2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 32 - SPECIAL DISTRICTS (§§ 32-1-101 — 32-22-117) › WATER AND SANITATION DISTRICTS (§§ 32-4-101 — 32-4-547) › Article 4 - WATER AND SANITATION DISTRICTS (§§ 32-4-101 — 32-4-547) › Part 5 - METROPOLITAN SEWAGE DISPOSAL DISTRICTS (§§ 32-4-501 — 32-4-547) › Section 32-4-508 - Organization

(1)
A district shall be organized in the following manner:
(a)
The governing body of any municipality may enact an ordinance declaring that the public health, safety, and general welfare require the organization of a district, which ordinance shall set forth, among other things, the following:
(I)
The name of the proposed district;
(II)
The municipalities proposed to be included in the proposed district;
(III)
The municipalities which shall be required to take action to be included within the district before the district becomes organized. This requirement may be met by designating by name those municipalities which are required to take action to be included within the district before the district shall be organized or by designating alternative groups of municipalities which are required to take action to be included within the district before the district shall be organized, or by designating a percentage of those municipalities named which shall be required to take action to be included within the district before the district shall be organized.
(IV)
The time limit within which action must be taken by the municipalities so named to be included within the district, which time shall not exceed six months from the final adoption of the initiating ordinance.
(b)
Upon the final adoption of an initiating ordinance, the clerk of the governing body shall mail a certified copy thereof to each municipality named therein and to the division of local government in the department of local affairs.
(c)
After receipt of a copy of such ordinance from the initiating governing body, the governing body of any municipality, which is named in the ordinance proposing the district, and which desires to include such municipality within the district, may enact an ordinance setting forth:
(I)
A copy of the initiating ordinance;
(II)
That such a district will serve a public use and will promote the public health, safety, and general welfare;
(III)
That the municipality shall be included in said district if and when the same is organized as set forth in the initiating ordinance.
(d)
Before final adoption of any ordinance under paragraphs (a) to (c) of this subsection (1), the governing body of each such municipality shall hold a public hearing thereon, notice of which shall be given by publication, which publication shall be complete at least ten days before the hearing.
(e)
The clerk of each governing body, upon the final adoption of such ordinance, shall forthwith transmit a certified copy thereof to the governing body of every other municipality named in the initiating ordinance, including the municipality which adopted the initiating ordinance, and to the division of local government.
(f)
(I)
The division of local government, upon receipt of a certified copy of such ordinance from the clerk of the governing body of each of those municipalities which satisfy the requirements for organization as set forth in the initiating ordinance, shall forthwith issue a certificate reciting that the district named in the ordinance has been duly organized according to the laws of the state of Colorado, and setting forth the names of the municipalities which are included within the district. The organization of any district shall be deemed effective upon the date of issuance of such certificate, and the validity of the organization of any such district shall be incontestable in any suit or proceeding which shall not be commenced within three months from such date.
(II)
The division of local government shall forthwith transmit to the governing body of each municipality which has certified an adopting ordinance three copies of such certificate, and the clerk of each such governing body shall forthwith record a copy in the offices of the clerk and recorder of the county or counties in which the municipality is wholly or partly located and shall forthwith file a copy of said certificate in the office of the county assessor and county treasurer of each county in which said municipality is located. Additional copies of such certificate shall be issued by said division upon request.
(g)
Only such municipalities as enact an ordinance to become a part of the district shall be joined therein. No district shall be deemed to have been organized unless those municipalities which are required by the initiating ordinance to take action to be included within the district take such action within the limit of time specified in the initiating ordinance.
L. 60: p. 164, § 4. CRS 53: § 89-15-4. C.R.S. 1963: § 89-15-4. L. 76: (1)(b), (1)(e), and (1)(f) amended, p. 600, § 17, effective July 1.