Water Code, 1943

Special improvement district trustees are generally subject to the same district rules as the board of directors, and trustee vacancies are filled by appointment by the district’s board of directors. Each trustee must be a registered voter and own or hold title to land in the district and represented division.

The board of trustees of a special improvement district must carry out the district’s obligations under certain U.S. loan repayment contracts. If the board of directors thinks the trustees are not maintaining or operating the waterworks properly, it must give written notice; if the default is not cured within a reasonable time, the directors may take over operation after at least 30 days’ written notice.

The board may transfer district funds to a special improvement district from available district funds.

Before transferring certain district funds, the board must call an election.

The notice of election must state the amount of money to be transferred and the purpose or purposes for which it will be used. It may also state installment timing, installment amounts, and interest up to 6 percent.

The ballot must print “Yes” and “No” on separate lines to the right of or below the question, with voting targets.

If voters approve “Transfer—Yes,” the board must include the voted amount in the annual estimate; if the notice provides for annual installments, it must include each year’s installment amount in that year’s estimate.

The special assessment must be levied under the stated chapters, and any collected money must be paid to the treasurer for repayment to the district.

If the specified formation requirements are met, special assessments may be levied on all real property in the special improvement district.

Certain qualifying land-title holders may petition the board to form an improvement district.

A formation petition must include the proposed improvement plan, district boundaries, owners’ names and addresses, and a description of the lands; it must also be signed and acknowledged by the required number of landowners.

The formation petition, related proceedings, and affected lands must be identified by number, and parcel descriptions must follow the county assessor’s last duly equalized assessment book.

When a formation petition is received, the board must order a survey of the proposed improvement. If the improvement plan is feasible, the board must also prepare plans and specifications, a cost estimate, and an assessment of costs for each tract in the district.

The board acts as the board of assessment commissioners and may levy and apportion the assessment.

The specified formation documents must be filed in the district office and must be open to inspection by interested parties.

After plans and assessment documents are filed, the board must give notice of a hearing on formation of the improvement district and on whether a special assessment will be levied.

The district must give hearing notice by posting, publishing, and mailing it, and the posting and mailing must happen at least 20 days before the hearing.

At the hearing, the board must hear objections about the formation petition, district boundaries, plans, specifications, estimates, the proposed assessment, and how it is apportioned, and may make changes it considers proper.

The board may exclude part of the lands in the formation petition from the improvement district, and may add additional lands.

If more than one-third of the title holders in the proposed improvement district object at the hearing, the board must deny the petition and stop further proceedings.

After the hearing, if the board decides the improvement district should be formed and assessments levied, it must issue a final order approving the petition, the assessment, and the apportionment.

The order must be entered in the board minutes and a copy must be recorded in each county recorder’s office where district lands are located.

The improvement district assessment must include interest on deferred payments, with the interest rate capped at 8% per year, plus 10% extra for anticipated delinquencies.

The board must add the improvement district assessment amount to the annual assessment when annual assessments are levied, and the assessment may be payable in up to 10 annual installments.

The improvement district assessment, including any installment, remains a lien on the lands and is treated like part of the annual district assessment.

The district must issue assessment warrants and set their payment terms and interest as tied to the assessment levy.

If an improvement district assessment is not enough to cover improvement costs or warrants, a supplemental assessment must be levied on all land in the district; any excess collected becomes a credit on the next annual district assessment for the land that paid it.

The district’s board and other officers have the rights and powers needed for the improvement district, including condemning land and acquiring, owning, and holding property within it.

The district must do the improvement work and buy needed supplies and equipment, and the cost can be paid only from the improvement district assessment. The board may choose to receive bids for the work and materials.

This section defines “ensuing fiscal year” and “following fiscal year” for this part.

The board must give a written estimate by July 10 each fiscal year.

The annual estimate must be large enough to cover the district’s listed expenses and funding needs.

If the district has sold bonds, the board must put enough money in the annual estimate to pay bond principal and interest when due.

If voted bonds have not yet been sold and the board expects to sell them before the end of the next fiscal year, the annual estimate must include enough money to cover their principal and interest.

If the district has voted a special assessment, the board must include the yearly installment amount in the annual estimate.

The annual estimate may include an amount the board considers advisable for certain water-storage and related works.

Annual assessments under this chapter are capped at 2.5 mills per $1 of assessed land value, unless voter-approved up to 5 mills; the higher limit does not apply to certain special assessments or bond payments.

A district may levy a special assessment up to one mill per $1 of assessed land value for up to five fiscal years if bond proceeds are not enough to cover project costs, but only one such assessment may be levied at a time.

If a district spans more than one county, the board must split the annual estimate by the value of land in each county and send each affected county a written statement of its share.

Each affected county’s board of supervisors must annually levy two district assessments when county taxes are levied.

Each affected county’s board of supervisors must set the assessment rate using the statutory formula, and any fraction of a cent on a $100 valuation counts as a full cent.

Collected assessment tax for bond debt must be placed in the district’s bond fund and used only to pay bond principal and interest until the bonds are fully paid.

If Section 74056 is complied with in forming a district, annual assessments for certain chapter purposes must be levied on all real property in the district, using the chapter’s land-assessment procedures and treating references to “land” as references to “real property.”

The county auditor must compute and enter the assessments on the assessment roll, and must levy them if the board of supervisors does not.

This section adopts applicable Revenue and Taxation Code rules on levying and collecting assessments and on county officers’ related duties, unless they conflict with this division.

The board may call an election and ask the district’s qualified electors whether to levy a special assessment.

The election must be called, held, and its result determined and declared according to the notice and procedure rules in Chapter 4 of Part 2.

The notice of election must state the amount to be raised and the purpose of the money, and it may say the assessment will be paid in installments.

Ballot questions must show “Yes” and “No” on separate lines, positioned to the right of or below the question, with voting targets.

If most votes are “Assessment—Yes,” the board must add the voted amount to the annual estimate, or, if the election notice provides for annual installments, add each year’s installment amount in the years specified.

A special assessment must be levied under the general rules in Chapters 1 and 2, and the money collected must be paid to the treasurer for the purposes stated in the notice of election.

If Section 74056 is complied with when forming a district, special assessments may be levied on all real property in the district, and the board’s resolution and election notice must state that fact.