A majority in interest of the owners in any contiguous body of swamp or overflowed lands in this state, situated in one or more counties in this state, may form a drainage district for the purpose of having such land reclaimed and protected from the effects of water, by drainage or otherwise. For that purpose they may make and sign articles of association, in which shall be stated the name of the district, the number of years the same is to continue, the limits of the proposed drainage district, which shall in no event embrace an area of less than one hundred and sixty acres, the names and places of residence of the owners of the land in the proposed district, the description of the several tracts or parcels of land situated in the district owned by those who may organize the district, and the name or names and the description of the real estate owned by such as do not join in the organization of the district but who will be benefited thereby. Such owners of real estate as are unknown may be set out in such articles as such. The articles shall further state that the owners of real estate so forming the district for such purposes are willing and obligate themselves to pay the tax or taxes which may be assessed against them to pay the expense of making the improvements that may be necessary to effect the drainage of the lands so formed into a district, as provided by law, praying that they may be declared a drainage district under sections 31-301 to 31-369.
After June 30, 1972, no new drainage districts shall be organized under the provisions of sections 31-301 to 31-377. Attempted formations of drainage districts under sections 31-301 to 31-377 which have not been completed before July 1, 1972, shall be null, void and of no effect for the purpose of organizing such district. All drainage districts having valid corporate existence before July 1, 1972, shall enjoy all rights, duties, powers and authorities conferred by sections 31-301 to 31-377 and shall not be affected by this section, nor shall the legality of formation, organization, or operation of any such district be subject to any legal action based on this section.
After the articles of association shall be signed, the same shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the district court of the county in which such drainage district is located, or if such drainage district is composed of tracts, or parcels of land in two or more counties, then in the office of the clerk of the district court of the county in which the greater portion of such proposed drainage district may be situated.
Immediately after such articles of association shall have been filed, the clerk of the district court of the county in which the proposed district is located, and in case the drainage district be composed of territory situated in different counties, the clerk of the district court of the county in which the greater portion of the land and of the proposed district shall be situated, shall issue a summons, as provided by law, returnable at the next term of the district court, directed to the several owners of real estate in the proposed district who may be averred to be benefited thereby but have not signed the articles of association, which shall be served as summons in civil cases. In case any owner or owners of real estate in the proposed district are unknown, or are nonresidents, they shall be notified in the same manner as nonresident defendants are by law notified in actions in the district courts of this state, setting forth in such notice that the articles of association have been filed, the purpose thereof, that the real estate of such owner or owners situated in the district, fully describing the same, will be affected thereby and rendered liable to taxation or assessment for the purposes of draining such district, and that application will be made to have the district declared a drainage district for the purposes of draining and reclaiming the same.
All owners of real estate situated in the proposed district who have not signed the articles of association and who may object to the organization of the drainage district, after having been duly summoned shall, on or before the second day of the term of court to which they have been summoned to appear, file their objection or objections in writing, if any they may have, why such drainage district should not be organized and declared a public corporation of this state, and why their land will not be benefited by drainage, and should not be embraced in the drainage district and liable to taxation for draining the same. All such objections shall be heard by the court in a summary manner, without any unnecessary delay, and in case such objections are overruled, the district court shall, by its order duly entered of record, declare the drainage district a public corporation of this state. The fact that the district contains one hundred and sixty acres or more of wet, overflowed, or submerged lands shall be sufficient cause for declaring the public utility of such improvements, and shall be sufficient grounds for declaring the organization of a public corporation of this state. In case any owner of such real estate shall satisfy the court that his real estate, or a part thereof, has been wrongfully included in the district, and will not be benefited thereby, then the court may exclude such real estate as will not be benefited, and declare the remainder a district as prayed for.
Within twenty days after the district has been declared a corporation by the court, the clerk thereof shall transmit to the Secretary of State a certified copy of the record relating thereto, and the same shall be filed in his office in the same manner as articles of incorporation are required to be filed under the general law concerning corporations. A copy of such record, together with a plat of the district, shall also be filed in the office of the county clerk of the county or counties in which the district, or any part thereof, is situated.
Within thirty days after the district court shall have declared any drainage district organized, the clerk of the court shall, upon fifteen days' notice, call a meeting of the owners of the real estate situated in the district, at the day and hour specified, in some public place in the county in which the district was organized, for the purpose of electing a board of five supervisors to be composed of owners of real estate in the district and a majority of whom shall be residents of the county or counties in which such district is situated. At such election every acre of land shall represent one share and each owner shall be entitled to one vote for every acre of land owned by him in such district. The five persons receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected as supervisors, and they shall immediately, by lot, determine their terms of office, which shall be respectively, one, two, three, four and five years, and until their successors are elected and qualified; Provided, however, at any time thereafter not more often than once in twelve months, upon the petition of the owners of at least twenty percent of the land acreage within the drainage district, an election shall be called for the selection of a new board, and upon the filing of such petitions with the secretary of the board, notice of such election shall be given by the secretary in the same manner and for the same time as is provided for at the original election under the notice given by the clerk of the district court. Special elections shall in all respects be governed by the provisions applicable to the regular election herein provided for.
Every year after the election of the first board of supervisors, at such time and place in the county in which the district was organized as the board of supervisors may designate, and upon not less than fifteen days' notice, unless waived in writing, such owners shall meet and elect one supervisor in the same manner as provided in section 31-306, who shall hold his office for five years and until his successor is elected and qualified. Notice may be given by personal service or by publication for two weeks in a newspaper in each county in the district and of general circulation therein, which notice shall be sufficient if it notifies the landowners of the district without naming them individually, of the time, place, and purpose of the meeting. The secretary of the board shall mail to the last-known post office address of each owner of land in the district a copy of a published notice. In case of a vacancy in any office of supervisor, the remaining supervisors may fill such vacancy until the next annual election when a successor shall be elected for the unexpired term.
Each supervisor, before entering upon his official duties as such, shall take and subscribe an oath before some officer authorized by law to administer oaths, that he will honestly, faithfully, and impartially demean himself in office as supervisor of the various districts in which he was elected, and that he will not neglect any of the duties imposed upon him by law. The president and secretary of the drainage board shall each enter into a bond in the sum of ten thousand dollars to the district for the faithful performance of his duties as such officer. Each of the remaining members of the board shall give bond in the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars, conditioned in the same manner. All of such bonds shall be approved by the clerk of the district court, and the expense of such bonds shall be paid by the drainage district; Provided, however, upon the completion of the drainage improvements of the district the amount of all of the bonds shall be reduced to the sum of fifteen hundred dollars each. All expenditures of the drainage district shall from time to time be audited by a committee of three elected by the landowners of each district at their annual meeting for the election of officers. Such auditing committee shall file written reports of its examinations with the secretary of the drainage district.
The board of supervisors shall, immediately after its election, choose one of its number chairperson and another secretary. The board may adopt a seal, with a suitable device, and shall keep a record of all its proceedings open to the inspection of all owners of real estate in the drainage district. At each annual meeting the board shall make a report of what work has been done and shall annually publish a statement of its receipts and expenditures in a legal newspaper printed, published, and of general circulation in the county in which the district was organized or, if none is printed and published in the county, in a legal newspaper of general circulation in such county where the district was organized. The supervisors shall receive two dollars per day compensation for time actually employed in the business of the district, not exceeding eighty dollars each per year, but reasonable allowance shall be made for necessary clerical work and assistance, and the secretary shall receive for his or her services such compensation as the board of supervisors may agree upon, payable out of the district drainage fund. The board of supervisors may employ an attorney to act for the district and to advise the board.
The board of supervisors of any drainage district organized under the provisions of sections 31-301 to 31-305 shall cause a topographical survey to be made of the district by some competent engineer. The engineer shall make a complete topographical survey of the district and submit the same to the board of supervisors with maps and profiles of such survey and a full and complete plan for draining, reclaiming, and protecting the lands in the district from the overflow of, or damage by water or floods. The survey shall show the physical characteristics and location of any right-of-way, roadbed, bridge or bridges and other property or improvements in the district belonging to or under the control of any railroad company. The engineer shall report the location of any and all public highways which may be crossed by the right-of-way of any ditch, levee, or other improvement planned for the district.
The engineer shall also make an estimate of the cost of the entire drainage works and improvements required in the district to protect and reclaim the lands and property, showing the several items of the same.
The engineer shall go over and inspect and examine the lands in the district, the railroad rights-of-way, roadbeds, bridges, culverts, depot grounds, grades, and all other railroad, telephone and telegraph property in the district. He shall inspect and examine all other improvements, streets, highways and bridges belonging to any county, municipal or other corporation which may be affected by the proposed drainage and reclamation works and improvements, and also the streams, watercourses, ditches, ponds, lakes and bayous within the district or partly within and partly without the district.
The engineer shall assess, as hereinafter directed and according to the rules hereinafter prescribed, the amount of benefits which will accrue to each tract or parcel of land and corporate property above named, by virtue of the works and improvements of the drainage district. Each tract or parcel of land, right-of-way, railroad bed, bridge, culvert and depot within the district shall bear its share of the entire cost and expenses incurred by the district in making such works and improvements in proportion to the benefits assessed, whether such improvements be made on the tract or parcel of land, right-of-way, or railroad bed, or not.
The engineer, in estimating the benefits to lands, streets, highways, railroad property, rights-of-way, railroad beds, not traversed by the works and improvements, shall not consider what benefits will be derived by such lands after other ditches, improvements, or drainage plans shall be constructed, but only the benefits which will be derived by the construction of the aforesaid works and improvements as they afford drainage or an outlet for drainage, or protection from overflow or damage by water.
No assessment shall be made for benefits to any lands upon any other principle than that of benefits derived, but all assessments shall be made upon the basis of benefits derived and secured by reason of the construction of such improvements and works in affording drainage, or giving an outlet for drainage, protection from overflow, and damage from water.
The benefits to public streets and highways, railroad property, right-of-way and roadbed, shall be assessed according to the increased efficiency and value added thereto by reason of, and the protection derived from, the aforesaid drainage works and improvements.
The engineer shall also classify all lots, tracts, lands, and other property according to the benefit that each may receive from such drainage improvement, and the lots, tracts, and lands receiving the greatest percentage of benefits shall be classified at one hundred, those receiving a less percentage of benefit at such less number as its benefit may determine. The property of public and private corporations may be classified in a list by themselves, each according to the relation its total benefits bear to the total benefit in the district.
The maps hereinbefore provided for shall be drawn upon a scale sufficiently large to represent all the meanderings of the proposed improvements, and shall show the boundary lines of each lot, or tract of land, and of each street, road or railroad to be benefited thereby, the name of the owner of each lot or tract of land, as it then appeared on the deed records, the authority or company having in charge or controlling each public or corporate street, road or railroad, the distance in feet through each tract or parcel of land, the acreage thereof, and such other matters as the surveyor or engineer deems material. The profile shall show the surface, the grade lines, gradients, fixed and working sections. The report shall be filed with the board of supervisors of the district within sixty days after making such survey.
The board of supervisors of any district organized under sections 31-301 to 31-305 shall appoint some competent person to award all contracts contemplated in sections 31-301 to 31-369 to the lowest bidder, subject to the approval of the board of supervisors, except as herein otherwise provided, to be known as the drain commissioner. He shall hold his office for one year and until his successor is appointed and qualified. He shall have general superintendence of all works put under contract by the district, subject to the supervision and control of the board of supervisors. He shall report the same when completed according to the terms and stipulations of the contract, and certify the same to the board of supervisors, which shall review and accept or reject the work so completed. The drain commissioner shall, before entering upon the discharge of his duties, enter into bond with proper surety, subject to the approval of the board of supervisors, in any sum not less than two thousand dollars, nor more than ten thousand dollars, to the drainage district of which he shall be appointed, conditioned that he will faithfully and honestly perform all of the duties required of him by law, and deliver to his successor in office all instruments, papers, and documents that may have come to his hands by virtue of his office. He shall take and subscribe the oath required by section 31-308, which shall be endorsed upon his bond, and filed in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the district, or the greater part thereof, shall be situated.
If, upon the filing of the report of the engineer, together with the estimates as provided in section 31-311, it appears that lands, other than those incorporated by the court in the district, will be benefited by the drainage improvements of the district, the chairperson of the board of supervisors shall file a petition in the district court of the county where the district was originally organized, containing a description of the lands and the name or names of the owners as they appear on the tax duplicate of the county in which the lands are situated and their place or places of residence and alleging that such land will be benefited by the improvements and ought in justice bear its proportion of the expense and cost of such improvement and that such land was not incorporated within the limits of the drainage district as originally established by the court. If the names of the owners of any such tract or tracts of land are unknown, this fact shall be stated. The prayer of the petition shall be that such tract or tracts of land may be incorporated and made a part of the district. Upon the filing of such petition, duly verified, the clerk of the district court shall issue summons or notice to the parties interested as provided by section 31-303 with reference to the original petition for the establishment of the district, the same proceedings shall be had upon the petition and in the same court as upon the original petition for the establishment of the district, and the same provisions of law shall apply thereto insofar as the same are applicable. Upon the return day of such notice or summons, or at any other time to which the court shall adjourn the cause, the court shall have jurisdiction to try and determine such matter at chambers and to make all necessary orders, judgments, and decrees. The owners of such lands may by writing, duly verified, waive the issuance and service of all notice or process and consent that the court may at once upon the filing of the petition and waiver enter the necessary decree. Upon filing the petition it shall be the duty of the clerk to record the cause as a proceeding in and part of the original cause for the establishment of the district. After entering of the decree of the court, the land and all of the parties so brought into the district shall be subject to the same provisions of law as would have applied to them had they been incorporated in the original petition and decree entered thereon. No land shall be included in such drainage district or be subject to taxation for the drainage except wet, submerged, and swamp lands or land within a district subject to overflow.
