48-262

48-262. District boundary changes; procedures;
notice; hearing; determinations; petitions

A. Except as prescribed by subsection I of this section, a fire district, community
park maintenance district or sanitary district shall change its boundaries by the
following procedures:

1. Any adult person desiring to propose any change to the boundaries of a district
shall prepare and submit a boundary change impact statement to the governing body of the
district. The boundary change impact statement shall contain at least the following
information:

(a) A legal description of the boundaries of the area to be included within the
proposed change and a detailed, accurate map of the area. The boundaries of the proposed
change shall not overlap with the boundaries of any other proposed new district of the
same type or any annexation by a district of the same type for which petitions are being
circulated on the date that the boundary change impact statement is filed with the
governing body.

(b) An estimate of the assessed valuation within the boundaries of the proposed
change.

(d) An estimate of the change in the property tax liability, as a result of the
proposed change, of a typical resident of a portion of the district, not in the area of
the proposed change, before and after the proposed change and of a typical resident of
the area of the proposed change.

(e) A list and explanation of benefits that will result from the proposed change to
the residents of the area and of the remainder of the district.

(f) A list and explanation of the injuries that will result from the proposed
change to residents of the area and of the remainder of the district.

2. On receipt of the boundary change impact statement, the governing body shall set
a day, not fewer than twenty nor more than thirty days from that date, for a hearing on
the boundary change impact statement. The board of supervisors may at any time prior to
making a determination pursuant to paragraph 5 of this subsection require that the impact
statement be amended to include any information that the board of supervisors deems to be
relevant and necessary.

3. Upon receipt of the boundary change impact statement, the clerk of the governing
body shall mail, by first class mail, written notice of the statement, its purpose and
notice of the day, hour and place of the hearing on the proposed change to each owner of
taxable property within the boundaries of the proposed change. The clerk of the
governing body shall post the notice in at least three conspicuous public places in the
area of the proposed change and also publish twice in a daily newspaper of general
circulation in the area of the proposed change, at least ten days before the hearing, or
if no daily newspaper of general circulation exists in the area of the proposed change,
then at least twice at any time before the date of the hearing, a notice setting forth
the purpose of the impact statement, the description of the boundaries of the proposed
change and the day, hour and place of the hearing.

4. Upon receipt of the boundary change impact statement the clerk shall also mail
notice, as provided in paragraph 3 of this subsection, to the chairman of the board of
supervisors of the county in which the district is located. The chairman of the board of
supervisors shall order a review of the proposed change and may submit written comments
to the governing body of the district within ten days of receipt of the notice.

5. At the hearing called pursuant to paragraph 2 of this subsection, the governing
body shall consider the comments of the board of supervisors, hear those who appear for
and against the proposed change and determine whether the proposed change will promote
the public health, comfort, convenience, necessity or welfare. If the governing body
determines that the public health, comfort, convenience, necessity or welfare will be
promoted, it shall approve the impact statement and authorize the persons proposing the
change to circulate petitions as provided in this subsection. The order of the governing
body shall be final, but if the request to circulate petitions is denied, a subsequent
request for a similar change may be refiled with the governing body after six months from
the date of such denial.

6. The governing body shall not approve a proposed annexation if the property to be
annexed is not contiguous with the district's existing boundary. For purposes of
determining whether or not the proposed addition is contiguous, the addition is deemed
contiguous if land that is owned by or under the jurisdiction of the United States
government, this state or any political subdivision of this state, other than an
incorporated city or town, intervenes between the proposed addition and the current
district boundary.

7. The governing body shall not approve a proposed annexation if the area proposed
to be annexed surrounds any unincorporated territory and that unincorporated territory is
not also included in the district.

8. After receiving the approval of the governing body as provided in paragraph 5 of
this subsection and provided no appeal filed pursuant to paragraph 14 of this subsection
remains unresolved, any adult person may circulate and present petitions to the governing
body of the district.

