CO Code § 37-5-102 (2021)
2021 Colorado Code|Title 37 - Water and Irrigation|Article 5 - Financial Administration|§ 37-5-102. Preliminary Fund

  As soon as any district has been organized under articles 1 to 8 of this title and a board of directors has been appointed and qualified, such board has the authority to fix the amount of an assessment upon the property within the district not to exceed one mill for every dollar of valuation for assessment thereof as a level rate to be used for the purpose of paying the expenses of organization, for surveys and plans, for other incidental expenses which may have been incurred prior to the time when money is received from the sale of bonds or otherwise, and for the general administration of the district. In accordance with the schedule prescribed by section 39-5-128, C.R.S., the amount of assessment for each dollar of valuation for assessment shall be certified to the boards of county commissioners of the various counties in which the district, or any portion thereof, is located and by them included in their next annual levy for state and county purposes. Said amount shall be collected for the use of such district in the same manner as are taxes for county purposes, and the revenue laws of the state for the levy and collection of taxes on real estate for county purposes, except as modified in this article, shall be applicable for the levy and collection of the amount certified by the directors of such district as aforesaid, including the enforcement of penalties and forfeiture for delinquent taxes.    All collections made by the county treasurer pursuant to such levy shall be paid to the treasurer of the conservancy district on or before the tenth day of the next succeeding calendar month. If such items of expense have already been paid in whole or in part from other sources, they may be repaid from the receipts of such levy, and such levy may be made although the work proposed may have been found impracticable or for other reasons may have been abandoned. The information collected by the necessary surveys, the appraisal of benefits and damages, and other information and data are declared to constitute benefits for which said assessment may be levied. In case a district is dissolved or abandoned for any cause whatsoever before the work is constructed, the data, plans, and estimates which have been secured shall be filed with the clerk of the court in which the district was organized and shall be matters of public record available to any person interested.    If all the expenses of organization, for surveys and plans, and for other incidental expenses which may have been incurred prior to the time when money is received from the sale of bonds or otherwise have been paid in full, any or all of the moneys remaining in the preliminary fund may be transferred by the board of directors to any of the other funds of the district.     History. Source: L. 22: P. 44, § 42. C.L. § 9556. CSA: C. 138, § 167. CRS 53: § 30-5-2 . C.R.S. 1963: § 29-5-2 . L. 81: (1) amended and (3) added, p. 1751, § 4, effective May 28. L. 87: (1) amended, p. 1408, § 7, effective April 22.    Cross references:   For the levy and collection of taxes on real estate, see articles 1 to 14 of title 39.   ANNOTATION   Special assessments for conservancy district purposes are not a tax within the meaning of § 3 of art. X, Colo. Const., concerning taxation. People ex rel. Setters v. Lee, 72 Colo. 598 , 213 P. 583 (1923).