Internal Improvement Districts Law of 1923

C.R.S. tit. 37, art. 44

in effect

C.R.S. § 37-44-101 Liberal construction

37-44-101. Liberal construction. This article, being necessary to secure and preserve the public health, safety, convenience, and welfare, and being necessary for the security of public and private property, shall be liberally construed to effect the purposes of this article.

C.R.S. § 37-44-102 Petition - establishment of an internal improvement district

37-44-102. Petition - establishment of an internal improvement district. (1) For the purpose of the establishment of an internal improvement district, as provided for by this article, a petition shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the district court of the county which embraces the largest acreage of the proposed district, which district court is hereby vested with full jurisdiction to hear said petition and to establish such internal improvement district. (2) Such petition shall state that it is the purpose of the petitioners to organize an internal improvement district; shall contain a general description of the boundaries of such proposed internal improvement district, the means proposed to supply storage water for the irrigation of lands embraced therein or of preventing floods, regulating streams and channels, regulating the flow of streams, and protecting public and private property from inundation or the means of supplying storage water and flood protection to the lands proposed to be included within said internal improvement district as necessary, and the name proposed for such internal improvement district; and shall name a committee of five of the petitioners to present such petition to the district court praying that the district court define and establish the boundaries of said proposed internal improvement district and submit the question of the final organization of the same to the vote of the qualified electors of said district. (3) The petition shall be signed by a majority of the owners of the land within the limits of the territory proposed to be organized into such district, who shall have all the qualifications of electors provided for under section 37-44-105. The petition shall also be accompanied by a good and sufficient bond to be approved by the clerk of said district court, in an amount to be fixed by the court, conditioned for the payment of all costs incurred in such proceeding in case such organization shall not be effected, but in case such district is effected, then such expenses incurred in the organization thereof shall be paid by said district. (4) In the event the proposed district intends to acquire or maintain any such drainage system, the said petition shall also set forth: (a) In general terms, a description of the area proposed to be drained or benefited; (b) A general description of the means to be adopted to effect such drainage; (c) A statement of the proposed means of financing the construction of the necessary drainage works; (d) An estimate of the probable annual expense of maintaining such drainage system; (e) A general statement of the reasons why the construction and the maintenance of such drainage system would inure to the benefit of the irrigated lands included within the proposed district. (5) Such petitions shall be published for at least four weeks before the time at which the same is to be presented in some newspaper of general circulation and published in each county into which any part of the proposed district extends, together with a notice signed by the committee of said petitioners selected by the petition for that purpose, giving the time and place of the presentation of the same to said district court.

C.R.S. § 37-44-103 Powers of district

37-44-103. Powers of district. (1) Any district organized under this article has the power, whenever necessary or expedient to promote the object of the district: (a) To provide for the drainage of lands whether lying within or without the boundaries of such district; (b) To acquire by condemnation or otherwise such lands as are necessary for the construction, operation, and maintenance of such ditches, canals, drains, or other works as are required for the drainage of such lands; (c) To accept grants or loans of money from the federal government, or any department or agency thereof, for the construction of such drainage ditches, canals, drains, or other works, and to enter into such contracts for the maintenance of such drainage system as are necessary to be entered into in order to procure any such grant of money or other federal aid in the construction of such drainage system; (d) In general, to contract with the federal government, or any department or agency thereof, in such manner as shall be found necessary or advisable in order to procure federal aid in any form in the construction of any such drainage system; (e) To provide means for the maintenance of and to maintain and operate such drainage system when so constructed or acquired.

C.R.S. § 37-44-104 Presentation and allowance of petitions

37-44-104. Presentation and allowance of petitions. (1) (a) When such petition is presented and it appears that the notice of presentation of said petition has been given, as required by section 37-44-102, and that said petition has been signed by the requisite number of petitioners, the district court in which said petition is presented shall proceed to define the boundaries of such proposed district, from the petition and from such application for the exclusion of lands from and inclusions of lands therein as may be made in accordance with the provisions of this article. (b) Any owner of land included in the proposed district who is not a signer of said petition may file with said court, on or before the day fixed by said notice for the presentation of said petition, a protest against the inclusion of lands so owned by him in the proposed district and petition for its exclusion. Said protest and petition shall set out the facts and conditions by reason of which such owner seeks to have his lands excluded from said proposed district. As many different owners as desire to do so may join in the same petition. (c) Owners of lands not included in said proposed district, in like manner, may petition for the inclusion of their lands therein. (2) On the day fixed for such hearing, the court shall proceed to examine the petition for the formation of said district and shall determine whether the same is in proper form and signed by the requisite number of petitioners. Certificates from several county assessors as to the ownership of lands in said proposed district, if the same appear upon the last assessment rolls of their respective counties, shall be prima facie evidence of the ownership of the lands therein mentioned; but strict proof of such ownership may be required by the court in regard to any lands, the ownership of which is called in question by any interested parties. (3) When it appears to the court that the required notice of such hearing has been given, and that such petition is in proper form and signed by the required number of landowners, the court shall proceed to hear the same and all applications for inclusion and exclusion of lands theretofore filed with the clerk of said court. In such hearing, the court may consider: (a) The physical condition and location of any lands for the inclusion or exclusion of which a petition has been filed; (b) Its adaptability for agricultural use; and the sufficiency of any water supply already available for its irrigation and the need for any additional supply; (c) The location and condition of said land with reference to other lands to be included in the proposed district; (d) The cost and practicability of applying the proposed water supply to the irrigation of said lands, and the necessity and practicability of flood protection for said lands, if the same is sought to be included for flood protection purposes; (e) The necessity and practicability of draining lands, either within or without the boundaries of said district; to be included in the proposed district; (d) The cost and practicability of applying the proposed water supply to the irrigation of said lands, and the necessity and practicability of flood protection for said lands, if the same is sought to be included for flood protection purposes; (e) The necessity and practicability of draining lands, either within or without the boundaries of said district; (f) In general, any other matters which will enable the court to determine the question of whether such land should be included or excluded from said district. Lands which will not be benefited by the works of any such proposed district or lands already provided with adequate water supply for irrigation, where it is proposed to irrigate such lands, in whole or in part, from the works of such proposed district, or lands already provided with drainage, where it is proposed to drain such lands, in whole or in part, by the works to be constructed by such proposed district, shall not be included in said district or assessed for district purposes, except upon the written consent of the owner thereof, including all encumbrances, duly acknowledged in the manner provided by law for the acknowledgment of deeds. (4) If, in the judgment of the court, the matters to be heard in connection with said petition can best be determined by reference of such matters, or any thereof to a magistrate, reference thereof may be ordered by said court and such order of reference shall expressly state what question shall be heard by said magistrate, when and where such hearing will be held, and the date on which the magistrate's report and findings shall be received and considered by the court. Said court may adjourn such hearing from time to time. If the court finds and determines that the organization of the proposed district is not in the best interests of the lands proposed to be included therein, the petition shall be denied and the proceedings dismissed. If the court finds that the formation of the district is meritorious and in the best interests of the lands to be included therein, the court by final order duly entered, shall define and establish the boundaries of such proposed district. When the boundaries of any proposed district have been examined and defined, the district court shall forthwith make an order allowing the prayer of said petitions defining and establishing the boundaries and designating the name of such proposed district. (5) Thereupon said district court by order duly entered in said court shall call an election of all qualified electors of said district to be held for the purpose of determining whether such district shall be organized under provisions of this article and by such order shall submit the names of two or more persons from each of the five divisions of said district, who may be voted for as directors therein. For the purposes of said election the court shall divide said district into five divisions as nearly equal in size as may be practicable and shall provide that a qualified elector of each of said five divisions shall be elected as a member of the board of directors of said district by the qualified electors of the whole district. Each of said divisions shall constitute an election precinct and three qualified electors shall be appointed in each of said precincts, who shall act as judges to conduct the election in said precinct, one of whom shall act as clerk of said election.