9. Within fifteen days after receiving the approval of the governing body as
prescribed by paragraph 5 of this subsection, the clerk of the board shall determine the
minimum number of signatures required to comply with paragraph 10, subdivision (b) of
this subsection. After making that determination, that number of signatures shall remain
fixed, notwithstanding any subsequent changes in ownership of the property within the
boundaries of the proposed change.

10. The petitions presented pursuant to paragraph 8 of this subsection shall comply
with the provisions regarding petition form in section 48-266 and shall:

(a) At all times, contain a legal description of the boundaries of the area to be
included within the proposed change and a detailed, accurate map of the area included
within the proposed change. No alteration of the described area shall be made after
receiving the approval of the governing body as provided in paragraph 5 of this
subsection.

(b) Be signed by more than one-half of the property owners within the boundaries
of the proposed change and be signed by persons owning collectively more than one-half of
the assessed valuation of the property within the boundaries of the proposed change.

11. On receipt of the petitions, the governing body shall set a day, not fewer than
ten nor more than thirty days from that date, for a hearing on the request.

12. Prior to the hearing called pursuant to paragraph 11 of this subsection, the
board of supervisors shall determine the validity of the petitions presented pursuant to
subsection B of this section.

13. At the hearing called pursuant to paragraph 11 of this subsection, the governing
body, if the petitions are valid, shall order the change to the boundaries. The
governing body shall enter its order setting forth its determination in the minutes of
the meeting, not later than ten days from the day of the hearing, and a copy of the order
shall be sent to the officer in charge of elections and a copy shall be recorded in the
county recorder's office. The order of the governing body shall be final, and the
proposed change shall be made to the district boundaries thirty days after the governing
body votes.

14. On filing a verified complaint with the superior court, the attorney general,
the county attorney or any other interested party may question the validity of the
annexation for failure to comply with this section. The complaint shall include a
description of the alleged noncompliance and shall be filed within thirty days after the
governing body of the district adopts a resolution that annexes the territory of the
district. The burden of proof is on the plaintiff to prove the material allegations of
the verified complaint. An action shall not be brought to question the validity of an
annexation resolution unless it is filed within the time and for the reasons prescribed
in this subsection. All hearings that are held pursuant to this paragraph and all appeals
of any orders shall be preferred and shall be heard and determined in preference to all
other civil matters, except election actions. If more than one complaint questioning the
validity of an annexation resolution is filed, all such complaints shall be consolidated
for the hearing.

B. For the purpose of determining the validity of the petitions presented pursuant
to subsection A, paragraph 8 of this section:

1. Property held in multiple ownership shall be treated as if it had only one
property owner, so that the signature of only one of the owners of property held in
multiple ownership is required on the boundary change petition.

2. The value of property shall be determined as follows:

(a) In the case of property assessed by the county assessor, values shall be the
same as those shown on the last assessment roll of the county containing such property.

(b) In the case of property valued by the department of revenue, the values shall
be those determined by the department in the manner provided by law, for municipal
assessment purposes. The county assessor and the department of revenue, respectively,
shall furnish to the governing body, within twenty days after such a request, a statement
in writing showing the owner, the address of each owner and the appraisal or assessment
value of properties contained within the area of a proposed change as described in
subsection A of this section.

3. All petitions circulated shall be returned to the governing body of the district
within one year from the date of the approval given by the governing body pursuant to
subsection A, paragraph 5 of this section. Any petition returned more than one year from
that date is void. If an appeal is filed pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 14 of this
section, this time period for gathering signatures is tolled beginning on the date an
action is filed in superior court and continuing until the expiration of the time period
for any further appeal.

C. For the purposes of determining whether or not the proposed addition is
contiguous, the addition is deemed contiguous if land that is owned by or under the
jurisdiction of the United States government, this state or any political subdivision of
this state, other than an incorporated city or town, intervenes between the proposed
addition and the current district boundary. Property shall not be approved for annexation
if the area proposed to be annexed surrounds any unincorporated territory and that
unincorporated territory is not also included in the district.

