§ 36-9-25-14 — Special taxing districts; incorporation of territory upon request; sewer service agreements

(a) As to each municipality to which this
chapter applies:
(1) all the territory included within the corporate boundaries of
the municipality; and
(2) any territory, town, addition, platted subdivision, or unplatted
land lying outside the corporate boundaries of the municipality
that has been taken into the district in accordance with a prior
statute, the sewage or drainage of which discharges into or
through the sewage system of the municipality;
constitutes a special taxing district for the purpose of providing for the
sanitary disposal of the sewage of the district in a manner that protects
the public health and prevents the undue pollution of watercourses of
the district.
(b) Upon request by:
(1) a resolution adopted by the legislative body of another
municipality in the same county; or
(2) a petition of the majority of the resident freeholders in a
platted subdivision or of the owners of unplatted land outside the
boundaries of a municipality, if the platted subdivision or
unplatted land is in the same county;
the board may adopt a resolution incorporating all or any part of the
area of the municipality, platted subdivision, or unplatted land into the
district.
(c) A request under subsection (b) must be signed and certified as
correct by the secretary of the legislative body, resident freeholders, or
landowners. The original shall be preserved in the records of the board.
The resolution of the board incorporating an area in the district must be
in writing and must contain an accurate description of the area
incorporated into the district. A certified copy of the resolution, signed
by the president and secretary of the board, together with a map
showing the boundaries of the district and the location of additional
areas, shall be delivered to the auditor of the county within which the
district is located. It shall be properly indexed and kept in the
permanent records of the offices of the auditor.
(d) In addition, upon request by ten (10) or more interested resident
freeholders in a platted or unplatted territory, the board may define the
limits of an area within the county and including the property of the
freeholders that is to be considered for inclusion into the district.
Notice of the defining of the area by the board, and notice of the
location and limits of the area, shall be given by publication in
accordance with IC 5-3-1. Upon request by a majority of the resident
freeholders of the area, the area may be incorporated into the district in
the manner provided in this section. The resolution of the board
incorporating the area into the district and a map of the area shall be
made and filed in the same manner.
(e) In addition, a person owning or occupying real property outside
the district may enter into a sewer service agreement with the board for
connection to the sewage works of the district. If the agreement
provides for connection at a later time, the date or the event upon
which the service commences shall be stated in the agreement. The
agreement may impose any conditions for connection that the board
determines. The agreement must also provide the amount of service
charge to be charged for connection if the persons are not covered
under section 11 of this chapter, with the amount to be fixed by the
board in its discretion and without a hearing.
(f) All sewer service agreements made under subsection (e) or (after
June 30, 2013) a signed memorandum of the sewer service agreement
shall be recorded in the office of the recorder of the county where the
property is located. The agreements run with the property described
and are binding upon the persons owning or occupying the property,
their personal representatives, heirs, devisees, grantees, successors, and
assigns. Each agreement that is recorded, or each agreement of which
a signed memorandum is recorded, and that provides for the property
being served to be placed on the tax rolls shall be certified by the board
to the auditor of the county where the property is located. The
certification must state the date the property is to be placed on the tax
rolls, and upon receipt of the certification together with a copy of the
agreement, the auditor shall immediately place the property certified
upon the rolls of property subject to the levy and collection of taxes for
the district. An agreement may provide for the collection of a service
charge for the period services are rendered before the levy and
collection of the tax.
(g) Except as provided in subsections (j) and (l), sewer service
agreements made under subsection (e) must contain a waiver provision
that persons (other than municipalities) who own or occupy property
agree for themselves, their executors, administrators, heirs, devisees,
grantees, successors, and assigns that they will:
(1) neither object to nor file a remonstrance against the proposed
annexation of the property by a municipality within the
boundaries of the district;
(2) not appeal from an order or a judgment annexing the property
to a municipality; and
(3) not file a complaint or an action against annexation
proceedings.
(h) This subsection does not affect any rights or liabilities accrued
or proceedings begun before July 1, 2013. Those rights, liabilities, and
proceedings continue and shall be imposed and enforced under prior
law as if this subsection had not been enacted. For contracts executed
after June 30, 2013, a waiver of the right to remonstrate under
subsection (g) that is not void under subsection (m), (n), or (o) is
binding as to an executor, administrator, heir, devisee, grantee,
successor, or assign of a party to a sewer service agreement under
subsection (g) only if the executor, administrator, heir, devisee,
grantee, successor, or assign:
(1) has actual notice of the waiver; or
(2) has constructive notice of the waiver because the sewer
service agreement or a signed memorandum of the sewer service
agreement stating the waiver has been recorded in the chain of
title of the property.
(i) This section does not affect any sewer service agreements
entered into before March 13, 1953. However, this section applies to
a remonstrance waiver regardless of when the waiver was executed.
(j) Subsection (g) does not apply to a landowner if all of the
following conditions apply:
(1) The landowner is required to connect to a sewer service
because a person other than the landowner has polluted or
contaminated the area.
(2) The costs of extension of service or connection to the sewer
service are paid by a person other than the landowner or the
municipality.
(k) This subsection applies to any deed recorded after June 30,
2015. This subsection applies only to property that is subject to a
remonstrance waiver. A municipality shall provide written notice to
any successor in title to property within a reasonable time after the
deed is recorded, that a waiver of the right of remonstrance has been
granted with respect to the property.
(l) The board may waive the waiver provision described in
subsection (g) in a sewer service agreement made under subsection (e)
if the sewer service agreement involves a connection to the district's
sewage works under IC 36-9-22.5.
(m) A remonstrance waiver executed before July 1, 2003, is void.
This subsection does not invalidate an annexation that was effective on
or before July 1, 2019.
(n) A remonstrance waiver executed after June 30, 2003, and before
July 1, 2019, is subject to the following:
(1) The waiver is void unless the waiver was recorded:
(A) before January 1, 2020; and
(B) with the county recorder of the county where the property
subject to the waiver is located.
(2) A waiver that is not void under subdivision (1) expires not
later than fifteen (15) years after the date the waiver is executed.
This subsection does not invalidate an annexation that was effective on
or before July 1, 2019.
(o) A remonstrance waiver executed after June 30, 2019, is subject
to the following:
(1) The waiver is void unless the waiver is recorded:
(A) not later than thirty (30) business days after the date the
waiver was executed; and
(B) with the county recorder of the county where the property
subject to the waiver is located.
(2) A waiver that is not void under subdivision (1) expires not
later than fifteen (15) years after the date the waiver is executed.
This subsection does not invalidate an annexation that was effective on
or before July 1, 2019.
[Pre-Local Government Recodification Citations:
subsections (a), (b), (c), (d) formerly 19-2-14-7 part; subsections
(e), (f), (g) formerly 19-2-20-7.]
As added by Acts 1981, P.L.309, SEC.98. Amended by Acts
1981, P.L.45, SEC.66; P.L.172-1995, SEC.6; P.L.243-2013, SEC.4;
P.L.228-2015, SEC.24; P.L.150-2019, SEC.3; P.L.257-2019, SEC.166;
P.L.156-2020, SEC.149.