C.R.S. § 37-44-105 Notice of election - voters - ballots

37-44-105. Notice of election - voters - ballots. (1) The clerk of the district court of the county where said petition was presented shall thereupon cause a notice embodying said orders in substance, signed by the clerk of the said district court, to be issued, given, and published, giving notice of said election and the time and place thereof. The notice shall be published once a week for at least three weeks prior to such election in a newspaper of general circulation in each county into which any portion of such proposed district extends. In addition to the notice by publication, the clerk of the district court shall mail, postage prepaid, a printed copy of said notice of election to each of the owners of the lands proposed to be included in said district. Such notices shall be addressed to the last-known post office address of each of said owners as the same may appear from the certificates of the several county assessors theretofore certified to the court as provided in section 37-44-104, or which are otherwise made known to the clerk of said court, and said notices shall be mailed not less than two weeks prior to the election. The clerk shall certify and file, in the records of the proceeding, a list of the persons, and their addresses, to whom notices have been mailed. (2) At all elections held under the provisions of this article, all persons are entitled to vote who are resident freeholders of agricultural lands within the said district or who are the owners of land to the extent of forty acres or more within said district and reside in the state of Colorado, and who are qualified electors under the general laws of the state of Colorado, and who have paid property taxes upon property located within said district during the three hundred and sixty-five days immediately preceding any such election. (3) Electors not residing within the district are entitled to vote only within the precinct of such district wherein the majority of their lands are located. Any person entitled to vote shall also be eligible to election as director in and for the precinct of such district in which the major portion of his lands are located. (4) The ballot to be used and cast at such election for the formation of such district shall be substantially as follows: "Internal Improvement District - Yes" or "Internal Improvement District - No", or words equivalent thereto, and shall also contain the names of persons to be voted for as members of the board of directors of said district and shall contain a sufficient number of blank spaces to permit each elector to write in the names of any persons for whom he may wish to vote as members of the board of directors. Each elector may vote for five directors, one for each precinct, and shall indicate his choice by placing a marginal cross upon the ballot opposite any name voted upon or by writing in the name of the person for whom he desires to vote, and shall also indicate his vote upon any question submitted by placing a marginal cross upon the ballot either for or against such question.

C.R.S. § 37-44-106 Canvass of votes

37-44-106. Canvass of votes. The district judge, within ten days after the returns of said election have been filed with the clerk of said district court by the judges of election in the various precincts of said district, shall proceed to canvass the returns of the votes cast thereat and if it is proven to said court that at least a majority of the legal electors in said district who are also the owners of more than one-half the total acreage included in said district have voted "Internal Improvement - Yes", the said judge, by an order duly entered in said court, shall declare such territory duly organized into an internal improvement district under the name and style theretofore designated and in said order declare the persons receiving respectively the highest number of votes in each election precinct for such several offices to be duly elected to such office. Said board shall cause a copy of such order, including a plat of said district, duly certified by the clerk of said district court, to be filed for record in the office of the county clerk and recorder of each county into which any portion of the lands situated in said internal improvement district extends and, after the date of filing such order, no portion of such district shall be included in or form a part of any other internal improvement district. From and after the date of such filing, the organization of such district shall be complete, and the officers thereof shall immediately enter upon the duties of their respective offices, upon qualifying in accordance with law, and shall hold such offices respectively until their successors are elected and qualified.

C.R.S. § 37-44-107 Plans for improvements

37-44-107. Plans for improvements. Upon qualification, the board of directors shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, a plan for the improvements for which the district was created. Such plan shall include such maps, profiles, plans, other data and descriptions as may be necessary to give the proper location and character of the work contemplated, and the specific property to be benefited thereby, that portion to be furnished with a supply of reservoir water for the irrigation thereof or to supplement inadequate water rights already appurtenant thereto, or used for the irrigation thereof, or any lands lying either within or without the boundaries of the district, the drainage of which may be deemed directly or indirectly beneficial to the lands within the district, and that portion of said district requiring flood protection; however, no system of drainage or irrigation already existing in said internal improvement district, or any drainage district, or irrigation district, or any water rights appertaining to or provided for any lands in said district after May 9, 1923, and not supplied by works constructed by such internal improvement district, shall be affected in any way by the passage of this article or the organization of said district.