When the members of the board of supervisors, by order entered of record, have agreed upon a location or route for the ditch or ditches and formulated a plan for the other improvements contemplated, then the board in behalf of such district, shall have the right to acquire and if need be condemn any real estate, easement, or franchise, whether the same be within the limits of such district or outside its boundaries, that may be necessary for a right-of-way over or upon which to construct and maintain the ditches, dikes, drains, and other works contemplated by any of the provisions of sections 31-301 to 31-369. The procedure to condemn property shall be exercised in the manner set forth in sections 76-704 to 76-724.
The board of supervisors, in behalf of such district, shall have the right to acquire, and if need be, condemn in the same manner as is provided in section 31-321, any natural or artificial obstruction in any existing watercourse, and remove the same therefrom for the benefit of the district.
Within ten days after the filing of the report of the engineer with the chairman of the board of supervisors of the drainage district, the chairman of the board shall call a meeting at some public place in the county in which the district was organized, at which meeting the board shall fix the time and place in the county, not more than fifty nor less than forty days from the day of such meeting, for the hearing of all objections to the report of such engineer, and to the classification of the lands and other property therein, and all objections made by the owner or owners of any land, property, easement or franchise upon which the engineer proposes an assessment for benefits. At such meeting the board shall determine whether the classification is fair and just, whether the proposed assessment exceeds the benefits accruing to their respective lands and property from the drainage improvements, and all other matters and things connected with the proposed classification and assessment of benefits, in any way affecting such lands and property.
The board of supervisors shall give notice of the meeting provided for in section 31-323 by causing a publication thereof to be made once a week for two consecutive weeks in some newspaper published in each county in the district, the last publication to be at least ten days before the day set for the hearing. It shall not be necessary in such notice for the board to name the parties interested, and the following form shall be sufficient:
Notice is hereby given to all parties interested in the following described lands and property in ............... County, Nebraska, (here describe the lands and property) included within (here insert name of drainage district) that the engineer heretofore appointed to make a topographical survey of such drainage district and maps and profiles thereof, and a complete plan for draining, reclaiming, and protecting such district and an estimate of the cost of the proposed drainage improvements, and to assess benefits to the property and lands in such drainage district and to classify the same, filed a report with the board of supervisors of (here insert the name of the drainage district) on the ........... day of ........... 20...., and you and each of you are hereby notified that you may file objections to such report within the time fixed by law.
......................................
Chairperson of the board of supervisors of Drainage District Number ........... of ............... County, Nebraska.
A copy of the above notice fixing the time and place of such hearing together with a resolution adopting the same shall be spread on the records of the board. The reports of the engineer shall be spread at large on the minutes of the proceedings of the board of supervisors of the drainage district, and the maps and profiles shall be placed on file with the secretary of the board where all persons interested may have access to the same.
The drainage district by its attorney or any owner of land or other property in the district whose land or property may be affected thereby may file objections to the surveyor's report or to any item of the classification or the assessment of benefits therein set out, within ten days after the last day of publication of the notice provided for in section 31-324. All objections shall be heard by the board of supervisors fully and fairly and as speedily as may be to carry out liberally the purposes and needs of such drainage district. It shall not be necessary for the drainage district to file any answer or other pleadings to the objections, claims or other pleadings filed by such persons in answer to the proposed assessment as provided in this section, but such matters shall be deemed denied, and the drainage district shall have the right to interpose any matters in defense thereto which it may have. The board of supervisors may adjourn any hearing or hearings for good cause from day to day, or to some future day as it may deem best, and the property owners, for good cause shown by affidavit of themselves or agents, may have the hearings adjourned for a period not to exceed two weeks.
At the time and place fixed in the notice, the board of supervisors shall meet for the hearing of the objections. If it finds that due notice has not been given as required by section 31-324, it shall continue the hearing to a date to be fixed by the board, and order the publication of the notice as hereinbefore provided. When the board finds that due notice has been given, it shall proceed to hear any objection or objections that may have been filed upon which an issue has been made, and for that purpose shall have the power to subpoena, swear, and examine witnesses, and to do all things necessary and incidental to a proper hearing and adjudication of such issues. It shall examine the maps, profiles, plans and report of the engineer, the items of the estimated cost of the drainage improvement recommended, the classification of the land and property in the district, and the assessment of the benefits to the same as proposed by the engineer. The drainage board shall also have the power to establish the classification of the lands and property, and to determine and adjudicate, the total amount of the benefit that will accrue to each lot, tract, or parcel of land or other property in the district, from the drainage improvements. Whether an objection is sustained or overruled, the board may modify the report in any particular; but if the objections are overruled, the board may approve and confirm the report as to the property affected, and if it finds the classification of assessment of benefits to the lands and other property to be in any respect inequitable, either less than or in excess of the benefits accruing to the lands and property from the drainage improvements, or in any particular unfair and unjust, it shall so order, shall thereupon so amend, adjust and equalize the classification and benefits as may appear fair, just and equitable to them. When the board has adjusted, equalized and determined the classification of, and assessment of total benefits to the lands and other property as above required, it shall enter an order confirming the same. All pleadings and other papers filed in the matter of such hearings shall be filed with the secretary of the board of supervisors. Subpoenas and other process shall be issued by the secretary, who shall be empowered to administer oaths to witnesses, and to certify to records and papers under the seal of the drainage district.
The costs of the hearing in case of contest shall be taxed and assessed as follows:
(1) If the matter shall be determined by the board against the party's contention objecting to the assessment, all costs upon the hearing of his objections shall be adjudged against such objector; and the board of supervisors shall have the right to recover the same from such objector or objectors for the benefit of the drainage corporation in a civil action for that purpose before any court of competent jurisdiction in the name of the drainage corporation;
(2) In case the matter is finally determined by the board of supervisors partly in favor of and partly against the contention of any objector or objectors, the costs shall be apportioned between the drainage district and the objectors as the board shall deem just and equitable; and
(3) In case the contention of the objectors is wholly sustained and the matter is fully determined in their favor by the board, the costs shall be paid by the drainage district.
The fees allowed upon such hearing shall be the same as those now allowed upon the trial of civil actions in county court.
Any person or corporation who has filed objections and had a hearing, feeling aggrieved by the decision and judgment of the board of supervisors, may appeal to the district court within and for the county in which the drainage district was originally established, upon giving a bond conditioned the same as in appeals to the district court as from civil actions in county court in this state and payable to the drainage district, and in addition thereto conditioned that the appellant will pay all damages which may accrue to the drainage district by reason of such appeal. The bond shall be approved by the secretary of the board of supervisors and filed with the secretary within ten days after the rendition of the decision appealed from. Within ten days after the filing of the bond the secretary shall make and file a transcript of the proceedings appealed from, together with all the documents relating thereto, with the clerk of the district court in which the matter has been appealed. Upon the filing of the transcript and bond, the district court shall have jurisdiction of the cause, and the same shall be filed as in appeals in other civil actions to such court. The court shall hear and determine all such objections in a summary manner as in a case in equity and shall increase or reduce the amount of benefit on any tract where the same may be required in order to make the apportionment equitable. All objections that may be filed shall be heard and determined by the court as one proceeding, and only one transcript of the final order of the board of supervisors, fixing the apportionments or benefits, shall be required. The clerk of the district court shall forthwith certify the decision of the court to the board of supervisors which shall take such action as may be rendered necessary by such decisions.
As soon as the board of supervisors has adjudicated, fixed, and established the classification and benefits as provided by sections 31-327 to 31-329, it may at once levy a tax on the lands and other property in the district to which benefits have been assessed, equal in amount to the cost of such drainage works and improvements as estimated by the engineer and as modified and confirmed by the board, plus the actual expenses of organizing the district, the probable working and administrative expenses, and damages (as estimated by the board of supervisors) in the completion of the works and improvements, and the carrying out of the objects of the district. In case bonds are issued, as provided in section 31-336, then the amount of the interest (as estimated by the board of supervisors) which shall accrue on such bonds shall be included and added to the tax. The tax shall be apportioned to and levied on each tract of land or property in the district in proportion to the benefits assessed, and not in excess thereof. The board shall determine whether the tax shall be collected and paid in a single assessment, or by dividing into not to exceed twenty annual installments. If any assessment of benefits heretofore or hereafter made shall be found or declared to be invalid for any reason, either as to the whole assessment or the assessment as to any particular tract, interest, county, town or city, or other corporation, either to the whole of such assessment or to any part thereof, it shall be lawful and valid, and it shall be the duty of the board of the district to reassess such property or interest against which the former assessment has been found and declared to be invalid, after giving notice and taking the same steps and following the same procedure as required in making the original assessment of benefits. Such reassessment of benefits shall be made so as to do justice to all property, parties and interests, and shall take into consideration and give credit for all payments made under the assessment which has been found and declared to be valid. A new report of benefits, as to the part declared to be invalid, shall be made against the property or interest that was released by the finding of invalidity of the former assessment. In case any such drainage district shall have accumulated funds over and above the necessary cost of construction and upkeep, the board of supervisors of such district in its discretion may cause so much of such accumulated funds as are not required to be apportioned to each tract of land or property in the district prorated accordingly and in proportion to the benefits assessed and collected, and such board shall draw warrants on the treasurer of the drainage district for the payment of such accumulated funds to the proper owners.
The levy of the tax when so fixed and determined, shall be evidenced and certified by the board of supervisors to the county clerk of each county in which lands of the district are situated, which certificate shall be substantially in the following form:
| State of Nebraska,) | |
| ) | ss. |
| County of ........) | |
| To ......................, county clerk of the county: |
This is to certify that by virtue of the provisions and terms of sections 31-330 and 31-331, the board of supervisors of (here insert name of drainage district) including lands and property in the counties of ..................... in the State of Nebraska, have determined to and do hereby levy the special tax provided for in such sections on the lands and property situated in your county, described in the following table, in which are (1) the names of owners of the lands and property as they appeared in the decree of the district court organizing the district or as then shown by the deed records of the county, (2) the description of the lands and property opposite the names of the owners, and (3) the amount of the tax levied on each tract of land or piece of property: (here insert table). The tax shall be collected and payable in .................. annual installments, and the amount of each annual installment will be certified to you not later than September 1 in each year. Witness the signature of the chairperson of the board of supervisors, attested by the seal of the district and the signature of the secretary of the board on this .......... day of .......... A.D. 20.... .
| ...................... | ...................... | |
| Secretary | (Seal) | Chairperson |
The county clerk shall file the certificate in his or her office and record the same.
If for any reason the cost of the drainage works and improvements exceeds the amount of the tax levied against the lands and property as above set out, the board of supervisors may levy such other and further installments as may be necessary to complete the works and improvements, but the total amount of all such levies and installments shall in no event exceed the total amount of benefits assessed to the lands and property in the district, and such additional cost shall be apportioned to the lots, tracts, lands and property in the same proportion as in the first apportionment; Provided, the board of supervisors shall first give notice thereof by causing a publication to be made once a week for two consecutive weeks in some newspaper published in each county in the district, the last publication to be at least ten days before the day set for hearing. The board of supervisors may correct erroneous assessments and grant relief therefrom, and may correct clerical or other manifest errors in the schedules of the apportionment of the cost discovered after certification to the county clerk.
The board of supervisors shall annually thereafter determine, order, and levy the amount of the installment of the tax hereinbefore named which shall become due and be collected during the year at the same time that county taxes are due and collected, and in case bonds are issued, the amount of the interest which will accrue on such bonds shall be included and added to the tax. The annual installment and levy shall be evidenced and certified by the board, on or before September 30, to the county clerk of each county in which lands of the district are situated, which certificate shall be substantially in the following form:
| State of Nebraska,) | |
| ) | ss. |
| County of ...... .) | |
| To .................. county clerk of the county: |
This is to certify that by virtue of the provisions of sections 31-330 to 31-333, the board of supervisors of ............ drainage district, including lands and property in the counties of ............... in the State of Nebraska, have determined to and do hereby levy the annual installment of the total tax, heretofore certified to you under the direction of such sections, on the lands and property situated in your county described in the following table in which are (1) the names of the owners of such lands and properties as they appeared in the decree of the district court organizing the district or as shown by the certificate heretofore filed showing the total assessment against the property, (2) the description of the lands and property opposite the names of owners, and (3) the amount of the annual installment and interest levied on each tract of land or piece of property: (Here insert table). The installments of tax shall be collectible and payable the present year at the same time that county taxes are due and collected. Witness the signature of the chairperson of the board of supervisors and attested by the seal of the district and the signature of the secretary of the board this .......... day of .......... A.D. 20.... .
Secretary .................
Chairperson ...............
(Seal)
The certificate shall be filed in the office of the clerk, and the annual installment of the total tax so certified shall be extended by the county clerk on the tax books of the county against the real property, right-of-way, road, or property to be benefited, situated in such drainage district, in the same manner that other taxes are extended on the tax books of the county in a column under the heading of Drainage Tax, and the taxes shall be collected by the treasurer of the county in which the real property is situated on which the tax is levied at the same time and in the same manner that the county taxes on such property are collected. The county clerk shall be allowed the same fees as he or she receives for like services in other cases.
Whenever it shall appear to the satisfaction of the board of supervisors that the levy theretofore made will be insufficient to pay the cost of the improvement or to pay the interest and principal of the bonds which the district desires to issue to pay the cost of such improvement, and that therefor a supplemental assessment is necessary to be made as provided in section 31-332, the board shall, by a resolution duly passed and entered in the record of its proceedings, declare the amount of such deficit and the purpose to which such supplemental assessment should be applied, and shall thereupon cause a supplemental assessment roll to be made, which shall apportion the amount necessary to be raised and declared as aforesaid upon the lands in the proportion of the former assessment, and shall set opposite each parcel of land (described by its legal description) the amount of such supplemental assessment expressed in dollars and cents. Upon such roll the real estate and the amounts of the several assessments may be described by current and usual abbreviations, if the board so desires. Thereupon the board shall proceed to enter judgment by confirmation upon such supplemental assessment roll, and such supplemental assessments shall be levied and certified in all respects as provided for herein. From time to time, and as often as occasion may arise, supplemental assessments may be levied as in this section provided. In the event that any supplemental assessment is levied before any bonds are issued by the district, it shall be divided into installments, payable when the installments of the first original assessment are payable, and shall be collected therewith, and together they shall constitute one fund against which drainage bonds may be issued as herein provided.
