§ 187 — Exclusion of a fire district from a water supply district

§ 187. Exclusion of a fire district from a water supply district. 1.\nPetition. Whenever a fire district shall be located wholly within the\nboundaries of a water supply district which shall have no bonded\nindebtedness, a written petition as hereinafter provided may be\npresented to the town board of the town in which the water supply\ndistrict is located asking for the exclusion of the area included in the\nfire district from the water supply district. Such petition shall be\nsigned, and acknowledged or proved in the same manner as a deed to be\nrecorded, or authenticated in the manner provided in the election law\nfor the authentication of nominating petitions, by resident taxpayers\nowning taxable real property aggregating at least one-half of the\nassessed valuation of all the taxable real property of the fire district\nowned by resident taxpayers, as such valuations appear upon the latest\ncompleted assessment roll of said town. Such petition shall have\nendorsed thereon the approval of a majority of the board of fire\ncommissioners of such fire district. The town board shall hold a public\nhearing upon such petition within the limits of the water supply\ndistrict and shall cause a notice thereof to be published and posted in\nthe same manner provided for hearings held pursuant to section one\nhundred seventy-one hereof. Such notice shall contain a description of\nthe fire district referred to in the petition and specify the time when\nand the place where the town board will meet to consider such petition\nand to hear all the persons interested in the subject concerning the\nsame. After a hearing held upon notice as provided hereinbefore, and\nupon the evidence given thereat, the town board shall determine whether\nit is in the public interest to grant the relief sought. If it is\ndetermined that it be not in the public interest to grant the relief\nsought, it shall deny the petition, but if it is determined that it be\nin the public interest, it may grant the relief sought by the petition.\n 2. Filing of determination. Whenever the town board shall adopt a\nresolution excluding the area included in a fire district from a water\nsupply district, the town clerk shall cause a certified copy of such\nresolution to be duly recorded in the office of the clerk of the county\nin which such fire district is located and a certified copy of such\nresolution to be filed with the secretary of the board of fire\ncommissioners of said district. When so recorded such resolution shall\nbe presumptive evidence of the regularity of the exclusion of such fire\ndistrict from the water supply district. The expense of such recording\nshall be a charge against the fire district. The said determination\nshall be final and conclusive unless a proceeding for review in the\nmanner provided by article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and\nrules has been commenced within thirty days from the time of filing\nthereof.\n 3. Liability for indebtedness; apportionment of liabilities and\nproperty. If the town board shall grant a petition for the exclusion of\nthe territory of a fire district from a water supply district and the\nterritory included within the boundaries of the fire district be so\nexcluded, such territory within such fire district shall not be relieved\nfrom bearing its proportionate share of any liability or indebtedness\nincurred for water supply district purposes while such territory was a\npart of such water supply district, and until such liability shall have\nbeen discharged or such indebtedness paid the proportionate share\nthereof to which such territory would be liable if it had not been\nexcluded from the water supply district, in accordance with assessed\nvaluations as appear on the latest completed assessment roll of said\ntown, shall be added to the annual budget of the fire district by the\ntown board.\n The proportion of the liability created or the indebtedness incurred\nin behalf of the water supply district and payable by a tax against the\nproperty within the fire district which shall be assumed by the fire\ndistrict and the apportionment of the personal and real property\nbelonging to the water supply district shall be determined according to\nthe relative assessed valuation of the personal and real property in\nthat portion of the water supply district without the fire district, and\nthat portion within the fire district, in the following manner: The town\nboard of the town when acting as a board for the water supply district,\nexclusive of a member who may reside in the fire district and the board\nof commissioners of the fire district being unable to agree within six\nmonths after the exclusion of the fire district from the water supply\ndistrict becomes final upon the proportion of the debt and the\napportionment of the personal and real property, then the supreme court\nshall have power to determine such division and to enforce such award,\ndivision and determination as shall be made in the premises in a suit in\nequity to be brought in the name of either of said parties.\n