C.R.S. § 37-44-108 Directors - powers and duties

37-44-108. Directors - powers and duties. (1) The directors, having duly qualified, shall organize as a board, elect a president from their number, and appoint a secretary and a district treasurer. The board has power, and it is its duty, to adopt a seal; manage and conduct the affairs and business of the district; make and execute all necessary contracts; employ such agents, attorneys, officers, and employees as may be required and prescribe their duties; and generally perform all acts as shall be necessary to fully carry out the purposes of this article 44. The board of directors has power to construct, acquire, purchase, or condemn any drainage canals, reservoir sites, and such inlet and outlet works as may be necessary, or to acquire, by condemnation or otherwise, the right to enlarge any reservoir already constructed or partly constructed and to enlarge the inlet and outlet works thereof, or to purchase or acquire, by proceedings in eminent domain or otherwise, any reservoir, drainage system, or irrigation system already constructed or partially constructed and to enlarge and complete the same adequate to the needs of the district. (2) No contract or award or judgment in eminent domain involving a consideration exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars shall be binding until such contract, award, or judgment has been authorized, ratified, or the payment thereof approved at an election in the same manner as is provided for the issue of bonds, and the necessity of submitting such matters to the approval of the electors shall not be avoided by entering into more than one contract with considerations of less than twenty-five thousand dollars where the whole transaction actually involved more than that amount. (3) The board also has power to promulgate rules regulating the use of the water owned and controlled by said district, and all water owned by said district shall be apportioned and distributed for irrigation to each landowner in proportion to the benefits to said land as determined by the assessments levied against said land for irrigation purposes as provided in this article. (4) The board of directors has the further power to lease or rent the use of water or to contract for the delivery thereof to settlers thereon or occupants of the public domain; except that, in such case, the board of directors has the further power to make a contract on behalf of the district with such settlers or occupants to the effect that any such settler or occupant, upon receiving full title to his land and upon the payment of his proportional share of the bond assessment and maintenance charges as fixed and determined by the board of directors of said district, shall include his land within said district, and such land upon such inclusion shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges of other lands of said district and subject to all of the provisions of this article. Before the execution of such contract, the board of directors shall cause a notice of such contract to be given for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the office of the district is required to be located, and a hearing upon said contract and all objections thereto shall be had as provided in this article. bject to all of the provisions of this article. Before the execution of such contract, the board of directors shall cause a notice of such contract to be given for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the office of the district is required to be located, and a hearing upon said contract and all objections thereto shall be had as provided in this article. (5) If upon said hearing the board of directors deems it for the best interest of the district not to execute said contract, the petition shall be rejected, but, if the board deems it for the best interest of the district that the contract be executed, the board shall execute said contract, and, in such case, the contract shall be valid and binding upon all parties thereto. When such settler or occupant has complied with said contract and obtained title to his land, upon proof of such compliance and obtaining of title and without any further notice or hearing of the matter, the board shall enter an order for the inclusion of said lands as provided in this article. If any settler or occupant fails or refuses to perform said contract, the board of directors, if it so elects, may rescind the contract and declare a forfeiture of any payments theretofore made, in which event said land shall no longer be entitled to any of the benefits to be obtained under said contract and shall not become a part of the district. (6) The board of directors further has full power, in order to protect life and property within the district, to devise, prepare, execute, maintain, and operate any and all works and improvements provided for by the plan adopted and, to that end, may employ and secure men and equipment under the general supervision of the engineer of the district or, in its discretion, may let contracts for such work either in the whole or in parts. In order to protect life and property, and in order to drain, protect, or relieve land, which subject to overflow or washing or which is menaced or threatened by the normal flow, flood, surplus, or overflow of water of any natural watercourse, stream, canal, or wash, whether perennial, intermittent, or flood, and in order to effect the protection of the land and other property in the district, the board of directors is empowered to clean out, straighten, widen, alter, deepen, or change the course or terminus of any ditch, drain, sewer, reservoir, watercourse, pond, lake, creek, or natural stream, in or out of said district, necessary for the proper protection of the lands in said district from overflow, washing, or drainage by reason thereof.

C.R.S. § 37-44-109 Meetings of board - records

37-44-109. Meetings of board - records. The board of directors shall hold a regular quarterly meeting in its office on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January, April, July, and October and such special meetings as may be required for the proper transaction of business. All special meetings shall be called by the president of the board or any two directors. All meetings of the board shall be public, and three members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and, on all occasions requiring a vote, there shall be a concurrence of at least two members of said board. All special meetings of the board shall be held at locations which are within the boundaries of the district or which are within the boundaries of any county in which the district is located, in whole or in part, or in any county so long as the meeting location does not exceed twenty miles from the district boundaries. The provisions of this section governing the location of meetings may be waived only if the proposed change of location of a meeting of the board appears on the agenda of a regular or special meeting of the board and if a resolution is adopted by the board stating the reason for which a meeting of the board is to be held in a location other than under the provisions of this section and further stating the date, time, and place of such meeting. All records of the board must be kept open to any elector during business hours. The board and its agents and employees have the right to enter upon any land in the district, to make surveys, and to construct such works as may be necessary for the proper operation of the district. The board also has the right to acquire all lands, water rights, franchises, and other property necessary to the construction, use, maintenance, repairs, and improvements of its canals, ditches, reservoirs, and works and also has the right by purchase or condemnation to acquire rights-of-way for the construction or enlargement of any of its ditches, canals, or reservoirs or lands for reservoir sites.