When any ditch, drain, improved watercourse, dike, levee or other drainage improvement, located and established under sections 31-301 to 31-369, crosses, drains, or protects either in whole or in part any street, highway, public or corporate road of any railroad, or benefits any or either of such streets, roads or railroads, the board of supervisors shall apportion and set off to the county or a township, if a county road, or to a company, if incorporated, or a railroad, and to a city or village, if a street or alley, a portion of the cost and expense of the whole drainage improvements, the same as to private individuals, and in proportion to the benefits conferred by such drainage improvements on such street, roads and railroads. Any apportionment of the cost and expenses of the drainage improvements that may be levied as a special tax or assessment against the property of any incorporated road, or any railroad, or any telegraph or telephone company for benefits accruing to the property of such corporations situated within the physical boundaries of such drainage district, shall be enforced and collected in the same manner that county taxes are enforced against them under the general revenue laws of the state. Any apportionment of the costs and expenses aforesaid to a county, township, city or village, shall be filed as a claim with the county, township, city or village clerk, as the case may be, and may be enforced and collected as other judgments against such county, township or municipal corporation are enforced and collected.
The board of supervisors may, if in its judgment it seems best, issue negotiable bonds (1) not to exceed the amount of the total tax levy certified to the county clerk or clerks as provided by law, (2) in denominations of not less than one hundred dollars, (3) bearing interest payable semiannually, (4) to mature at annual intervals in not to exceed twenty years, and (5) with both principal and interest payable at the office of the county treasurer of the county in which the drainage district was organized, or at some convenient banking house or trust company office to be named in the bonds. The bonds and interest coupons shall be executed in the name of the district, and shall be signed by the chairman of the board of supervisors, attested with the seal of the drainage district and by the signature of the secretary of the board. Such bonds shall be made to run for not more than twenty years, and in case they are made to mature at different times within such period, the assessment shall be divided into as many installments as there are different dates of maturity. The installments shall be numbered consecutively as issued, and bear date at the time of their issue.
The maturity of all bonds shall be fixed on July 1 of the year in which they mature and shall contain a recital that the same were issued in accordance with the provisions of sections 31-336 to 31-348, and that they are to be paid out of a sinking fund to be created as provided in section 31-351.
Before issuing any bonds under the provisions of sections 31-336 to 31-348, the board of supervisors of the district shall by resolution duly engrossed in the minutes of a meeting to be specially held for that purpose, order and direct the issue thereof, specifying their number, amount, rate of interest, date of maturity, and place of payment. Such minutes shall be engrossed on the record of the board of supervisors, which minutes and the record of bonds shall at all times be open to the inspection of all parties interested in the district, either as taxpayers or bondholders. Upon the payment of any bond, an entry shall be made in the records accordingly.
The bonds shall not be sold for less than par with accrued interest, shall show on their face the purpose for which they are issued, and shall be payable out of money derived from the drainage assessments or taxes.
It shall be the duty of the board of supervisors in making the annual tax levy as provided in section 31-333, to take into account the maturing bonds and interest on all bonds, and make ample provisions in advance for the payment thereof.
The secretary of the board of supervisors of the drainage district in which bonds are issued shall furnish a duly certified transcript to the holder of any such bond on demand.
Before such bonds are issued any person or corporation whose land or property has been assessed for benefits by the district may pay the total amount of the cost and expenses apportioned to and levied as a tax against such land and property or any lot, tract, or subdivision thereof as set out in the assessment roll. The amount of bonds to be issued shall be reduced by the amount thus paid. When such payment has been made to the board of supervisors, it shall place the sum so received in the depository provided for in section 31-350, and shall give to such owner an acquittance showing such payment. The lands and property upon which payment has been made shall be released from the lien of such drainage tax, and the bonds and interest thereon shall be chargeable solely against the lots, tracts, land and property upon which such payment has not been made. The drainage board shall certify to the county clerk a list of the lands and property upon which such payment has been made, which list shall be filed and recorded in the office of the county clerk.
Before issuing any bonds the board shall pass a formal resolution in which shall be found and declared (1) the total amount of the tax as confirmed (both by the original and the supplemented assessment, if any), (2) the total amount of the deductions, if any, thereon, (3) the estimated cost of collection, and (4) the total amount of the net tax available for the payment of the principal and the interest of the bonds the district intends to issue.
The board shall then, in such resolution, divide the total levy theretofore made into convenient installments, and opposite each shall set the year in which they shall become payable respectively. The board shall then authorize the bonds which the district proposes to issue, fixing the terms, date and maturities thereof in such a manner that the installments of the tax will be sufficient to pay the corresponding installments of bonds as and when they become due. In the same resolution the board shall provide that in due time, manner and season it will cause the annual levy to be made in compliance with such resolution, and thereupon the fund, to the extent that it may be necessary to pay the bonds, shall be pledged and hypothecated to the payment of the bonds, which pledge and hypothecation, to the amount so expressed and declared, shall be superior to any other charge against the same.
Before funds can be secured by the levy of a tax or the sale of bonds, the board of supervisors of such drainage district shall have power to borrow money and pledge the credit of the district for the payment of the same, with interest, in any sum not to exceed five thousand dollars, to pay the necessary cost and expenses of the organization and incorporation of the district and all other legitimate charges and expenses incurred by the board and its officers and employees in performing the services and duties required of them by sections 31-301 to 31-369.
The board may sell the bonds from time to time in such quantities as may be necessary and most advantageous, to raise the money for the construction of the ditches and works, the acquisition of rights-of-way and property, and otherwise to fully carry out the objects and purposes of sections 31-301 to 31-369. Before making any sale the board shall at a meeting, by resolution, declare its intention to sell a specified amount of the bonds, and the day and hour and place of such sale, and shall cause such resolution to be entered in the minutes, and notice of the sale to be given by publication thereof at least twenty days in a daily newspaper published in the city of Lincoln, 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 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, and may reject all bids; but the board shall in no event sell any of the bonds for less than par.
The secretary shall keep a record of the bonds sold, their number, the date of sale, the price received, and the name of the purchaser.
The proceeds of the sale of bonds, or any of them, shall be used to pay for the works and improvements in the drainage of the district, and such costs, expenses, fees and salaries as may be authorized by law.
The money derived from the sale of any bonds shall be deposited by the board of supervisors with some bank or trust company in any county in the district under such conditions as the board may prescribe, and may be withdrawn from such depository when ordered by the board on check or warrant signed by the chairman and countersigned by the secretary. Such depository shall execute and deliver to the board of supervisors of the drainage district a bond with good and sufficient securities, to be approved by the board of supervisors, conditioned that the depository shall account for, safely keep, and pay over, as required by law and as ordered by the board of supervisors, any and all money received by such depository on account for the drainage district.
All the assessments on real property and easements shall be a lien against the property assessed from and after the first Monday in April in the year in which it is assessed and shall draw interest at the rate of nine percent per annum from May 1 of the year following said assessment, and such lien is not removed until the assessments are paid or the property sold for the payment thereof. It shall be the duty of the county treasurers to collect such assessments in the same manner as other taxes against real estate are collected, and the revenue laws of the state for the collection and sale of land for such taxes are hereby made applicable to the collection of assessments under sections 31-301 to 31-369. When bonds have been issued by the drainage district, the taxes so collected to pay the same shall constitute a sinking fund to be used for the payment of such bonds and the interest thereon.
In order to effect the drainage of the district, the board is authorized to clean out and remove all obstructions from the bed of any stream, creek, bayou, lagoon or other watercourse in the district; to straighten or shorten and deepen or widen the course of any stream or to abandon the bed of any stream and construct a new channel therefor; and to fill up any channel, or part of a channel, of any stream, creek, bayou, or other watercourse, in order to turn the direction of the volume of water, or to concentrate the water, so as to deepen and form a main channel.
The board shall have the power to construct the works across any street, avenue, highway, railway, canal, ditch or flume which the route of the ditches may intersect or cross, in such manner as to afford security for life and property, but the board shall restore the same, when so crossed or intersected, to its former state as nearly as may be, or in a manner not to impair its usefulness unnecessarily. Every company whose railroad shall be intersected or crossed by the works shall unite with the board in forming such intersections and crossings, and shall grant the privilege aforesaid. If such railroad company and the board, or the owners and controllers of such property, thing or franchise so to be crossed, cannot agree upon the amount to be paid therefor, or the points or the manner of such crossings, the same shall be ascertained and determined in all respects as is provided in respect to the taking of land.
The right-of-way is hereby given, dedicated and set apart, to locate, construct and maintain such works over and through any of the lands which are now or may be the property of the state.
(1) After the board of supervisors has certified the total levy of the costs and expenses of the drainage improvements to the county clerk as directed by law, it may proceed to let a contract for the construction of such improvements. The board shall give notice of its intention to let such contract by publication thereof for twenty days in the newspapers of general circulation in the county or counties in which the drainage district is situated and in such other newspapers as it may deem advisable. The notice shall call for sealed bids for the construction of such improvements or any part thereof, notify the public of the time and place where such bids will be received and opened, and notify the public where the plans and specifications may be seen. On the day fixed, the board shall open and consider the bids and may let the contract for the whole work, or any part thereof, to the lowest responsible bidder, may reject any and all bids and readvertise for proposals, or may proceed to construct the work under its own superintendent. Contract for the purchase of materials shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the person to whom a contract is awarded shall enter into a bond with good and sufficient surety in a sum not less than twenty-five percent of the contract price, conditioned for the faithful performance of such contract. The work shall be done under the direction and to the satisfaction of the drain commissioner, subject to the approval of the board.
(2) If a contract, the provisions of which are limited to the purchase of supplies or materials, is entered into pursuant to this section and if the amount of the contract is fifty thousand dollars or less, the bidder shall furnish the county with an irrevocable letter of credit, a certified check upon a solvent bank, or a performance bond in a guaranty company qualified to do business in Nebraska, as prescribed by and in a sum determined by the county board of supervisors, conditioned for the faithful performance of such contract.
None of the provisions of sections 31-301 to 31-369 shall be construed as repealing or in anywise modifying the provisions of any other law relating to the subject of draining, reclaiming or protecting swamp, overflowed or submerged lands. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to authorize any person or persons to divert the waters of any river, creek, stream, canal or ditch from its channel to the detriment of any person or persons having any interest in such river, creek, stream, canal or ditch, or the waters therein, unless previous compensation be ascertained and paid therefor, under the laws of this state authorizing the taking of private property for public use.
When two or more districts shall have their outlet or discharge into the same natural watercourse or stream, each district shall be assessed for the cost of such work in the same ratio to such total cost as the discharge of waters of such district bears to the combined discharge of waters of the several districts emptying into such natural watercourse or stream; but no district shall be liable to contribute for any improvement or costs and expenses incurred in improving such natural watercourse or stream above the point of discharge of the waters of such district into the same.
The owner of any land, lot or premises that have been assessed for the payment of the cost of the location and construction of any ditch, drain or watercourse, as hereinbefore provided, shall have the right to use the ditch, drain or watercourse as an outlet for lateral drains from said land, lot or premises.
If any person who owns land within the drainage district which has been assessed for benefits, and which is separated from the ditch, drain or watercourse for which it has been assessed, by the land of another or others, shall desire to ditch or drain his land across the land of such other or others into such ditch, drain or watercourse, and shall be unable to agree with such other or others on the terms and conditions on which he may enter upon their lands and construct such drains or ditch, he may proceed in the manner herein provided, and the ditch or drain which he shall construct or cause to be constructed shall be considered to be conducive to the public health, welfare, convenience and utility to promote which the drainage district was established. He may file his petition with the clerk of the district court asking the court to establish a subdistrict within the limits of the original district for the purpose of securing more complete drainage, describing the lands to be affected thereby by metes and bounds, or otherwise, so as to convey an intelligent description of such lands; and all proceedings shall be the same as herein provided for the establishment, formation and construction of original districts and improvement thereof, including the assessment of damages, and the assessment of benefits. When established and constructed, it shall become and be a part of the drainage system of such drainage district, and be under the control and supervision of the board of supervisors.
The treasurer of the county in which the drainage district, or the largest portion thereof, is situated, shall be ex officio treasurer of the district for the purposes of collecting and disbursing taxes or assessments. The treasurers of the counties in which the smaller parts of the district shall be situated shall pay over to him any and all funds collected and paid over to them for the benefit of the drainage district, and shall take the receipt of the treasurer therefor in duplicate. The original receipt the treasurer paying the money shall keep for his own protection, and the duplicate shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the county of which the person receiving such money shall be treasurer. It shall be the duty of the treasurer, who is ex officio treasurer of the drainage district, to pay any money in his hands, collected as aforesaid, upon warrants signed by the chairman and attested by the secretary of the board of supervisors of the district, when the same shall be presented for payment.
All warrants issued by the board of supervisors of any drainage district shall be in the following form:
$ ............
No. ..........
Treasurer of the County of ............
Pay to ............. dollars out of any money in the treasury belonging to .......... Drainage District in the County of .......... . Given at the town of .........., State of Nebraska, by order of the board of supervisors of ............... Drainage District.
Attest:
Secretary ...............
Chairman ................
The law of this state under which county warrants are issued, sold, transferred, assigned, presented for payment and paid, shall apply to all warrants issued by virtue of the provisions of sections 31-301 to 31-369.
The board of supervisors, except where otherwise provided, shall, by resolution, at the time of hiring or appointing, provide for the compensation for work done and necessary expenses incurred by any officer, engineer, attorney, or other employee, and shall also pay the fees of all court and county officers who may by virtue of sections 31-301 to 31-369 render service to the district.
