SECTIONS 27251-27259

27251.  Any territory contained within a district not being servedby any transit facilities of the district and not included within theboundaries of any incorporated city and not benefited in any mannerby the district or by its continued inclusion therein may be excludedtherefrom by order of the board upon the verified petition of theowners in fee of lands whose assessed value with improvements is inexcess of one-half of the assessed value of all the lands withimprovements held in private ownership in the territory sought to beexcluded.27252.  The petition shall describe the territory sought to beexcluded and shall set forth that the territory is not benefited inany manner by the district or by its continued inclusion therein, andshall pray that the territory be excluded from the district.27253.  The petition shall be filed with the secretary of thedistrict and shall be accompanied by a deposit with the secretary ofthe sum of one hundred dollars ($100) to meet the expenses ofadvertising and other costs incident to the proceedings for theexclusion of the territory, including the cost of recording acertified copy of the order provided for in this chapter. Anyunconsumed balance of the deposit shall be returned to thepetitioners.27254.  Upon the filing of the petition the secretary shall cause itto be set for hearing at a regular or adjourned regular meeting ofthe board and shall cause a notice of the filing thereof to bepublished. The notice shall also state the date of the filing of thepetition and that it will come on for hearing before the board andshall state the time and place of the hearing. The time fixed forhearing shall not be less than 30 days from the date of the firstpublication of the notice. The property to be excluded may or may notbe specifically described in the notice, but if not described thenotice shall refer to the petition on file with the secretary for aparticular description of the property sought to be excluded.27255.  Any landowner or taxpayer within the district may appear atthe hearing either in behalf of or in opposition to the granting ofthe petition.27256.  The petition shall come on for hearing before the board atthe time and place specified in the notice of hearing.27257.  If upon the hearing the board determines that it is for thebest interests of the district that the lands mentioned in thepetition or some portion thereof be excluded from the district, or ifit appears that the lands or some portion thereof will not bebenefited by their continued inclusion in this district, then theboard shall make an order that the lands, or such portion thereof asthe board may determine, be excluded from the district, describingspecifically the lands so excluded.27258.  A copy of the order of exclusion certified by the secretaryof the district shall be recorded in the office of the countyrecorder of the county in which the lands are situated. The record ofthe certified copy is prima facie evidence of the exclusion from thedistrict of the lands purporting to be excluded thereby.27259.  From and after the making of the order of exclusion and therecord thereof the lands excluded are no longer included in thedistrict. The order of exclusion does not invalidate in any mannerany taxes or assessments theretofore levied or assessed against thelands excluded nor relieve the property excluded from any outstandingbonds which are a lien thereon at the time of exclusion, nor fromany taxes to pay the principal or interest thereof.