C.R.S. § 37-44-110 Title - tax exemption

37-44-110. Title - tax exemption. The title to all property acquired under the provisions of this article, immediately and by operation of law, shall vest in such internal improvement district in its corporate name, and shall be held by such district in trust and is hereby dedicated and set apart for the uses and purposes set forth in this article, and shall be exempt from all taxation, and said board is hereby empowered to hold, use, acquire, manage, occupy, and possess said property.

C.R.S. § 37-44-111 Conveyances - power to sue

37-44-111. Conveyances - power to sue. The board is hereby empowered to take conveyances or assurances for all property acquired by it under the provisions of this article and, in the name of such internal improvement district to and for the purposes expressed in this article, to institute and maintain any action or proceeding necessary or proper in order to fully carry out the provisions of this article or to enforce, maintain, and protect all rights, privileges, and immunities created by this article or acquired in pursuance thereof. In all courts, actions, or proceedings, the board may sue, appear, and defend in person or by attorneys and in the name of such internal improvement district. Judicial notice shall be taken in all actions and judicial proceedings in any court of this state of the organization and existence of any internal improvement district of this state, from and after the filing for record in the office of the county clerk and recorder of the certified copy of the order of the district court creating the same, and a certified copy of said order shall be prima facie evidence in all actions and proceedings in any court of this state of the regularity and legal sufficiency of all acts, matters, and proceedings therein recited.

C.R.S. § 37-44-112 Bonds

37-44-112. Bonds. (1) For the purpose of constructing, purchasing, or acquiring necessary reservoir sites, reservoirs, canals, ditches, and works and acquiring the necessary property rights therefor, for the purpose of paying an amount not to exceed the first five years' interest on the bonds authorized in this article, and for the purpose of otherwise carrying out the provisions of this article, the board of directors of any such internal improvement district, as soon after such district has been organized as may be practicable, shall estimate and determine the amount of money necessary to be raised for such purposes and shall forthwith call a special election, at which election there shall be submitted to the electors of such district possessing the qualifications prescribed by this article the question of whether or not the bonds of said district shall be issued in the amount so determined. A notice of such election shall be given by posting notices in three public places in each election precinct in said district for at least twenty days and also by publication of such notice in some newspaper published in the county where the office of the board of directors is required to be kept once a week for at least three successive weeks. (2) Such notice shall specify the time of holding the election, the amount of bonds proposed to be issued and the amount and rate of interest on such bonds proposed to be issued, and the dates when the percentage of principal or series of said bonds will become due, if serial bonds are contemplated, or the maturity date of the entire issue, as the case may be. At such election the ballots shall contain the words, "Bonds - Yes" or "Bonds - No", or words equivalent thereto, and also such appropriate words as shall enable the electors to indicate whether such bonds shall be redeemable at the option of the district at any time after their date or payable in series, and said election must be held and the result determined and declared in all respects as nearly as possible in conformity with the provisions of this article governing the election of officers, but no informality in conducting such election shall invalidate the same if the election has been otherwise fairly conducted. If a majority of the legal electors who are freeholders and taxpayers who represent a majority of the land within said district have voted "Bonds - Yes", the board of directors shall immediately cause bonds in such amount to be issued. (3) If bonds are to be payable in series, each series shall consist of a definite percentage of the whole amount and number of said bonds. The time of maturity of the series of bonds and the percentage represented by each series shall be submitted to and approved by the electors at said election; but the last series shall mature in not more than fifty years from the date of said bonds, and the first series or percentage of the principal of said bonds shall become due not more than ten years from the date of said bonds, and the series shall be so arranged that some percentage of the principal of said bonds, never less than one percent, shall become due each year thereafter until the entire principal has been paid. If such bonds are made redeemable at the option of the district, they shall mature at a specific date not more than fifty years from their date of issue. If the optional form of bond is issued, the board of directors of the district, when funds are available for redemption purposes at any time before maturity, shall call for offerings for redemption and, out of the redemption fund provided for the payment of said bonds, shall pay any bonds presented for payment pursuant to such call to any holder thereof who offers the same for payment and redemption for the lowest amount below par, including accrued interest, to the extent of the funds available; otherwise said bonds shall be retired in the order of their issue numerically. gs for redemption and, out of the redemption fund provided for the payment of said bonds, shall pay any bonds presented for payment pursuant to such call to any holder thereof who offers the same for payment and redemption for the lowest amount below par, including accrued interest, to the extent of the funds available; otherwise said bonds shall be retired in the order of their issue numerically. (4) The interest on the bonds is payable semiannually on June 1 and December 1 of each year. The principal and interest is payable at the location the board of directors designates in the bond. (5) Such bonds shall each be of the denomination of not less than one hundred dollars and nor more than one thousand dollars and shall be negotiable in form, executed in the name of the internal improvement district, and signed by the president and secretary, and the seal of the district shall be affixed thereto. (6) The bonds must be numbered consecutively as issued and bear the date of their issue. Coupons for the interest shall be attached to each bond bearing the lithographed signatures of the president and secretary. The bonds shall express on their faces that they are issued by the authority of this article 44, stating its title and date of approval. At the time of the issue of the bonds, each bond shall be registered by the treasurer of the internal improvement district, in a book to be kept by the district treasurer for this purpose, and the interest on the bond shall begin to run only from the date of the registry. Coupons evidencing unearned interest must be detached and canceled. Each registered bond must have endorsed thereon the treasurer's certificate of the registration, and only bonds certified in this manner are valid, and the certificate is conclusive evidence that the bond has been duly issued in full conformity with the provisions of this article 44. (7) When the money provided by any previous issue of bonds has been exhausted by expenditures provided for in this article and it becomes necessary to raise additional money for such purposes, additional bonds may be issued, submitting the question by special election to the qualified voters of said district and otherwise complying with the provisions of this article in respect to an original issue of such bonds, but the lien for assessments for the payment of interest and principal of any bond issue shall be a prior lien to that of any subsequent bond issue.