If at any time after the final construction of such improvement the same shall become out of repair, obstructed, inefficient, or defective from any cause, except such as are the result of the use of said improvements as a joint outlet for other systems of drainage improvements, the board of supervisors, if in its discretion it is practicable and feasible to make such repairs, remove such obstructions, and correct such inefficiencies, may order an assessment upon the lands and property benefited by the drainage system, for the purpose of placing the same in proper and suitable condition for drainage purposes, using the original assessment upon the property in the district as a basis to ascertain the ratio that each separate tract or lot of land or property bears to the whole amount to be levied. The board shall fix and determine the amount of the assessment or tax that shall be levied against each separate piece of property in the district, which assessment shall be limited to the amount necessary to make and complete such repairs, remove such obstructions, or remedy any such defect or defects, and shall be levied and collected in the same manner as the other assessments for the location, construction and operation of said system of drainage are levied and collected as provided in sections 31-301 to 31-369; Provided, however, the board of supervisors of any such district, if it deems advisable, or is ordered so to do by a majority vote at a landowners meeting of the district, instead of proceeding as above mentioned, shall, when it is found that funds are necessary for minor repairs and maintenance of its drains or ditches, or for the administration of the affairs of the district, or for upkeep or protection of its tools and machinery, levy a tax annually, sufficient in amount to pay for such items of expense, without the estimate of an engineer, and certify the same to the proper authorities, and the same shall be extended on the tax rolls of the county and collected as other taxes. All such annual assessments shall be based upon the original apportionment of benefits to the lands and property within the district, and apportioned as the original assessment. The board of supervisors shall also determine and certify to the said authorities at that time the amount each tract of land or separate property shall pay as its proportion of the funds so found necessary, and levied for said purposes. If the repair is made necessary by the act or negligence of the owner of any land or other property through which the improvement is constructed or by the act or negligence of his or its agent or employee, or if the same is filled and obstructed by the cattle, hogs, or other stock of such owner, employee or agent, then the cost thereof shall be assessed and levied against the lands or property of such owner alone.
For the purpose of preserving any ditch, drain, dike, or other works constructed or erected under the provisions of sections 31-301 to 31-369, the board of supervisors shall have the power to appoint not more than three overseers of the respective districts, who shall hold their offices for the term of one year, whose duty it shall be to keep the ditches, drains, dikes, and other works erected or constructed for the reclamation of the lands in the drainage district, in good repair, and remove all obstructions from all ditches, drains, or watercourses within their respective districts. It shall also be the duty of the overseers to cause the arrest of all persons who shall be known to have filled up, or put any timber or brush into, or to have in any way obstructed any ditch, drain or watercourse, or have damaged any dike, or other work erected or constructed for the reclamation of lands as aforesaid, within their respective districts.
If any person shall willfully obstruct or injure any ditch, drain, or watercourse, or damage or destroy any dike or other work constructed under the provisions of sections 31-301 to 31-369, he shall be liable to the drainage district for the full amount of the injury occasioned by the damage thereto, the same to be recovered by a civil action in the name of the district. In addition thereto he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceeding the sum of one hundred dollars.
Sections 31-301 to 31-369 shall be liberally construed to promote the drainage and reclamation of wet, overflowed or submerged lands. The establishment of said corporation, and the collection of assessments, shall not be defeated by reason of any defect in the proceedings occurring prior to the judgment of the court, or of the board of supervisors confirming and establishing the assessment of benefits and injuries, but such judgment shall be conclusive and final that all prior proceedings were regular and according to law. No person shall be permitted to take advantage of any error, defect, or informality, unless the person complaining thereof is directly affected thereby, at any stage of the proceedings. If the court or board of supervisors shall deem it just to release any person, or modify his assessment or liability, it shall in no manner affect the right or liability of any other person.
The collection of assessments to be levied to pay for the location, construction, maintenance or repair of any ditch, levee, dike or watercourse, shall not be enjoined or declared void, nor shall such assessment be set aside in consequence of any error, omission, or irregularity committed or appearing in any of the proceedings provided for in sections 31-301 to 31-369. No injunction shall be allowed restraining the collection of any assessment until the party complaining shall first pay to the county treasurer the amount of his assessment, which amount so paid may be recovered from the district in an action brought for that purpose in case the injunction is made perpetual.
Every district organized under the provisions of sections 31-301 to 31-369 shall be a body politic and corporate and shall be known by the corporate name of Drainage District Number ........................... of ................... County, and shall have power and authority to take and hold real and personal property necessary for its use, to make contracts, to sue and be sued, have and use a corporate seal, and exercise any and all other powers, as a corporation, necessary to carry out the purposes of said sections. All such districts shall be liable for all injuries and damages, caused by the construction of said drainage improvements, arising by virtue of contract or tort.
In all districts organized under sections 31-301 to 31-369, the board of directors, having first adopted detailed plans and specifications of the work proposed to be done, having made an estimate of the total cost of such contemplated improvement, and having filed such plans, specifications, and estimated cost with the clerk of the county having the largest area of land of any county to be included in the drainage district, shall then publish once each week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper in each county of such district a notice of an election to vote on the question of proceeding with such work and incurring the necessary liability in all cases in which the estimate of the contemplated work equals seven percent of the taxable value of the lands assessed for such improvement. The election shall be held in all respects as other elections provided for in sections 31-301 to 31-369 and 31-401 to 31-450. If the majority of the votes cast at such election are in favor of proceeding with the work and incurring the necessary liability, then the board, in proceeding therein, shall not incur indebtedness in a total sum in excess of the estimated cost so filed and published. No changes in such plans and specifications shall be made thereafter by the board which cost in the aggregate more than fifteen percent above such estimated cost. If a majority of the votes at such election vote against proceeding and incurring the liability, then the board shall abandon the work and shall thereupon certify to the county clerks a tax levy on all the tracts in the district by valuation sufficient to pay all the liabilities of the district to and including the date of such abandonment, and the levy shall be entered and collected as other general taxes and used to pay the liabilities.
The board of supervisors of any drainage district in the State of Nebraska organized under and by virtue of the provisions of sections 31-301 to 31-369, and any amendments thereto, which has issued, or may hereafter issue valid interest-bearing bonds under the provisions of said sections, and which bonds are now or may hereafter be outstanding and unpaid, may take up and pay off any such bonds whenever the same can be brought about by lawful means, by the issue and sale or the issue and exchange therefor of the refunding bonds of such drainage district; but bonds so to be issued shall not exceed the amount lawfully owing and unpaid upon the bond or bonds so sought to be taken up and paid. Bonds so issued shall not bear interest greater in rate or amount per annum than the bonds so sought to be taken up and paid, and shall be made to run for not more than twenty years from date of issuance.
Whenever it is desired to issue refunding bonds under sections 31-371 to 31-374, the board of supervisors shall, by resolution entered in the minutes of its proceedings, direct public notice to be given, stating the amount of the indebtedness sought to be taken up and paid, the date it was issued, the rate of interest it bears, and if issued in installments the date when the various installments become due, that the same is sought to be taken up and paid off by the issuance and sale, or the issuance and exchange of refunding bonds bearing interest at an equal or less rate and amount per annum, and the date on which, and the place where any taxpayer of such drainage district may file objections to such proposed action. Such notice shall be signed by the president and secretary of the drainage district, and shall be published for four weeks in some newspaper of general circulation in the drainage district, and by posting a notice in three of the most public places in the district for at least thirty days prior to such date. If, after such publication and on the date for filing objections, no objections to such action by the board of supervisors are filed, then the board of supervisors may issue and sell, or exchange, as the case may be, the bonds authorized by sections 31-371 to 31-374, not exceeding the amount stated in such notice, nor exceeding the amount of an actual bonded indebtedness of the district then outstanding and unpaid, including any unpaid interest, if any, nor bearing interest greater in rate or amount than the bonds to be taken up, and thereby take up and pay off the bonds described in the notice.
If, on the day appointed in such notice, any written objections be filed, the objection or objections shall be heard and decided by the board of supervisors of such drainage district. From its decision an appeal may be taken to the district court in the manner of appeals from the county board.
The bonds so issued shall have recited therein the object of the issue, the title of the article under which the issue was made, stating the issue to be made in pursuance thereof, and shall also state the number, date, and amount of the bonds for which such issue is substituted and amount of the delinquent interest, if any. Such new bonds shall not be delivered until the surrender of the bond or bonds so designated, and they shall be paid and levy made and taxes collected for their payment in accordance with laws now governing the bonds heretofore issued under the provisions of sections 31-301 to 31-369. The assessment of benefits conferred and taxes levied by any such drainage district under the provisions of said sections shall remain valid and binding obligations upon the several tracts of land, but the time of payment of such taxes shall be extended to the same extent as the time of payment of the bonds refunded is extended by the issuing of such refunding bonds, and collection of such taxes shall be made as provided in said sections. The board of supervisors shall issue and file, with the county clerk of the county in which the drainage district was organized, a new certificate of levy of taxes, showing the changed dates when such taxes shall become due, otherwise in the same form and containing the same matter as in the certificate required to be issued by section 31-331, and such taxes shall be used to pay the principal of and the interest on said bonds as the same become due.
There being no outstanding indebtedness, the board of supervisors of any drainage district organized under sections 31-301 to 31-305 may, on its own motion or on the filing of a written request signed by fifteen electors of the district, order an election to be held to vote on the question of the dissolution of any such district. The secretary of any such drainage district shall file a certified copy of such action by the board with the clerk of the district court of the county wherein the original petition for the incorporation of any such drainage district was filed, whereupon the clerk of the district court shall call an election and give notice to all persons interested in and owning land within the drainage district three successive weeks next preceding the election in a legal newspaper printed and published in the county wherein the district was originally incorporated. If no legal newspaper is printed and published in such county, such notice shall be placed in a legal newspaper of general circulation in the county wherein the district was originally incorporated. It shall be sufficient if the notice of such election shall be directed to all persons interested in the drainage district, identifying the same as it is referred to in the original petition for incorporation. The notice shall specify the day, hour, and place at which the election shall be held. The election shall be held in some public place in the county in which the district was organized. At such election every acre of land shall represent one share, and each owner shall be entitled to one vote for every acre of land owned by him or her in such district. If at the election a majority of the votes cast shall favor the dissolution, then such district shall stand dissolved, and the clerk of the district court shall certify such result and dissolution to the county clerk of each county wherein any portion of the lands of the drainage district lies. When any drainage district is dissolved as provided in this section, any remaining funds of the district shall be distributed to the counties in which the district is situated in the same proportion as the area of the district in each county bears to the total area of the district and shall be deposited in the general fund of the respective counties.
When any drainage district organized under the provisions of sections 31-301 to 31-305 is comprised of territory located in more than one county and is inactive for a period of at least five years, as determined by resolution of the county board of the county in which such district was organized, the county board may initiate action for dissolution of the district by filing a copy of its resolution with the clerk of the district court of the county in which the original petition for incorporation of such district was filed. After the filing of such resolution, the procedure for dissolution and distribution of any remaining funds shall be the same as that provided in section 31-375.
When any drainage district organized under the provisions of sections 31-301 to 31-305 or 31-401 to 31-408 is comprised of territory solely within one county and is inactive for a period of at least five years, as determined by resolution of the county board, the county board may order the district dissolved. The county board shall file copies of such order of dissolution with the county clerk and the county treasurer. Upon receipt of such order, the county treasurer shall transfer any remaining funds of the dissolved drainage district to the general fund of the county.
Whenever it will be conducive to the public health, convenience or welfare, to drain any wet land, to drain any land subject to overflow by water, or any land which will be improved by drainage, to build or construct any dike or levee to prevent overflow by water, to construct, straighten, widen, deepen or alter any ditch, drain, stream or watercourse, to riprap or otherwise protect the bank of any stream or ditch, to construct, enlarge, extend, improve or maintain any system of drainage, to construct, enlarge, extend, improve or maintain any system of control of surface water or running water, or to do any two or more of said things jointly, then a drainage district may be formed and may proceed, as hereinafter provided, for the purpose of inaugurating, constructing, controlling and maintaining said work or works of public improvement.
After June 30, 1972, no new drainage districts shall be organized under the provisions of sections 31-401 to 31-450. Attempted formations of drainage districts under sections 31-401 to 31-450 which have not been completed before July 1, 1972, shall be null, void and of no effect for the purpose of organizing such district. All drainage districts having valid corporate existence before July 1, 1972, shall enjoy all rights, duties, powers and authorities conferred by sections 31-401 to 31-450 and shall not be affected by this section, nor shall the legality of formation, organization, or operation of any such district be subject to any legal action based on this section.
When the district proposed contains real estate owned by less than twenty persons or corporations, one-fourth of said number shall be sufficient to petition for the formation of such district. When there are more than twenty such owners, ten or more owners of real estate therein may sign a petition for the formation of such district, and file said petition with the county clerk of the county having the largest body of land within the proposed district. The petition shall suggest the boundaries of the district, the number of directors that the district shall have if formed, and the amount of bond each shall give.
At the time of filing the petition the petitioners shall also file a bond, with surety or sureties to be approved by the county clerk, which bond shall run to the county and be conditioned to pay all expenses of the county by reason of such proceedings in case the district be not formed.
Thereupon the county board of such county shall take to its assistance the county surveyor of the county and shall determine whether or not the boundaries of the proposed district are reasonable and proper, and if the board finds that the boundary line of the district should be changed, it shall change the same and fix the boundary line where the same, in the judgment of the board, should be fixed with a view to promoting the interest of the drainage district, if formed, and with a view to doing justice and equity to all persons. Anyone asking shall be given a hearing as to the boundary. The board shall also determine the number of directors that the district shall have, if formed, and the amount of the bond to be given by each, and shall make a record of its action.
Thereupon the county clerk shall publish one notice once each week for three weeks in a newspaper published in the proposed district, and if the district embraces land in more than one county, then said notice shall be published in a legal newspaper published in the proposed district in each county. If no legal newspaper is published in the proposed district then the notice shall be published in a legal newspaper published in each of the counties having land within the proposed district. The notice shall state the filing of the petition; that it is filed under the provisions of sections 31-401 to 31-450, giving the title thereof in full; the boundaries of the proposed district as fixed by the county board; that an election will be held at a certain place in the proposed district, which place shall be named in said notice, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., on a day named therein; that at said election the question of the formation of the proposed district shall be determined, and a board of directors elected, giving the number of such board, such board to take office contingently on the formation of the district; Provided, that if there is no newspaper published within the district or within the county, the county clerk shall prepare a copy of such notice, and cause it to be posted in three conspicuous and suitable places in the district.
