual lien as
provided in this article upon the real estate so assessed until paid.