C.R.S. § 37-44-113 Sale of bonds

37-44-113. Sale of bonds. (1) The board may sell bonds so issued from time to time in such quantities as necessary and most advantageous to raise the money for the construction of reservoirs or canals, or the purchase of reservoir sites, reservoirs, water rights and works, and otherwise to carry out the objects and purposes of this article. Before making any sale, the board at a meeting shall declare by resolution its intent to sell a specified amount of bonds and the day and hour and place of such sale and shall cause such resolution to be entered in its minutes and a notice of the sale to be published at least twenty days in a daily newspaper published in the city of Denver and in any other newspaper at its discretion. The notice shall state that sealed proposals will be received by the board at its office for the purchase of the bonds until the day and hour named in the resolution. At the time appointed the board shall open the proposals and award the purchase of the bonds to the highest responsible bidder or may reject any and all bids; but said board shall, in no event, sell any of said bonds for less than ninety-five percent of the face value thereof. (2) The bonds and the interest thereon shall be paid by revenue derived from an annual assessment upon the real property of the district, and the real property of the district shall be and remain liable to be assessed for such payments as provided in this article.

C.R.S. § 37-44-114 Classification of lands

37-44-114. Classification of lands. (1) As soon as the plans for the development of storage water and flood protection have been determined and before the actual work thereon is begun or bonds voted, the board of directors shall proceed to make special assessments for benefits by classifying the lands in the district in tracts of forty acres, more or less, according to the legal or recognized subdivisions, on a graduated scale to be numbered according to the benefits to be received by the contemplated supply of storage water or flood protection. The tracts of land which will receive more than about equal benefits shall be marked one hundred, and such as are adjudged to receive less benefits shall be marked with a lesser number denoting their percentage of benefit. This classification when established shall remain as a basis for the levy of such assessments as may be needed for the lawful and proper purposes of the internal improvement district, but, in any district where a classification has once been made and the board of directors believes from experience and results that such former classification was or is not fairly adjusted on the several tracts of land according to benefits, which classification may be adjusted by new or additional assessments, the board of directors shall disregard such former classification and make a new classification in accordance with justice and right. When the classification is completed, it shall be properly tabulated or shown by a map, or both, and filed in the office of the district for inspection. (2) The board of directors shall cause to be personally served upon all parties owning land to be affected by the proposed supply of storage or reservoir waters or flood protection or other property liable to be assessed under this article and residing in the district a written or printed notice of the time and place where they will meet to hear and consider any objections that may be made to the classification of lands on the graduated scale, which notice shall be served in case of residence in the district at least ten days before the time set for the hearing by delivering a copy thereof to the party to be served. As to all persons not served personally, they shall be given notice by publishing the same in one public newspaper in each county into which such internal improvement district may extend, which notice shall be published in such newspaper once in each week until four successive weekly publications have been made, the last publication to be on a day previous to the day appointed for said hearing, and proof of the proper publication of said notice in the newspaper shall consist of the sworn certificate of the publisher of such newspaper, showing the publication to have been made in accordance with the provisions of this section. (3) Such hearing may be adjourned from day to day by public announcement of the board of directors made at the hearing until all objections are heard. All persons duly notified of the first day of the meeting as provided in this section shall take cognizance of all adjournments without further notice. The affidavit of any creditable person that he has posted or served such notice as required by this section and the affidavit of publication of the publisher of such newspapers as to the publication of said notice shall be sufficient evidence of such facts.

C.R.S. § 37-44-115 Objections to classifications

37-44-115. Objections to classifications. At the time of said meeting, the board of directors shall hear any objections made by any interested person, and, if satisfied that any injustice has been done in the classification of the tracts of land, it shall correct the same in accordance with what is right, but, if not so satisfied, it shall leave the classification as first made and enter an order to that effect. Any person appearing and urging objections who is not satisfied with the decision of the board of directors may appeal its decision to the district court having original jurisdiction in the formation of said district within ten days after the decision of the board of directors was rendered by filing with the clerk of said court a statement in writing of his objections to the assessment made against him together with a bond with security conditioned to pay such taxes as may be finally levied upon the land in question and the costs occasioned by the appeal if the board of directors is sustained by said court.

C.R.S. § 37-44-116 Conduct of appeals

37-44-116. Conduct of appeals. Appeals taken to the district court under the provisions of section 37-44-115 may be heard at any term thereof at such time as may be fixed by the court, and the cost of such appeal at the discretion of the court may be divided between the internal improvement district and the owner of the land who appeals the classification of the board of directors or assessed against either party. Either party may demand a jury to which shall be submitted all questions of fact as in other civil cases, and said cause shall be heard and determined as other civil causes. The classification as determined and fixed by the court shall be entered in the records of the district in which the lands are situate and thereafter shall be the basis upon which assessments for benefits are made.

C.R.S. § 37-44-117 Appeal not to delay

37-44-117. Appeal not to delay. The taking of an appeal by any person as provided in section 37-44-115 shall not operate to delay the collection of any assessment from which no appeal has been taken or to delay the progress of the work or the issuing of any bonds.

C.R.S. § 37-44-118 Modification of classification

37-44-118. Modification of classification. The board of directors shall modify such classification so that the same conforms to the changes made therein in the hearings before said board, and the secretary of the district shall certify and file said classification of property of the district so modified, properly tabulated or shown by a map or both, with the county clerk and recorder of each county into which said district extends. If on appeal said classification is modified, the board shall then modify the classification, and the secretary of the district shall certify and file the same with the clerk of each county in which the district is located.