Such election shall be by ballot which shall be signed by the voter, and shall have thereon a list of the land and lots which the voter claims the right to vote. The ballot shall be in the following form, and ballots at annual elections shall be in similar form.
| List of Property on Which Vote is Based. | ||||
| Number of | ||||
| Section | Town or | Range or | Acres or | |
| Description | or Lot | Block | City | Lots |
| ............ | ........ | ........ | ........ | ........ |
| ............ | ........ | ........ | ........ | ........ |
| ............ | ........ | ........ | ........ | ........ |
| Total number of votes claimed on same .............. | ||||
| Nature of title to or interest in above ............ | ||||
| For formation of district .......................... | ||||
| ........ | Yes | |||
| ........ | No | |||
| Vote for | .............. |
| For board of directors if proposed | Number of |
| district is formed. | Votes |
| ........................................ | ............ |
| ........................................ | ............ |
| ........................................ | ............ |
| ........................................ | ............ |
| ........................................ | ............ |
| ........................................ | ............ |
| ..................................... | |
| Signature of Voter |
At all the elections the county clerk, or the county clerk of the county in which the greater portion of the land in such district is situated, and such assistants as he shall choose, shall constitute the election board and the canvassing board. Any person may cast one vote on each proposition to be voted on for each acre of land or fraction thereof, and for each platted lot which he may own or have an easement in, as shown by the official records of the county where the land or lots may be. Any corporation, public, private or municipal, owning or having an easement in any land or lot, may vote at such election, the same as an individual may. The executor, administrator, guardian or trustee of any person or estate interested shall have the same right to vote. Should two or more persons or officials claim the right to vote on the same tract, the election board shall determine the party entitled to vote, and shall have the power to reject any ballot not cast by a person authorized to vote the same, which rejection may be made at the time such ballot is offered, or at the time of the canvass of the election. The board shall have the right to refer to the official records of the counties where the real estate may be, for information as to who are entitled to vote. The board shall sign a statement giving the result of the election, and the same shall be recorded in the office of the county clerk. At all elections following the election by which the district is organized, each voter shall have one vote for each unit of benefit then apportioned against the land owned by the voter.
If a majority of the votes cast at the election shall be in favor of the formation of the district it shall be conclusive that the formation of the district, and the work that may be done under the supervision of the board of directors, will be for the public health, convenience and welfare. The county clerk shall thereupon file and preserve in his office all of the ballots, and record in his office all other records and proceedings in the matter, and the district shall thereupon be fully organized. If the district is in more than one county, the county clerk of the county in which the greater portion of the land in such district is situated, shall thereupon make a certified transcript of all record proceedings, and the board of directors of such district shall cause the transcript to be recorded in the office of the county clerk of each other county having land in the district.
A majority of the directors shall be residents of the county or counties in which the district is located. Except as provided in section 31-409.03, any person or the officer or representative of any corporation owning or controlling any land assessed for benefits may be a director. The person elected a director receiving the least number of votes shall hold office for one year, the next higher for two years, and so on, and the term of each shall be adjusted so as to make the term of one director expire each year. The officers, consisting of a president, a treasurer, and a secretary, shall be chosen by the directors from their own number and for a term of one year. Unless the directors choose by February fifteenth of a given year to use the procedures provided in section 31-409.01, annual elections of directors shall be held on the second Tuesday of April each year, at the county courthouse or at such other place designated by the board pursuant to section 31-409.03. The annual election shall be omitted if such date occurs less than nine months after the first election. Vacancies in the office of directors may be filled by the remaining directors until the next election. All directors and officers shall hold office until their successors are elected and qualified.
The directors may choose to hold the annual election required by section 31-409 by sealed mail ballot in accordance with this section. If the option authorized by this section is not exercised by February fifteenth of a given year, the procedure provided by section 31-409 shall be followed.
The secretary of the board shall, at least fifteen days prior to the election, mail to the last-known post office address of each person entitled to vote, a ballot which shall list the names and addresses of the candidates, allow room for write-in votes, and give instructions on how to vote and return the ballot.
Notice of an annual election held pursuant to section 31-409, 31-409.01, or 31-409.03 shall be published once each week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the district, or the precinct if the district has been divided into voting precincts as provided in section 31-409.03, designated by the district. The last publication shall not be less than thirty days prior to the election. The notice shall include the date and location or locations of the election and the hours for voting, the number of directors to be elected, the names of those whose terms will expire, and the procedure for filing as a candidate.
(1) The board of directors may divide the district into two or more voting precincts for the purpose of electing directors of the district. The precincts shall be established to include, as nearly as possible, equal acreage if the district levies taxes based on valuation or equal units of benefit if the district taxes on the basis of apportionment of benefits. Upon completion of the division the board shall prepare a subdivision plat and file the plat with the county clerk of each county containing affected land. The board shall provide for the phasing in of precinct voting for all elections subsequent to the decision to subdivide the district beginning with the first such election. After the board has divided the district pursuant to this subsection, the board shall not divide the district again or change the divisions until precinct voting is completely phased in and an election has been held for the directors to be elected in each precinct.
(2) When a district has been divided into two or more voting precincts, an equal number of directors shall be elected in each precinct and the remaining directors, if any, shall be elected at large. Each director elected by precinct shall own land assessed for benefits in the precinct from which he or she is elected. Precinct elections shall be held at a location within the precinct designated by the board or as provided in section 31-409.01.
Each member of the board of directors shall give bond in such amount as shall have been fixed by the county board of the county, conditioned to faithfully perform the duties of a director, and of such further office as he may be elected to, and to account for all funds or property coming into his hands. All of such bonds shall run to the district, shall be signed by a surety or sureties to be approved by the county clerk, and shall be filed and recorded in his office. When so filed such person so elected shall take and hold office until his successor is elected and qualified.
The board of directors, having first, with the aid of such engineer, surveyor, and other assistants as it may have chosen, made detailed plans of the public works to be done in accordance with section 31-401, shall cause a notice to be inserted at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the district stating the time and place where the directors shall meet for the purpose of conducting a public hearing on the proposed public works and the method of financing such works. All parties interested in the proposed public works may appear at such public hearing in person or by counsel or may file written objections thereto. The directors shall then proceed to hear and consider the same and determine whether to adopt the public works in accordance with the detailed plans presented at such hearing and whether to finance such works by benefits accruing to the several tracts of land within the district or by a tax levy upon the taxable value of the taxable property in the district. The hearing may be continued from time to time upon notice given by publication at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the district stating the time and place of such continuance.
The board of directors having adopted the plans of public works and apportionment of benefits method of financing, shall apportion the benefits thereof accruing to the several tracts of land within the district which will be benefited thereby, on a system of units. The land least benefited shall be apportioned one unit of assessment, and each tract receiving a greater benefit shall be apportioned a greater number of units or fraction thereof, according to the benefits received. Nothing contained herein shall prevent the district from establishing separate areas within the district so as to permit future allocation of costs for particular portions of the work to specific areas. This area method of allocation shall not be used in any district which has heretofore made a final apportionment of units of benefits and shall not thereafter be changed except by compliance with the procedure prescribed in sections 31-411 to 31-412.
The directors, having adopted the apportionment method of financing and having completed the apportionment of benefits, shall make a detailed report of the same and file such report with the county clerk. Thereupon the board of directors shall cause to be published, once each week for three consecutive weeks, in a newspaper of general circulation in the district, a copy of the apportionment and a statement of the total number of units of benefit in the district.
The board of directors having adopted the plans of public works and the tax levy method of financing shall prepare an itemized budget of funds necessary to carry out the authorities granted under sections 31-401 to 31-450 and transmit such budget to the county board of the county or counties involved. Thereupon the board of directors shall cause to be published, once each week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the district, a copy of the itemized budget of funds necessary to carry out the authorities granted under such sections and a statement of the total taxable value of the taxable property in the drainage district. If portions of the drainage district are in more than one county, the county assessors involved shall ratably apportion such amounts of the total budget requested between the counties based on the total taxable value of the taxable property within the drainage district and transmit and certify the prorated portion to the respective county boards of each county involved. The county board may levy a tax sufficient to raise the amount of funds requested but not to exceed ten and five-tenths cents on each one hundred dollars upon the taxable value of the taxable property in the drainage district. Such levy shall be subject to section 77-3443. The tax so levied shall be collected in the same manner as other property taxes, and the proceeds therefrom shall be kept in a separate account identified by the official name of the drainage district. The county treasurer shall transfer such funds to the drainage district as requested by the board of directors.
The board of directors shall provide a legal description and map of the boundaries of the district and transmit such information to the county assessor of the county or counties involved who shall indicate for the use of the county treasurer such information on the tax rolls. The county assessor shall also provide the county treasurer with the taxable value of the taxable personal property of each property owner within the drainage district which shall also be taxed at the same rate as real property.
When the property tax rolls and the taxable value of the taxable personal property of each taxpayer are received by the county treasurer from the county assessor as required by sections 31-401 to 31-450, the county treasurer shall compute the tax due the drainage district from each taxpayer in accordance with the rate required to meet the budget request but not to exceed a levy of ten and five-tenths cents on each one hundred dollars upon the taxable value of the taxable property of the district. If a drainage district needs additional funds to pay outstanding warrants issued under section 31-416, the property owners within such district may, by majority vote of those voting in an election authorized by the board of directors of such district and conducted according to section 31-407, approve the issuance of bonds which shall be paid by an additional levy.
Any person claiming to be aggrieved by such plan of public works or method of financing, or both, may file complaint with the county clerk within twenty days after the publication of the plan of public works and method of financing provided for by section 31-410.01, together with a bond running to the district, with surety or sureties to be approved by the county clerk, conditioned to pay all costs that may be adjudged against such complaint, if the appeal be not sustained. Thereupon the county clerk shall make a transcript of the objections and of the report of adoption of the plan of public works or method of financing, or both, and such appellant shall, within ten days thereafter, file such transcript, in the district court of the county, and such court shall hear and determine all such objections in a summary manner as in a case in equity. All objections that may be filed shall be heard and determined by the court as one proceeding, and only one transcript of the adoption of the plan of public works shall be required.
The apportionment, when finally adjusted, shall continue as the basis of all levies of special assessments to pay all expenditures for organization, construction, improvement, enlargement, extension, damages, costs, maintenance, bonds and interest thereon, and all other expenses; Provided, if (1) there is such a change of plans or enlargement or extension of the work of the district, (2) some of the tracts of land within the district are increased in value since the time of the original apportionment of benefits by the addition of improvements or otherwise, such as in either case to make a different apportionment necessary or desirable, then the board of directors as to the future expenditures shall make a new apportionment of benefits, in which event all the procedure prescribed in sections 31-411 to 31-412 for the original apportionment shall apply, or (3) the board of directors elects to use the tax levy method of financing, all expenditures for organization, construction, improvement, enlargement, extension, damages, costs, maintenance, bonds and interest thereon, and all other expenses shall be paid out of such levies.
Tax funds transferred to and held by the treasurer of the drainage district shall be used for the specific purposes as listed in section 31-401. All expenditure of such funds shall be made by the board of directors upon the order of the board. The secretary of the drainage district shall once each year have published in a newspaper of general circulation in the drainage area a brief statement of the past year's financial operation of the district. Such statement shall be based on an annual audit of the district accounts.
The drainage district shall have power to purchase such real estate or easement therein as it may need, and if it cannot agree on the purchase price of any needed real estate or easement therein, it shall have power to condemn the same whether the property be within the limits of such district or outside its boundaries. The exercise of the right of eminent domain on areas outside the boundaries of the district shall be limited only to those projects which have been approved by the Department of Natural Resources. This limitation shall not apply to any drainage district subject to the supervision of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The procedure to condemn property shall be exercised in the manner set forth in sections 76-704 to 76-724. If such drainage district finds it expedient or necessary for the maintenance of any part of its improvement already constructed to add thereto further construction in the nature of a settling basin into which waters will be permitted to flow for the purpose of dropping silt before finding their outlet into any part of the main or lateral ditches of such drainage district improvement, such drainage district, if not able to agree with the landowner on the yearly cash rental of any premises taken and used for such purpose, shall have the right to condemn for the purpose of fixing the yearly rental for the land so taken. If such drainage district takes or damages any real estate of any minor or protected person, the guardian or conservator of such minor or protected person may agree and settle with the drainage district for all damages or claims by reason of taking such real estate or easement and may give valid releases and discharges therefor.
All claims against drainage districts created by landowners shall be paid by warrants or orders, duly drawn on the treasurer of such drainage district, signed by the president of such district and countersigned by its clerk or secretary. When such warrants or orders have been issued and delivered, the same may be presented to the treasurer of the drainage district, and, if such be the fact, endorsed not paid for want of funds. Such orders or warrants shall be registered by the treasurer of the district, in the order of presentation, shall draw interest from the date of registration thereof, and shall be received by the county treasurer in payment of drainage district taxes due the general fund of such district.
Whenever the drainage district shall need the sum of five thousand dollars or more, either for the purpose of paying outstanding warrants issued under section 31-416, or to refund bonds issued for the purpose of paying or providing funds for the payment of work done under the provisions of sections 31-401 to 31-450, the board of directors may issue negotiable bonds for such sums as may be needed, not, however, exceeding the amount that the engineer of the district shall certify as being required in the case of an original issue of bonds, nor exceeding the amount of outstanding bonds in the case of refunding bonds. Such bonds shall be signed by the president, secretary and treasurer, under the corporate seal, with coupons attached, and shall be payable in not to exceed twenty annual installments. They shall be sold at not less than par.
The board of directors shall give notice by publication once each week for three consecutive weeks of the proposed issue of bonds and the amount thereof.
If a deficit is caused by an appeal from the assessment of benefits and a charge thereon, or by reason of any assessment being uncollectible, or in any other manner whatsoever, then such deficit shall be a charge upon all the lands assessed according to the apportionment of benefits, the same as any other liability of the district.