D. If the change in the boundaries proposed pursuant to subsection A of this
section would result in a withdrawal of territory from an existing district, the
petitions shall be approved by the governing body only if the proposed withdrawal would
not result in a noncontiguous portion of the district that is less than one square mile
in size.

E. If the impact statement described in subsection A of this section relates to the
withdrawal of property from a district, in addition to the other requirements of
subsection A of this section, the governing body shall also determine:

1. If the district has any existing outstanding bonds or other evidences of
indebtedness.

2. If those bonds were authorized by an election and issued during the time the
property to be withdrawn was lawfully included within the district.

F. If the conditions of subsection E of this section are met:

1. The property withdrawn from the district shall remain subject to taxes, special
assessments or fees levied or collected to meet the contracts and covenants of the
bonds. The board of supervisors shall provide for the levy and collection of such taxes,
special assessments or fees.

2. The governing body shall:

(a) Annually determine the amount of special property taxes, special assessments or
fees that must be levied and collected from property withdrawn from the district and the
mechanism by which such amount is to be collected.

(b) Notify the board of supervisors on or before the third Monday in July of the
amount determined in subdivision (a) of this paragraph.

3. Property withdrawn from an existing district shall not be subject to any further
taxes, special assessments or fees arising from the indebtedness of such district except
as provided in this subsection.

G. If the statement described in subsection A, paragraph 1 of this section requests
the annexation of property located within an incorporated city or town, in addition to
the other requirements of subsection A of this section, the governing body shall approve
the district boundary change impact statement and authorize the circulation of petitions
only if the governing body of the city or town has by ordinance or resolution endorsed
such annexation and such annexation is authorized pursuant to this title.

H. Except as provided in subsection D of this section and section 48-2002, no
change in the boundaries of a district pursuant to this section shall result in a
district which contains area that is not contiguous.

I. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, any property owner, including a
county, this state or the United States government, whose land is within a county that
contains a sanitary district or fire district and whose land is contiguous to the
boundaries of the sanitary district or fire district may request in writing that the
governing body of the district amend the district boundaries to include that property
owner's land. A request made pursuant to this subsection shall be made before the county
board of supervisors orders the creation of a proposed new district of the same type or
the district governing body orders the annexation by a district of the same type in which
the property owner's land is proposed for inclusion and for which petitions are being
circulated. If the governing body determines that the inclusion of that property will
benefit the district and the property owner, the boundary change may be made by order of
the governing body and is final on the recording of the governing body's order that
includes a legal description of the property that is added to the district. If the
governing body does not order the boundary change, the land shall be included in the
boundaries of the proposed new district of the same type or annexation by a district of
the same type in which the property owner's land is proposed for inclusion and for which
petitions are being circulated. A petition and impact statement are not required for an
amendment to a sanitary district's or fire district's boundaries made pursuant to this
subsection.

J. A fire district shall not annex or otherwise add territory that is already
included in another existing fire district, unless deannexed pursuant to subsections D, E
and F of this section.

K. A fire district, community park maintenance district or sanitary district may
appropriate and spend monies as necessary or reasonably required to assist one or more
individuals or entities to change the district's boundaries pursuant to this section.

L. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, if an incorporated city or town
has previously adopted a resolution designating a fire district as the fire service
agency for the city or town, the jurisdictional boundaries of the fire district without
further notice or election shall be changed to include any property annexed into the city
or town. If the annexation occurs pursuant to a joint petition for annexation, any joint
petition for annexation shall clearly indicate in its title and in the notice required in
petition that the property to be annexed will be subject to the jurisdiction of both the
city or town and the fire district. A joint petition for annexation shall comply with
both section 9-471 and this section. Any fire district boundary change that occurs
through city or town annexation pursuant to this subsection is effective on the effective
date of the annexation by the incorporated city or town. If an incorporated city or town
that has designated a fire district as the fire service agency for that city or town
annexes property that is already part of another fire district, the annexed property
shall remain part of the fire district in which it was located before the city or town's
annexation.

M. For the purposes of this section assessed valuation does not include the
assessed valuation of property that is owned by a county, this state or the United States
government.