C.R.S. § 37-44-119 Apportionment of levy

37-44-119. Apportionment of levy. (1) On or before July 1 in each year, the board of directors shall determine the amount of money required to meet the current expenses of the district for the coming year, including the cost of construction, maintenance, including maintenance of drainage works, operating expenses, and any deficiencies in the payment of expenses already incurred, and bond interest unpaid, and also the amount of bonded indebtedness and the principal or interest which will fall due during the coming year and, by resolution, shall order such an amount of money to be raised by special assessment upon the lands of the district as may be necessary to raise the sum of money so determined, and such amount shall be apportioned among the several tracts in the name of the owner, when known, according to the acreage of each at its figure or classification on the graduated scale so that each tract may bear its equal burden proportionate to benefits. (2) The secretary of the district shall make out a special assessment roll, hereinafter designated "assessment list", setting down in opposite columns the owners, names when known, and when unknown stating unknown, a description of the land, and the number denoting the classification of the assessment, which is current expenses and which is bonded indebtedness and interest thereon in separate columns.

C.R.S. § 37-44-120 Assessment

37-44-120. Assessment. The assessment list shall be completed on or before July 15, and, on the first Tuesday in August in each year and from day to day thereafter, Sundays excepted, the board of directors shall sit to hear complaints and to correct errors in such assessments until all complaints filed with the secretary are presented to the board of directors and have had an opportunity to be heard and have been determined. The classification of any lands on the graduated scale shall not be changed or determined at said hearings.

C.R.S. § 37-44-121 Assessment list - collection

37-44-121. Assessment list - collection. On or before September 1 in each year, the secretary shall transmit to the county assessor of each county in which said district is located, a certified copy of so much of said assessment book as relates to land within said county together with a certified copy of the order of the board of directors, and the county assessor shall attach his warrant for the collection of said amounts and deliver said certified copy of the warrant to the county treasurer of his county at the same time that the tax roll of the county is delivered, and the county treasurer shall collect said assessments as taxes are collected as a part of the tax roll of that year.

C.R.S. § 37-44-122 Assessment book

37-44-122. Assessment book. The secretary of the board of directors shall deliver the assessment book duly certified together with a copy of the order of the board of directors, levying said assessment, to the district treasurer of said internal improvement district.

C.R.S. § 37-44-123 Assessments affect land benefited

37-44-123. Assessments affect land benefited. All districts organized under authority of this article shall be special or local improvement districts. The assessments levied by, for, or on behalf of any such district shall be local or special improvement assessments. Such assessments shall be determined and levied according to the benefits to accrue to each tract of land included in any such district and not otherwise. No tract of land so included shall be burdened by cumulative levies or otherwise for the payment of delinquencies or defaults in the payment of assessments levied against other lands in such district.

C.R.S. § 37-44-124 District treasurer

37-44-124. District treasurer. (1) (a) The district treasurer shall be liable upon the district treasurer's official bond and to indictment and criminal prosecution for malfeasance, misfeasance, or failure to perform any duty prescribed in this article 44 as district treasurer. The district treasurer may collect, receive, and receipt for all money belonging to the district; except that district assessments shall be collected by the county treasurer pursuant to section 39-10-101 and distributed to the district treasurer pursuant to section 39-10-107. (b) It is the duty of the county treasurer of each county in which the district is located, in whole or in part, to collect and receipt for all assessments levied in the same manner and at the same time and on the same receipt as is required in the collection of taxes upon real estate for county purposes. The county treasurer of each county comprising a portion only of the district shall remit to the district treasurer all money theretofore collected or received by the county treasurer on account of the district in accordance with section 39-10-107. Every district treasurer shall keep a bond fund account and a general fund account. The bond fund account shall consist of all money received on account of interest and principal of bonds issued by the district, and accounts for interest and principal shall be kept separate. The general fund shall consist of all other money received by the collection of assessments or otherwise. (2) The district treasurer shall pay out of said bond fund when due the interest and principal of the bonds of said district at the time and place specified in said bonds and shall pay out of the said general funds only upon the order of the board of directors, signed by the president and countersigned by the secretary of the district. The district treasurer on the fifteenth day of each month shall report to the secretary of the district the amount of money in his hands to the credit of the respective funds showing the amount of warrants and bonds paid during the previous month and the amount of warrants registered, if any. All such district assessments collected and paid to the county treasurers shall be receipted for by said treasurers in their official capacity, and they shall be responsible for the safekeeping and disbursement and payment thereof the same as for other moneys collected by them as treasurers. Each county shall receive for the collection of such taxes such amount as the board of directors may allow, to be not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars per year, but the board of directors may allow such an additional amount to the county in which the office of the district is located, such additional compensation, as it may determine in any event, not to exceed the sum of five hundred dollars per year.

C.R.S. § 37-44-125 Where office of district kept

37-44-125. Where office of district kept. The office of the district shall be kept at such place as the board of directors may designate in the county where the petition for the formation of said district was originally filed.

C.R.S. § 37-44-126 Election of officers - oath or affirmation - bond

37-44-126. Election of officers - oath or affirmation - bond. (1) The regular election of the district for the purpose of electing a board of directors shall be held on the first Monday after the first Tuesday in December of each year, at which time one director shall be elected for a term of five years; except that, at the first election held to choose the first board of directors after the organization of any internal improvement district has been effected, the person having the highest number of votes shall continue in office for the full term of five years, the next highest four years, the next highest three years, the next highest two years, and the next highest one year. If two or more persons in the same precinct have the same number of votes, their term shall be determined by lot under the direction of the judge of the district court having original jurisdiction of the formation of the said district. The person receiving the highest number of votes for any office to be filled is elected thereto. (2) After receiving their certificates of election provided for in section 37-44-135, said officers shall take an oath or affirmation in accordance with section 24-12-101. Each member of the board of directors shall execute an official bond in the sum of five thousand dollars, which bond shall be approved by the judge of the district court of the county wherein such organization was effected and shall be filed in the office of the county clerk and recorder thereof. All official bonds shall be in the form prescribed by law for official bonds for county commissioners; except that the obligee named in said bonds shall be the internal improvement district and shall be filed with the county clerk and recorder at the same time as the filing of the oath or affirmation required by this section.