The treasurer shall at the time of signing the bonds, and before the issue thereof, make a statement in writing and under oath of the same, giving the date, amount, maturity, rate of interest, and place of payment. Such statement shall be filed and recorded in the office of the county clerk.
The president, secretary and treasurer, when duly authorized by the board of directors, may borrow money, for not to exceed five years, on the note of the district signed by them, negotiable at not less than par and drawing interest, to pay the costs and expenses of organizing the district, and such further amounts, on the same terms, as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying on the objects and purposes of such organization, not exceeding, however, the cost of the drainage improvement as estimated by the engineer. The board of directors shall make suitable provision for the payment of such borrowed money, with interest thereon, within five years from the time of borrowing the same. The treasurer shall at the time of signing any such note and before the issue thereof, make a statement in writing and under oath of the same, giving the date, amount, maturity, rate of interest, payee, and time and place of payment. Such statement shall be filed and recorded in the office of the county clerk.
The board of directors shall, out of the first money on hand, pay all the expenses of organization, of the county surveyor and county clerk, and other expenses.
The board of directors shall each year determine the amount of money necessary to be raised to pay bonds and interest thereon under the apportionment method of financing, and shall apportion the same in dollars and cents against the tracts of land remaining charged therewith. The board of directors shall also annually determine the amount of money necessary to be raised by taxation during the coming year for other purposes, and shall apportion the same in dollars and cents to each tract benefited, according to the units of assessment as determined in accordance with section 31-411. The president and secretary shall thereupon return lists of such tracts, with the amounts of money chargeable to each, keeping the assessments to pay bonds and interest thereon separate in each case, to the county clerk of each county where lands are located, who shall place the same on the duplicate tax lists against the lands and lots so assessed. Such assessments shall be collected and accounted for by the county treasurer, at the same time as general realty taxes, and such assessments shall be and remain a perpetual lien against such real estate until paid, and shall draw interest at the rate of nine percent per annum from the date of delinquency until paid. All the provisions of law for the sale, redemption, and foreclosure in ordinary tax matters shall apply to these special assessments. The drainage district may file a claim against any county, city, village, railroad company, or other corporation, private or public, for the share of any annual apportionment to be paid by any such subdivision or corporation, and if the same is not paid, it may be recovered by action in court. The county treasurer shall on demand pay all funds in his hands to the credit of the drainage district, to the treasurer thereof.
The board of directors shall each year determine the amount of money necessary to be raised to pay bonds and interest thereon and the amount of money necessary to be raised by taxation during the coming year for other purposes, and shall include such amount in the budget submitted under section 31-411.02 if the board of directors elects the tax levy method of financing. Such levies shall be collected and accounted for by the county treasurer, at the same time as general realty taxes, and such assessments shall be and remain a perpetual lien against such real estate until paid, and shall draw interest at the rate of nine percent per annum from the date of delinquency until paid. All the provisions of law for the sale, redemption, and foreclosure in ordinary tax matters shall apply to these special assessments. The drainage district may file a claim against any county, city, village, railroad company, or other corporation, private or public, for the share of any annual apportionment to be paid by any such subdivision or corporation, and if the same is not paid, it may be recovered by action in court. The county treasurer shall on demand pay all funds in his hands to the credit of the drainage district, to the treasurer thereof.
The board of directors shall adopt and have recorded with the county clerk such rules and regulations as may be reasonable and proper for the work in hand, and such rules shall provide what officers the district shall have. The rules may be changed from time to time but all amendments shall be duly recorded with the county clerk.
The board of directors shall employ such engineer, surveyor, and other help, as it may deem necessary and proper, and shall proceed according to its best judgment to carry out such work of the character provided for by sections 31-401 to 31-450 as it deems advisable for the public health, convenience and welfare. The board of directors shall in its discretion, from time to time, determine whether the necessary work shall be done by hiring by the day, or by contract. Before any contract shall be let, estimates of the cost thereof shall be made, and the contract price shall not exceed the estimate. No officer or director shall be in any way interested in any such contract, and any such contract shall be void if any officer or director is interested therein, and no recovery shall be had thereon; Provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the board of directors from hiring one of its members by the day to superintend maintenance work within the district. The board of directors shall likewise, when in its judgment it is for the best interest of the district, be empowered to purchase all necessary machinery and equipment for the purpose of maintaining, cleaning out or reconstructing existing ditches, or for the purpose of constructing new ditches within the district, and for such work may hire by the day, week or month, all necessary help.
The board of directors shall receive two dollars per day compensation for time actually employed in the business of the district, not exceeding one hundred dollars each per year, but reasonable allowance shall be made for necessary clerical work and assistance.
Lands within the drainage district which have been assessed for benefits may, under general rules and regulations to be made by the board of directors applicable to all similarly situated, be drained by the owners thereof by tiling or otherwise into the main or lateral drains. Owners of land within the district not assessed, or without the district, may drain such lands into the main or lateral drains of the drainage district upon contracting with the board of directors for the privilege, and paying therefor, but not otherwise.
The district may dig ditches and drains under and across railroads and public highways.
The originals of all contracts of every kind in writing, made by or with the board of directors or officers, with reference to the construction or use of such public work, or the rights or obligations of the drainage district therein, shall be filed and recorded with the county clerk, who shall receive for all services the fees allowed by law for similar services.
If any director shall sell and convey his assessed realty and not be an officer of a company interested, he shall no longer serve as director or officer.
Any appeal to the Court of Appeals on any matter under sections 31-401 to 31-450 shall be taken within thirty days after the entry of the judgment, decree, or final order or within thirty days after the entry of the order overruling a motion for a new trial in such cause. Any such appeal shall not operate to stay proceedings.
At all elections any person living outside the different counties owning or controlling assessed real estate may vote by proxy duly authorized in writing on file with the county clerk.
The officers of the district shall keep good, complete and businesslike records of all receipts and disbursements, and the purpose thereof and of all business transacted, and all books, papers and vouchers shall at all times be subject to public inspection. The treasurer shall annually make detailed report in writing of all receipts and disbursements, which report shall contain a statement of the funds on hand belonging to the district, together with the amount if any in the hands of the county treasurer, and all money received during the preceding year from all sources, and shall show all items of disbursement, the person or persons to whom, and the object for which the same has been paid out, including all compensation paid to officers of said district, and all other expenses of administration. The statement shall be verified under oath, and a copy of the same shall be filed with the county clerk of each county having land within said district, April 1 of each year, and the treasurer shall have such report subject to inspection at each annual meeting. If any such treasurer shall fail or neglect to make out such report or to file the same with the county clerk, or if any officer of such drainage district shall neglect or refuse to submit for inspection any records or papers of said district upon demand of any person interested, or shall otherwise neglect to perform any duties imposed upon him by this section, he shall be guilty of a Class V misdemeanor.
(1) If there are no debts outstanding, the board of directors may, on its own motion or on the request in writing of ten electors, submit the question of dissolution of the district after due notice thereof is given by publication as provided in section 31-418. If three-fifths of the votes cast on the question at such election are in favor of such dissolution, the officers thereof shall cause a record of such election and the vote thereon to be made in the office of the county clerk of the proper county, and the drainage district shall thereupon stand dissolved.
(2) In case a drainage district is dissolved, as authorized in subsection (1) of this section, the funds on hand or to be collected shall be held by the treasurer until the distribution thereof is approved. The directors of the district shall petition the district court, of the county in which the petition to form the district was filed, for an order approving the distribution of such funds to the landowners as a dividend on the same basis as collected.
(3) Whenever the governing body of a metropolitan- or first-class city or a county shall find and determine by resolution that it is in the best interest of such city or county to assume the operation and maintenance of a drainage district, such drainage district shall transfer and convey its rights-of-way, real and personal property, and all of its assets to the city or county and the city or county shall assume the responsibilities and obligations of such district. Upon the adoption of such a resolution, the board of directors of the district shall pay all of the outstanding obligations of the district, close out all of its affairs, and file a notice of dissolution of the district with the county clerk. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, all of the funds remaining after the obligations of the district are fully paid shall be transferred to the general fund of the metropolitan- or first-class city or the flood control levy fund of the county or city which has assumed the obligations and responsibilities of the district, and no dividends shall be paid to landowners upon such transfer of the assets, rights-of-way, and responsibilities of the district to a metropolitan- or first-class city or county as provided in this section.
(4) In the event that a transfer and conveyance of the real and personal property, assets, obligations, and responsibilities of the district is made to a metropolitan- or first-class city or a county or, as the case may be, to a city and a county, taxes shall no longer be collected by the district for the maintenance of the improvements of the district. The cost of maintaining the improvements shall be borne as a general obligation, or an obligation of the flood control fund, of the metropolitan- or first-class city or county, as the governing body of the city or county may determine or, if the improvements shall have been transferred to both a city and county and the city and county shall have entered into a contract as provided in subsection (5) of this section, the cost of maintaining the improvements shall be borne as provided in such contract.
(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (2) and (3) of this section, if both the governing body of a metropolitan- or first-class city and the governing body of the county shall find and determine by resolution that it is in the best interest of the city and the county, respectively, to assume the operation and maintenance of the same drainage district, and shall cause the city and county to enter into a contract between themselves concerning the responsibilities and obligations of the district to be assumed, and the rights-of-way, real and personal property, and all other assets of the district to be received, by the city and county, respectively, the board of directors of the district shall pay all of the outstanding obligations of the district, close out all of its affairs, file a notice of dissolution of the district with the county clerk, and transfer to the city and county, respectively, in accordance with the terms of such contract, the rights-of-way, real and personal property, and all other assets of the district, including, but not limited to, all funds remaining after the obligations of the district are fully paid. The city and county in such contract shall specify whether the funds thus to be transferred shall be transferred by the district to the general fund or the flood control fund of the city and county, respectively. No dividends shall be paid to landowners upon such transfer of the assets, rights-of-way, and responsibilities of the district as provided in this subsection.
When any drainage district organized under the provisions of sections 31-401 to 31-408 is comprised of territory located in more than one county and is inactive for a period of at least five years, as determined by resolution of the county board of the county in which such district was organized, the county board may initiate action for dissolution of the district in the manner provided in subsection (1) of section 31-436. When any drainage district is dissolved as authorized in this section, any remaining funds of the district shall be distributed to the counties in which the district is situated in the same proportion as the area of the district in each county bears to the total area of the district, and shall be deposited in the general fund of the respective counties.
None of the provisions of sections 31-401 to 31-450 shall be construed as repealing or in anywise modifying the provisions of any other act relating to the subject of drainage. Nothing therein contained shall be deemed to authorize any drainage district to divert the waters of any river, creek, stream, canal or ditch from its channel to the detriment of any person or persons having any interest in such river, creek, stream, canal or ditch or the waters therein, unless proper compensation be ascertained and paid therefor under the laws of this state relating to the taking of private property for public use. No change of the channel or location of any river or stream dividing counties shall operate to relieve either county from contribution to the building and repairing of any bridge over such river or stream, but said liability shall continue, notwithstanding work done under said sections may remove any river or stream from the boundary line between counties.
When it is deemed advisable by the board of directors of district to enlarge the boundaries thereof and the conditions mentioned in section 31-401 apply to such enlarged territory, a petition for the enlargement of the district, signed by a majority of the board of directors of the district and by ten owners of land within the territory proposed to be added to the district or, if there are less than twenty such owners, then by at least one-fourth of such owners, may be filed with the county clerk of the county where the original petition was filed. Upon the filing of a petition for the enlargement of a district, the county board, county surveyor, and county clerk of the county shall proceed in all respects as provided in sections 31-402 to 31-408, so far as applicable. The board of directors of the district, at the time of filing such petition for enlargement with the county clerk, may prescribe the conditions on which the additional territory is to be added, which conditions shall be based upon the work previously done by the district and with a view to equalizing assessments according to benefits, and such conditions shall be binding on the enlarged district if formed. Any person may appeal to the district court from the imposing of such conditions in the manner provided for appeals by section 31-412. The appeal shall be taken within thirty days from the time of completing the canvass of the votes of such election. The additional territory shall be deemed added to the district only if a majority of the votes voted thereon in the original district and a majority of the votes voted thereon in the proposed new territory shall each be in favor of such enlarged district. The board of directors of the original district shall constitute the board of directors of the enlarged district.
Whenever the board of directors of any district deems it advisable to detach any portion of the district, which portion shall not have been apportioned for benefits, or having been apportioned, the amount having all been paid, the board of directors may submit at any annual election of the district the proposition of detaching such portion. If a majority of the votes cast on that question are in favor of the proposition to detach, the same shall be deemed carried, and the territory shall thereupon cease to be within the drainage district, and shall stand in the same plight as if never attached. The officers of the district shall certify the same to the county clerk, who shall make a record thereof.
Two or more districts formed under the provisions of sections 31-401 to 31-408, or any district formed under the provisions of said sections, and any district formed under any other law of this state, may overlap each other. In such event any land in more than one district shall be assessable by each district for its equitable proportion of the benefits received from the improvements by such district.
When a district has been formed, the board of directors shall have power by a three-fifths vote to declare the county seat an inconvenient place for holding elections, and shall certify the same to the proper county clerk. Thereupon all elections of the district other than those for enlarging the boundaries and those annual elections held pursuant to section 31-409.01 shall be held at a place to be designated each year by the board of directors and within the district, and the county clerk of the county previously having charge of the matter shall each year appoint three resident freeholders of the district to act as an election and canvassing board, and the parties so appointed, or if they fail to appear, any other parties chosen by electors present at the election, shall constitute the election and canvassing board, with the same powers given to the county clerk and his or her assistants by section 31-407.
Upon filing the petition mentioned in section 31-402, the county clerk shall designate and endorse thereon a day for the hearing and determination of said petition by the county board which shall not be less than fourteen days subsequent to the filing of the petition, and the county board may pass on the petition and fix the boundaries at any time on or after the date fixed by the county clerk.
The drainage district may go beyond the limits of its district for an outlet to its drainage system, or for the purpose of conducting its main ditch or ditches, and may purchase, acquire, or condemn any needed real estate therefor. The procedure to condemn property shall be exercised in the manner set forth in sections 76-704 to 76-724.