C.R.S. § 37-44-127 Notices of election of officers

37-44-127. Notices of election of officers. Fifteen days prior to any election held under the provisions of this article and after the organization of an internal improvement district, the secretary shall cause notices specifying the polling place of each precinct to be posted in three public places in each precinct, giving the hour and place of holding the election, and at the same time shall post a general election notice of the election in the office of said internal improvement district.

C.R.S. § 37-44-128 Judges and clerk of election

37-44-128. Judges and clerk of election. Prior to the time for posting said notices, the board of directors shall appoint three judges of election in each precinct, each of whom shall be a landowner within said precinct, and one of whom shall act as clerk of the election.

C.R.S. § 37-44-129 Voters to appoint judges if necessary

37-44-129. Voters to appoint judges if necessary. If the board of directors fails to appoint judges or the appointees fail to attend at the hour designated for opening the polls on the morning of election, the voters of the precinct present at that hour may appoint one or more judges to supply the places of those absent.

C.R.S. § 37-44-130 Administration of oath

37-44-130. Administration of oath. Any judge or clerk of election may administer and certify oaths required to be administered during the progress of an election. Before opening the polls each judge and clerk shall take and subscribe an oath to faithfully perform the duties imposed upon him by law. Any qualified elector of the precinct may administer and certify said oath.

C.R.S. § 37-44-131 Hours polls open

37-44-131. Hours polls open. The polls shall be open at 8 a.m. and be kept open until 6 p.m. of the day of election.

C.R.S. § 37-44-132 Count of ballots - certificate of returns

37-44-132. Count of ballots - certificate of returns. After closing the polls the judges of election shall forthwith proceed to count the ballots and make returns of the results of the election. It is the duty of the clerk forthwith to deliver the returns duly certified to the board of directors of the internal improvement district, together with the ballots cast.

C.R.S. § 37-44-133 Canvass of returns - result

37-44-133. Canvass of returns - result. The board of directors shall meet at the office of the internal improvement district on the first Monday after an election and canvass the returns. If at the time of the meeting the returns have been received from all the precincts, the board of directors shall then proceed to canvass the returns. If returns have not been received from all precincts, the canvass shall be postponed from day to day until the returns have all been received or until six postponements have been had. The canvass shall be made in public by opening the returns and counting the votes of the district for each person voted for and for or against each question submitted at such election and declaring the results thereof. The board shall declare elected the person receiving the highest number of votes for each office and shall declare the result of the vote on any question submitted to the voters.

C.R.S. § 37-44-134 Procedure in case of tie

37-44-134. Procedure in case of tie. In the event that at any regular or special election two or more persons receive the same number of votes and one is elected thereby, the election shall be determined by lot under direction of the county judge of the county in which the office of the internal improvement district is kept.

C.R.S. § 37-44-135 Certificate of election

37-44-135. Certificate of election. The secretary shall forthwith deliver to each person elected a certificate of election, signed by the secretary and authenticated with the seal of the internal improvement district.

C.R.S. § 37-44-136 Filling vacancy

37-44-136. Filling vacancy. In case of vacancy in the board of directors, by death, removal, or inability from any cause to properly discharge the duties of a director, the board of county commissioners of the county where the office of said district is located shall appoint a director who shall hold his office until the next regular election in said district and until his successor is elected and qualified.

C.R.S. § 37-44-137 Collection of assessments

37-44-137. Collection of assessments. The revenue laws of this state for the assessment and collection of taxes on real estate for county purposes, except as modified by this article, shall be effective for the purposes of this article, including the enforcement of penalties and forfeitures for delinquent taxes.

C.R.S. § 37-44-138 Construction contract - bond

37-44-138. Construction contract - bond. After adopting a plan for the construction of reservoirs and works for the protection of life and property and to furnish water for the irrigation of the territory embraced within the boundaries of the internal improvement district, or to drain lands within or without the boundaries of said district, the board of directors shall give notice, by publication thereof, not less than twenty days in a newspaper published in the county in which the office of the internal improvement district is located, provided a newspaper is published therein, and in such other newspapers as it may deem advisable, calling for bids for the construction of said works or any portion thereof. If less than the whole work is advertised, then the portion so advertised must be particularly described in such notice. The notice shall set forth that plans and specifications may be seen at the office of the board and that the board shall receive sealed proposals therefor and that the contract will be let to the lowest responsible bidder, stating the time and place for opening the proposals, which bids at said time and place shall be opened in public. As soon as convenient thereafter, the board shall let said work, either in portions or as a whole, to the lowest responsible bidder, or it may reject any or all bids and readvertise for proposals, or may proceed to construct the work under its own superintendence. Contracts for the purchase of materials shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. The person to whom a contract may be awarded shall enter into a bond, with good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the board, payable to said district for its use, for not less than ten percent of the amount of said contract, conditioned for the faithful performance of said contract. The work shall be done under the direction and to the satisfaction of the engineer in charge and shall be approved by the board.

C.R.S. § 37-44-139 Claims - audit - payment

37-44-139. Claims - audit - payment. Except with respect to claims coming within the provisions of article 10 of title 24, C.R.S., no claim shall be paid by the district treasurer until the same is allowed by the board, and only upon warrants signed by the president and countersigned by the secretary, which warrants shall state the date authorized by the board and for what purposes. If the district treasurer has not sufficient money on hand to pay such warrant when it is presented for payment, he shall endorse thereon "not paid for want of funds, this warrant draws interest from date at six percent per annum" and endorse thereon the date when so presented over his signature, and from the time of such presentation such warrant shall draw interest at the rate of six percent per annum. All claims against the district shall be verified, and the secretary of the district is authorized to administer oaths to the parties verifying said claims, the same as a notary public might do. The district treasurer shall keep a register in which he shall enter said warrants presented for payment, showing the date and amount of such warrants, to whom payable, the date of presentation for payment, the date of payment, and the amount paid in redemption thereof, and all warrants shall be paid in their order of presentation for payment to the district treasurer. All warrants shall be drawn payable to bearer the same as for county warrants.

C.R.S. § 37-44-140 Expenses of organization

37-44-140. Expenses of organization. For the purpose of defraying the expenses of the organization of the district, and the repair, operation, management, and improvement of all reservoirs, inlet works, outlet works, drainage works, canals, and works for the protection of life and property from floods, washing, and inundation, including salaries of officers and employees, the board may provide, in whole or in part, for the payment of such expenditures by levy of assessments therefor as provided in section 37-44-119, if the money raised by the sale of bonds issued is insufficient. In case bonds are unavailable for the completion of the plans of works adopted, the board of directors may provide for the completion of said plans by levy of an assessment therefor in the same manner in which levy of assessments is made for other purposes.

C.R.S. § 37-44-141 Works may cross other lands

37-44-141. Works may cross other lands. The board of directors has the dominant power to construct said works across any stream of water, watercourses, street, avenue, highway, railway, canal, ditch, or flume which intersects or crosses the area covered by such works or reservoir site, and, if said board and such railroad company or the owners and controllers of said property, thing, or franchise so to be crossed cannot agree upon the amount to be paid therefor, or the points or the manner of said crossing, the same shall be ascertained and determined in all respects as is provided in respect to the taking of land for public uses. The right-of-way is hereby given, dedicated, and set apart to locate, construct, and maintain said works or reservoirs over, through, or upon any of the lands which are the property of the state.

C.R.S. § 37-44-142 Officers' compensation

37-44-142. Officers' compensation. The directors shall receive a salary at the rate of four dollars per day while attending meetings and for each day necessarily spent in attending to the business of the district and their actual and necessary expenses while engaged in official business. The salary of the secretary shall not exceed fifteen hundred dollars per annum. No director or any officer named in this article shall in any manner be interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract awarded or to be awarded by the board or in the profits to be derived therefrom, nor shall he or she receive any bonds, gratuity, or bribe; and for the violation of this provision such officer commits a class 6 felony and shall be punished as provided in section 18-1.3-401, C.R.S. He or she shall also forfeit his or her office upon conviction.

C.R.S. § 37-44-143 Limit of indebtedness

37-44-143. Limit of indebtedness. The board of directors, or other officers of the district, shall have no power to incur any debt or liability, either by issuing bonds or otherwise, in excess of the express provisions of this article, and any debt or liability incurred in excess of such express provisions shall be and remain absolutely void.

C.R.S. § 37-44-144 Insufficient supply

37-44-144. Insufficient supply. In case the volume of storage water from the reservoir or other works in any district shall not be sufficient to supply the continual wants of that portion of the district requiring reservoir water, then it is the duty of the board of directors to distribute all water available on certain or alternate days to different localities in proportion to the benefits for which the respective lands in said district have been assessed.

C.R.S. § 37-44-145 Judicial action on bonds

37-44-145. Judicial action on bonds. The board of directors of an internal improvement district organized under the provisions of this article may commence special proceedings, by which the proceedings of said board and of said district providing for and authorizing the issue and sale of the bonds of the district, whether said bonds have or have not been sold or disposed of, may be judicially examined, approved, and confirmed.

C.R.S. § 37-44-146 Petition for confirmation

37-44-146. Petition for confirmation. The board of directors shall present to the district court in which the organization of the district was elected, a petition, praying, in effect, that the proceedings may be examined, approved, and confirmed by the court. The petition shall state the facts showing the proceedings had for the issue and sale of said bonds and shall state generally that the internal improvement district was duly organized and that the first board of directors was duly elected; but the petition need not state the facts showing such organization of the district or the election of said first board of directors.

C.R.S. § 37-44-147 Notice of hearing

37-44-147. Notice of hearing. The court shall fix the time for the hearing of said petition and shall order the clerk of the court to give and publish a notice of the filing of said petition. The notice shall be given and published for three successive weeks in a newspaper published in each county into which the district may extend. The notice shall state the time and place fixed for the hearing of the petition and the prayer of the petitioners and that any person interested in the organization of said district, or sale of said bonds, on or before the day fixed for the hearing of said petition, may move to dismiss or answer said petition. The petition may be referred to and described in said notice as the petition of the board of directors of .............. internal improvement district (giving its name), praying that the proceedings for the issue of said bonds of said district may be examined, approved, and confirmed by the court.

C.R.S. § 37-44-148 Answer or pleading

37-44-148. Answer or pleading. Any person interested in said district, or in the issue or sale of said bonds, may move to dismiss or to answer said petition. The Colorado rules of civil procedure respecting motions to dismiss and answer to a verified complaint shall be applicable to a motion to dismiss and answer said petition. The person so moving or answering said petition shall be the defendant to the special proceeding, and the board of directors shall be the plaintiff. Every material statement of the petition not specifically contradicted by the answer for the purpose of said special proceedings shall be taken as true, and each person failing to answer the petition shall be deemed to admit as true all the material statements of the petition. The rules of pleading and practice relating to appeals and appellate review as provided by law and the Colorado appellate rules which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this article are applicable to the special proceedings.

C.R.S. § 37-44-149 Determination

37-44-149. Determination. Upon the hearing of such special proceedings, the court shall find and determine whether the notice of the filing of the petition has been duly given and published for the time and in the manner prescribed and shall have power and jurisdiction to examine and determine the legality and validity of, and approve and confirm, the proceedings for the organization of said district, from and including the petition for the organization of the internal improvement district, and all other proceedings which may affect the legality and validity of said bonds and the order of sale and the sale thereof. The court, inquiring into the regularity, legality, or correctness of said proceedings, must disregard any error, irregularity, or omission which does not affect the substantial rights of the parties to such special proceedings. The court by decree may approve and confirm such proceedings in part and disapprove and declare illegal or invalid other and subsequent parts of the proceedings. The cost of the special proceedings may be allowed and apportioned between the parties, in the discretion of the court. Appeals for review of judgments of the district court may issue as provided by law and the Colorado appellate rules as in other civil cases.

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-37.docxFetched: 10/6/2026