It shall be unlawful to obstruct in any manner the flow of water in any ditch, drain or watercourse constructed, improved or used by such drainage district, or to injure or disturb in any manner any dike, levee, or other work constructed in whole or in part, or owned by any drainage district. Any person violating any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall upon conviction be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, and shall stand committed until the fine and costs are paid. He shall also be liable to the drainage district and to any person injured for all damages sustained by reason of such violation.
All special assessments provided for under sections 31-401 to 31-450 shall, as between vendor and purchaser, be a lien upon the real property involved from and upon the filing with the county clerk of the lists of the tracts, with the amount of money chargeable to each, as provided for in section 31-424, or if the board of directors has elected the tax levy method of financing, all special assessments provided for under sections 31-401 to 31-450 shall, as between vendor and purchaser, be a lien upon the real property involved from and upon the filing with the county clerk of the property tax rolls and the taxable value of the taxable personal property of each taxpayer as provided for in section 31-411.02.
The assessment for benefits to public highways and streets and other public property that may have been benefited, shall be paid out of such fund of the county, city, village or other public corporation involved, as the officers thereof may deem most available for such purpose.
If for any reason any apportionment of benefits or levy heretofore or hereafter made is or shall be invalid, a reapportionment of benefits and relevy shall be made, but no such reapportionment shall be made until at least ten days' notice by publication in a newspaper in each county involved shall be given of a hearing on such reapportionment, and notice shall be given of the same when made, and appeals may be taken therefrom as provided in the original apportionment. Such reapportionment and relevy shall be made on such terms and in such a manner as to do justice and equity to all persons and interests, having due regard to payments made, if any, under such invalid apportionment or levy.
In all districts hereafter organized, the board of directors, having first adopted detailed plans and specifications of the work proposed to be done, having made an estimate of the total cost of such contemplated improvement, and having filed such plans, specifications, and estimated cost with the clerk of the county having the largest area of land, shall then publish a notice once each week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper in each county of an election to vote on the question of proceeding with such work and incurring the necessary liability in all cases in which the estimate of the contemplated work equals seven percent of the taxable value of the lands assessed for such improvement. The election shall be held in all respects as other elections provided for in sections 31-401 to 31-450. If a majority of the votes cast at such election are in favor of proceeding with the work and incurring the necessary liability, then the board, in proceeding therein, shall not incur indebtedness in a total sum in excess of the estimated cost so filed and published. No changes in such plans and specifications shall be made thereafter by the board which cost in the aggregate more than fifteen percent above such estimated cost. If a majority of the votes at such election vote against proceeding and incurring the liability, then the board shall abandon the work and shall thereupon certify to the county clerks a tax levy on all the tracts in the district by valuation sufficient to pay all the liabilities of the district, and the levy shall be entered and collected as other general taxes and used to pay the liabilities.
Whenever one or more municipalities may be situated upon or near a stream which is bordered by lands subject to overflow from natural causes, or which is obstructed by dams or artificial obstructions so that the natural flow of waters is impeded so that drainage or the improvement of the channel of the stream will conduce to the preservation of public health, such municipalities and the surrounding lands deleteriously affected by the conditions of the stream, may be incorporated as a sanitary drainage district under sections 31-501 to 31-523 in the manner following: Any one hundred legal voters, residents within the limits of such proposed sanitary drainage district, may petition the county board of the county wherein they reside to cause the question to be submitted to the legal voters within the limits of such proposed sanitary drainage district whether they will organize as a sanitary drainage district under such sections. In the case of municipalities of less than one thousand inhabitants, as determined by the most recent federal decennial census or the most recent revised certified count by the United States Bureau of the Census, two-thirds of the legal voters, residents within the limits of such proposed sanitary drainage district, may petition the county board of the county wherein they reside to cause the question to be submitted to the legal voters within the limits of such proposed sanitary drainage district whether they will organize as a sanitary drainage district under such sections, and if a majority of those voting on the question are in favor of the proposition the district shall be organized.
Such petition shall contain a definite description of the territory intended to be embraced in such district according to government survey, and the name of the proposed district; but no lands not included within any municipal corporation, or within three miles thereof, shall be included in any sanitary district, nor shall any lands not within an incorporated town be included within any sanitary district, unless the same be within three miles of the channel of such stream or of the area of lands subject to its overflow.
Upon the filing of such petition in the office of the county board it shall give notice in one or more newspapers daily, if there be a daily paper in said county, during twenty days prior to such meeting, of the time and place where the petition will be heard. At the time so fixed the board shall meet, and all persons in such proposed sanitary district shall have opportunity to be heard touching the location and boundary of the proposed district. Thereupon the county board shall by an order determine the boundaries of such district, whether described in such petition or otherwise.
After such determination by the county board, or a majority thereof, it shall call a special election and submit to the legal voters of the proposed sanitary district the question of the organization of such district, and notice in a daily paper, if there be one, shall be given of such election twenty days prior thereto. At such election each legal voter resident within the proposed sanitary district shall have a right to cast a ballot with the words thereon, For sanitary district, or Against sanitary district, and the ballots cast shall be received, returned and canvassed in the same manner as upon county elections. The result shall be entered of record, and if a majority of the votes cast be in favor of the proposed district, such proposed district shall be deemed an organized sanitary district under sections 31-501 to 31-523.
Upon the organization of any such sanitary district the county board shall call an election for the election of trustees, who shall hold their offices until their successors are elected and qualified. Where such sanitary district does not contain a city of more than forty thousand inhabitants as determined by the most recent federal decennial census or the most recent revised certified count by the United States Bureau of the Census, there shall be three trustees, and where such sanitary district contains a city of more than forty thousand inhabitants as so determined, there shall be five trustees. In districts having three trustees, at the first general state election held in November after the organization of the district, there shall be elected one trustee for a term of two years and two trustees for a term of four years, and thereafter their respective successors shall be elected for a term of four years at the general state election held in November immediately prior to the expiration of their respective terms. In districts having five trustees, at the first general state election held in November after the organization of the district, there shall be elected two trustees for a term of two years and three trustees for a term of four years, and thereafter their respective successors shall be elected for a term of four years at the general state election held in November immediately prior to the expiration of their respective terms. At the first meeting after election of one or more members, the board shall elect one of their number president and, in case they fail to elect, then the member who at his or her election received the highest number of votes shall be president of such board. Such district shall be a body corporate and politic by name of Sanitary District of .............., with power to sue, be sued, contract, acquire and hold property, and adopt a common seal.
The board of trustees shall elect one of their members clerk and have the power to appoint, employ and pay an engineer, who shall be removable at pleasure. The clerk may be paid not to exceed three hundred dollars per year by said board. The board shall have power to pass all necessary ordinances, orders, rules and regulations for the necessary conduct of its business and to carry into effect the objects for which such sanitary district is formed. Immediately after each regular and special meeting of said board, it shall cause to be published, in one newspaper of general circulation in the district, a brief statement of its proceedings, including an itemized list of bills and claims allowed, specifying the amount of each, to whom paid and for what purpose; Provided, no publication shall be required unless the same can be done at an expense not exceeding one-third of the legal rate for advertising notices.
The board of trustees of any sanitary district organized under sections 31-501 to 31-523 shall have power to provide for the drainage of such district by laying out, establishing, maintaining and constructing one or more channels, drains or ditches for carrying off and disposing of the drainage and sewage of such district in a satisfactory manner, and for such purpose to straighten, widen, or deepen the channel of any stream, or remove any dam, so as to quicken and improve the flow of any stream, or effect satisfactory and efficient drainage.
It shall be unlawful for any person to connect any property to a sanitary sewer, maintained by any sanitary drainage district or which has been or may hereafter be acquired from such district by the municipality located within such district and which is being maintained by such municipality, without first having applied for and obtained a permit from such district or municipality to establish such connection. The issuance of such a permit may be conditioned upon the payment of a deferred assessment as provided in section 31-514. Each day that a connection made unlawful by this section continues shall be a separate violation of this section. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for each violation.
If a sanitary drainage district has constructed one or more channels, drains, or ditches from a city of the primary class to or beyond the boundaries of the district downstream and there remains from the lower terminus of such improvement a portion or continuation of the watercourse unimproved, the Department of Natural Resources shall investigate the conditions of such watercourse, and if the department determines that further improvement in such watercourse downstream is for the interest of lands adjacent to such watercourse below the point of the improvement, the department shall file a plan of such improvement in the office of the county clerk of each of the counties in which any of the lands to be benefited are situated and in which any portion of the watercourse to be improved is located. Such plan shall describe the boundaries of the district to be benefited and shall contain an estimate of the benefits that would accrue to the sanitary district by reason of such improvement as well as the cost thereof and an estimate of the special benefits that would accrue to lands adjacent to the watercourse by reason of improved drainage, such estimate being detailed as to the various tracts of land under separate ownership as shown by the records of the county in which such lands are situated.
When the Department of Natural Resources files a report and estimate, the county clerk of such county shall publish a notice once each week for three weeks in a newspaper published in the county seat of each of the counties having land within the sanitary drainage district, which notice shall state the filing of the report and estimate, the boundaries of the district to be benefited, that an election will be held at the office of the county clerk between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on a day named in the notice, and that at the election the question of the formation of a sanitary drainage district to include the area described in the report will be determined. The election shall be held in accordance with sections 31-406 to 31-408, except that no directors shall be elected. If a majority vote for the creation of a district based on acreage represented, the sanitary drainage district shall have jurisdiction to make the improvements recommended by the Department of Natural Resources and to levy a special assessment on the lands specially benefited. If a majority vote against the creation of a district, the work shall not be done.
Such district may borrow money for corporate purposes and issue bonds therefor, but it shall not become indebted in any manner or for any purpose to an amount in the aggregate in excess of one and four-tenths percent of the taxable valuation of property in the district for county purposes.
At the time of or before incurring any bonded indebtedness the question shall be submitted to the people in the manner provided by law in cases of borrowing money for internal improvements.
All contracts for work to be done, the expense of which is more than fifteen hundred dollars, shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder, upon notice, of not less than twenty days, of the terms and conditions of the contract to be let. The board of trustees shall have power to reject any and all bids and readvertise for the letting of such work.
(1) The board of trustees may levy and collect annually taxes for corporate purposes upon property within the limits of such sanitary district to the amount of not more than three and five-tenths cents on each one hundred dollars upon the taxable value of the taxable property of such district.
(2) The board of trustees shall, on or before September 30 of each year, certify the amount of tax to be levied to the county clerk who shall place the proper levy upon the county tax list, and the tax shall be collected by the county treasurer in the same manner as county taxes.
(3) The tax money collected by the levy shall be used exclusively for the purpose or purposes set forth in subsection (1) of this section. The county treasurer shall disburse the taxes on warrants of the board of trustees, and in respect to such fund, the county treasurer shall be ex officio treasurer of the sanitary district.
The board of trustees shall have the power to defray the expenses of any improvement made by it in the execution of the powers hereby granted, by special assessment, by general taxation, or partly by special assessment and partly by general taxation, as it may determine by order. It shall constitute no defense to any tax or special assessment that the improvement, for which the same is imposed, lies partly outside of the limits of such district. No property shall be specially assessed more than it is benefited by the improvement for which the assessment is levied; Provided, that a deferred assessment, not exceeding the pro rata cost of the construction of sanitary sewers, may be made and collected solely in the form of a connection charge, if and when property not specially benefited is later connected to such sewer. The amount of such charge shall be fixed by the board of trustees at the same time such special assessments are made. Such deferred assessments shall not constitute a lien. The board of trustees shall make a detailed report of said deferred assessments and file such report with the county clerk in the county where the property is located.
The proceedings for imposing of special assessment by the board of trustees shall be, as nearly as may be, according to those for special assessments by the mayor and council under the law governing cities of the first class. If improvements are recommended by the Department of Natural Resources and a sanitary drainage district is formed adjacent to a watercourse previously improved above such district pursuant to sections 31-508 and 31-509, the board of trustees shall advertise for bids for the construction of such improvements as are recommended by the department and in accordance with plans recommended by the department.
Upon the completion of the improvement, notice shall be given that the trustees will sit as a board of equalization, at a day and hour in such notice stated, for the purpose of equalizing the assessments of such portion of the cost of such improvement as the report of the Department of Natural Resources finds to represent the special benefits of the land the drainage of which such improvements would improve. At such hearing such board of equalization shall hear all complaints with reference to the assessments proposed under the findings of the department. The trustees sitting as a board of equalization shall have power to increase or decrease such special assessments to the end that the property shall be assessed its equitable portion of the cost of such improvement, but not exceeding in the aggregate the percentage of the total cost recommended by the department to be assessed against such property and not exceeding in any case the actual special benefits accruing to such land. Notice of such meeting of the board of equalization shall be given by publishing a notice thereof in a paper, published in the county seat in each of the counties where any of the lands to be assessed are situated, once each week for three consecutive weeks. Appeals from the findings of such board of equalization may be taken in the manner provided for appeals from assessments of drainage districts organized under sections 31-401 to 31-450.
All costs of the improvement other than the costs to be covered by special assessments as finally determined shall be borne by the sanitary district.
No special assessment levied for the purpose aforesaid shall draw interest at a rate exceeding nine percent per annum from the date of delinquency until paid.
Where any special assessment is made under sections 31-501 to 31-523, the order making such assessment may provide that it be divided into equal annual installments, not more than twenty in number with interest at seven percent, payable on the whole amount unpaid annually with the installment that year falling due, and in such case the several installments of principal and interest shall be collected and payment enforced in the same manner as delinquent taxes, and sale of the land for a delinquent installment shall not be a discharge of the premises from installments subsequently to fall due; Provided, however, in case of special assessments, the owner of the premises may pay the entire assessment imposed at any time within ninety days after such special assessment is made.
Such sanitary district may acquire by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, real or personal property, right-of-way, and privilege, within or without its corporate limits, necessary for its corporate purposes.
Whenever the board of trustees of any sanitary district shall by order determine to make any public improvement under sections 31-501 to 31-523 which shall require that private property be taken or damaged, the district may exercise the power of eminent domain for that purpose. The procedure to condemn property shall be exercised in the manner set forth in sections 76-704 to 76-724.
In the making of any special assessment for any improvement which requires the taking or damage of property, the cost of acquiring the right to take or to damage such property may be estimated and included in the assessment as a part of the cost of making such improvement. In the event that any tax or assessment levied by such trustees is by any court annulled for informality or irregularity, the same may be reassessed and reimposed by the board of trustees upon the same property, or other property, as may be equitable.
Whenever a sanitary drainage district shall have been formed under sections 31-501 to 31-523, and trustees thereof have been elected, if such trustees find that municipalities, including cities of the second class and villages, in whole or in part outside of the boundaries of such sanitary district and depending upon the same watercourse or its tributaries for drainage, are inadequately supplied with sewage systems or sewage disposal plants, and that the absence thereof is detrimental to the sanitary conditions of the district or to such municipalities within the same watershed or lands adjacent thereto, the trustees may by resolution determine the existence of such conditions and shall thereupon cause a survey to be made of the territory affected by said conditions and the boundaries of such territory. The trustees shall thereupon file with the county board of the county wherein such district is situated a definite description of the territory affected by said conditions and the boundaries thereof.
Upon the filing of such description and boundaries with the county board, the county board shall call an election within the entire area and submit to the qualified voters therein the question of the enlargement of such district to include all the territory within the proposed new boundaries. If at such election a majority of the combined and total vote cast by the qualified voters residing within the original territory of such sanitary drainage district, and the territory proposed to be added thereto, shall be in favor of such enlargement, such district as so enlarged shall be deemed an organized sanitary drainage district and the trustees of such original district shall be the trustees of such enlarged district until their successors are duly elected and qualified.
Such election shall be held in the same manner as elections for the original organization of a sanitary drainage district under sections 31-501 to 31-523.
The enlarged district and the trustees thereof shall possess all the powers and perform all the duties throughout such enlarged territory previously vested in and imposed upon said district, and the trustees thereof within the original territory of said sanitary drainage district; and no proceedings taken under sections 31-525 and 31-526 for the enlargement of any sanitary drainage district shall be construed as impairing or suspending in any manner the powers and jurisdiction of any sanitary drainage district previously existing or of the trustees thereof. The trustees of such sanitary district shall have power by resolution to define the flood area of any stream or watercourse within said district and to exclude from such area the construction of buildings or other improvements which, if constructed, might interfere with the flow of flood waters. To determine such flood area the trustees shall cause a survey to be made of the watershed in the vicinity and highwater marks reached by floods in the past, and compute the volume of water flowing in the valley under flood conditions and, based thereon, together with such other engineering data as may be available, specify the area requisite for confining flood waters within reasonable dike embankments set back from the natural banks of the stream. Upon such area having been determined the district may acquire either a fee title to the property within such area or a perpetual easement therein for carrying flood waters and the construction of dikes, by purchase or condemnation proceedings. Any property within such flood area owned by the state or governmental subdivision of the state shall be available for the purpose of establishing and maintaining suitable control of flood waters without compensation for such use.
In addition to the powers of said district and of the trustees thereof as originally vested, such enlarged district and the trustees thereof shall have power and jurisdiction to provide and maintain adequate and suitable sewerage systems for the entire district; to provide and maintain sewage disposal or reduction plants; to enter upon any street, alley or public place in any municipality, city or village, within the limits of such enlarged district for the laying of sewers and the construction of sewerage systems. The district shall pay to such municipality, city or village, upon claim being filed therefor, the amount of any damage to any pavement or any public improvement. Such municipality, city or village shall not be entitled to any compensation for the use of its streets, alleys or public places except for damage to such public improvements.
Such enlarged sanitary drainage district shall have power to enter into contracts with any or all municipalities wholly or partly within its territorial boundaries for the use in whole or in part of any sewerage system or sewerage mains in operation in said municipality or to be constructed or operated by such municipality.
Such enlarged sanitary drainage district shall have power to take charge of, reconstruct, divert, alter or disconnect any main line sewer in any municipality, city or village, or unite the same with the sewerage system of the district, or to use any appropriate means deemed necessary by the trustees of the district to establish and maintain proper and adequate sanitary and sewerage systems for the district.
Such enlarged district shall have the power of eminent domain under the same conditions as the original sanitary drainage district. Such enlarged district may borrow money for corporate purposes and issue bonds therefor, but it shall not become indebted in any manner to an amount exceeding one and four-tenths percent of the taxable valuation of the property in the district for county purposes. Before incurring any indebtedness, the question shall be submitted to the certified voters of the district in the manner provided by law for submitting the question of bond issue by the county for internal improvements.
Such enlarged sanitary drainage district shall have power to defray the expenses of any improvement made by it and to defray the expenses of carrying into execution the powers hereby granted by general taxation or by special assessment or partly by special assessment and partly by general taxation as the trustees may by order determine. It shall constitute no defense to any tax or special assessment that the improvements for which the same is imposed lies partly or wholly outside the limits of such district. No property shall be assessed more than it is benefited by the improvement for which the assessment is levied. The proceedings for apportioning the benefits and imposing a special assessment by the trustees of such enlarged district shall be the same as those for apportioning benefits and levying of special assessments in sanitary drainage districts organized under sections 31-401 to 31-449.
The trustees shall each receive as his salary the sum of seven hundred dollars per annum, payable quarterly.
Each trustee of any such district shall, prior to entering upon his office, execute and file with the county clerk of the county in which said district, or the greater portion of the area thereof, is located, his bond, with one or more sureties, to be approved by the county clerk, running to the State of Nebraska, in the penal sum of five thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful performance by said trustee of his official duties and the faithful accounting by him for all funds and property of the district that shall come into his possession or control during his term of office. The premium, if any, on any such bond shall be paid out of the funds of the district. Suit may be brought on said bond by any person, firm or corporation that has sustained loss or damage in consequence of the breach thereof.
Any sanitary district organized under the provisions of sections 31-501 to 31-534, may discontinue its activities and work as an independent governmental subdivision of the state whenever the question of such discontinuance shall be submitted to and ratified by the electors of said district. The county board of commissioners or supervisors of a county in which a sanitary drainage district is located shall submit the question of discontinuance to the electors of the district any time after January 1, 1946, when there is filed with them either a resolution, by a majority of the district trustees, or a petition, by qualified electors of the district equal in number to five percent of the votes cast for Governor in the district at the last preceding general election, asking for such submission.
Upon filing such a resolution of the trustees or such a petition of the qualified electors with it, it shall be the duty of the county board, at least twenty days prior to the next state election, either primary or general, to submit at such election, after having published a notice of such submission, the question of the discontinuance of the activities and work of such sanitary district to the electors of such sanitary district in the following form: Shall Sanitary Drainage District No. .......... discontinue its activities and work in order that the same shall be carried on by other governmental subdivisions, wholly or partly within the district, as provided by law? The ballots shall be prepared, the election conducted, and the vote canvassed as in county elections.
(1) The result of such election shall be certified to the county board of the county in which such district is located, and if at such election a majority of the qualified electors actually voting in such sanitary district shall vote in favor of the discontinuance of the activities and work of the district, the trustees of such district shall thereupon cease the performance of their duties as such trustees, and the county board of the county in which such district is located shall thereupon act as trustees ex officio of the district and shall have all the powers, rights, and authority previously vested by law in the trustees of the district, but without additional compensation.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in section 31-543, all tangible property within the territorial limits of any city or village within such district, and any tangible property serving a particular city or village, such as a sanitary sewage treatment plant, and which could be operated and maintained by the particular city or village so served, shall be transferred and assigned to such city or village which shall, upon an acceptance of such transfer or assignment by its council or board of trustees or other local governing body, be thereafter wholly operated and maintained out of funds appropriated and levied by such city or village.
Except as otherwise provided in section 31-543, all lawful claims, rights, and demands against such a district, and all contractual obligations of such a district, existing in any person at the time of discontinuance of the activities and work of such district, shall continue to subsist in such person and shall remain the charge and obligation of the sanitary district, and all claims and demands in favor of such district at the time of the discontinuance of its activities and work shall subsist in its favor and may be collected in the same manner as might have been theretofore done by the district.
Except as otherwise provided in section 31-543, for the purpose of discharging obligations of such district incurred prior to the discontinuance of its activities and work as provided in sections 31-501 to 31-534, such district shall continue to have the power to levy taxes as provided in such sections, and thereafter the district shall have the power to levy and collect general taxes in an amount not to exceed one and seven-tenths cents on each one hundred dollars upon the taxable value of all the taxable property in such district and shall have the power to levy special assessments in the manner and to the extent previously vested in such district.
Except as otherwise provided in section 31-543, the county board of the county within which such district is located shall take possession of all rights and personal property, books, papers and records of such district, and shall discharge the duties within the territorial limits of such district imposed by law upon the district. For the discharge of such services the county board may employ such officers, servants and agents as may be necessary in the manner provided by law.
Trustees elected subsequent to the adoption of the resolution or the petition provided for in section 31-536 shall be bound thereby, and shall surrender their office as provided for in section 31-538.
(1) Notwithstanding any of the provisions of Chapter 31, article 5, the board of trustees of any sanitary district heretofore or hereafter organized under any of such sections, which includes within its boundaries any incorporated city or village, shall have full power without further authorization to contract with any such city or village for said district to discontinue the operation of any sanitary sewer system located within or serving such city or village, including any and all sewage treatment works or plants, and to convey, sell or otherwise transfer all of the properties used or useful for that purpose to any such city or village upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between such city or village and such sanitary district. The sanitary district shall thereafter cease to have the authority to maintain, operate, construct, or assume jurisdiction of any sanitary sewers or treatment works within such city or village and the area served by such sanitary sewer system; Provided, that nothing contained in this section shall be construed as prohibiting such sanitary district from constructing, maintaining, and operating a sanitary sewer system or any part thereof in the area outside of the corporate limits of such city or village, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 31, article 5.
(2) Before exercising any of the powers contained in subsection (1) of this section, the board of trustees of any such sanitary district shall hold a public hearing. At such public hearing it shall hear any and all persons interested with respect to: (a) Whether the proposed transfer of property and jurisdiction will eliminate duplication and promote efficiency in the collection and treatment of sewage in the area to be served by the existing sewerage system of such city or village and the sewage facilities which it is proposed be transferred to such city or village; (b) whether such city or village is capable of operating, maintaining, improving, financing, and otherwise providing for sewage collection and treatment in the geographic area in question; and (c) any other matters relating to the merits of the proposed transfer as they will affect the health and welfare of the inhabitants of the area to be served. Notice of such public hearing of the board of trustees shall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in said district at least ten days prior to such hearing.
(1) For a discontinued sanitary district which lies solely within the zoning jurisdiction of a city, title to all funds and all other property and property rights of the discontinued district, and all taxes, assessments, and demands of every kind due or owing to the discontinued district, shall be vested in or paid to and collected by (a) such city or (b) except as specifically provided in subsection (3) of this section, the riverfront development authority established pursuant to section 19-5305 if such city has elected to create a riverfront development district pursuant to section 19-5304.
(2) The city or riverfront development authority described in subsection (1) of this section shall also be liable for and recognize, assume, and carry out all valid contracts and obligations of that portion of the discontinued district assumed by such city or authority, including all outstanding bonds, warrants, or other debts and financial obligations.
(3) For any discontinuance of a district under subdivision (1)(b) of this section, the riverfront development authority shall only take title to and ownership of that property or those property rights of the discontinued sanitary district contained within the boundaries of the riverfront development district managed by the authority. The city shall take title to and ownership of any discontinued sanitary district property outside the boundaries of such riverfront development district. The city or authority shall thereafter maintain any drainway or drainage or sewage system of that portion of the discontinued district conveyed or transferred to the city or authority.
Whenever a sanitary drainage district shall have been formed under sections 31-501 to 31-523, and trustees thereof have been elected, if such trustees find that a municipality formerly within the boundaries of such sanitary district has grown and enlarged its corporate limits beyond the boundaries of such sanitary district, the board of trustees may by resolution include the whole of the corporate area of such municipality within its boundaries by enlarging same.
The board of trustees shall cause a description of such enlarged district together with a certified copy of the resolution adopted to be filed with the county board of the county wherein such district is situated, and such district as so enlarged shall be deemed an organized sanitary drainage district and the trustees of such original district shall be the trustees of such enlarged district until their successors are duly elected and qualified.
Notwithstanding any of the provisions of Chapter 31, article 5, the board of trustees of any sanitary district heretofore or hereafter organized under any of such sections which includes within its boundary or partially within its boundary a natural resources district, shall have full power without further authorization to contract with such natural resources district, for said sanitary district to discontinue all its activities, including the operation of any and all drainage systems located within or serving such sanitary district and including the right to construct sewers lying outside the limits of any corporate city or village, all as is provided for in said Chapter 31, article 5. Said contract may also authorize the transfer of all properties and assets used or useful by said sanitary district, and the assignment of all obligations and liabilities of said sanitary district, to such natural resources district upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between such natural resources district and such sanitary district.
Before exercising any of the powers contained in section 31-551, the board of trustees of any such sanitary district shall hold a public hearing. At such public hearing it shall hear any and all persons interested with respect to:
(1) Whether the proposed transfer of property and jurisdiction will eliminate duplication and promote efficiency in the drainage in the area served by said sanitary district;
(2) Whether such natural resources district is capable of operating, maintaining, improving, financing and otherwise providing for drainage in said area; and
(3) Any other matters relating to the merits of the proposed transfer as they will affect the health and welfare of the inhabitants of the area to be served.
Notice of such public hearing of the board of trustees shall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in said district at least ten days prior to such hearing.
In event such contract, as provided in section 31-551, is entered into and in event all activities, liabilities, obligations and assets then possessed by said sanitary district are assigned and transferred to said natural resources district so that there are no further functions, activities or liabilities of said sanitary district existing then and in that event said sanitary district may be dissolved by a three-fourths vote of its board of trustees in which event a certified copy of said resolution of dissolution shall be filed in the office of the county clerk of the county in which said sanitary district is organized.