37-43-158. Dissolution - special election.

Statute text

(1) Upon the filing of said petition with the board of directors of said district, the board shall call a special election, at which shall be submitted to the qualified electors of such district the question whether or not said district shall be dissolved, its indebtedness liquidated, and its assets distributed in accordance with the plan so proposed or, in case no plan has been proposed, in accordance with a plan which shall be proposed by said board of directors in the notice of the election. No such election shall be called until either the assent of all holders of valid indebtedness against the district known to the directors is obtained, or else provision shall be made in said plan for the ultimate payment or liquidation of the claims of such nonassenting holders, either in money or, in the alternative, until all tax levies required by the laws of the state of Colorado for the payment of such indebtedness have been made; except that action shall not be taken upon said petition and said election called, in case contract has been made between the district and the United States, until the secretary of the interior has assented thereto in writing and such assent is filed with the board of directors.

(2) Notice of such election must be given in the same manner and for the same time as notice of election of directors of an irrigation district under the laws of the state of Colorado. Such notice must specify the time of holding the election, the fact that it is proposed to dissolve the district, and a brief summary of the plan proposed for liquidating all its indebtedness or for the making of all tax levies required by the laws of the state of Colorado for the payment of such indebtedness and for disposing of its assets. Such election shall be held and the result thereof determined and declared in all respects as nearly as practicable in conformity with the provisions governing the election of directors in irrigation districts. At such election the ballot shall contain the words "Dissolution of the District - Yes" and "Dissolution of the District - No" or words equivalent thereto.

History

Source: L. 15: p. 308, 3. L. 17: p. 314, 21. C.L. 2037. CSA: C. 90, 535. L. 41: p. 522, 1. CRS 53: 149-3-57. C.R.S. 1963: 150-3-57.

Annotations

 

ANNOTATION

Annotations

Statutory procedure part of bond contract. If dissolution of an irrigation district is had in compliance with the statutes which were in effect when district bonds were issued, no holder thereof can successfully raise a jurisdictional question based upon any failure of due process, since he must be held to have agreed to the statutory procedure as a part of his bond contract. Alpha Corp. v. Denver-Greeley Valley Irrigation Dist., 110 Colo. 179, 132 P.2d 448 (1942).

Once directors offer to satisfy bondholder's claim, he cannot contest dissolution. Where the holder of bonds of an irrigation district was tendered, and refused to accept, the full amount of money which, as such holder, he was entitled to receive, he had no further interest to subserve by complaining of a dissolution decree. A creditor cannot compel further action by district officials, if what they have done is sufficient to satisfy his legal demands. ln re Green City Irrigation Dist., 91 Colo. 202, 13 P.2d 1113 (1932).

Directors' determination of who is a qualified voter is binding on court absent fraud or abuse of discretion. Two requisites in the statute defining qualified electors are ownership on the date of the election plus payment of taxes in the preceding year. The undelivered and unrecorded deeds were properly held by the court to justify the directors in disqualifying the plaintiffs because of no title in them. The board of directors, having the duty to determine the qualifications of both the signers of the petition and the voters, made their determination as an administrative function, and in the absence of a showing that they acted illegally, fraudulently, or abused their discretion, their determination is binding on the trial court. McKinley v. Dunn, 141 Colo. 487, 349 P.2d 139 (1960).

For composition under bankruptcy act, see Kiles v. Trinchera Irrigation Dist., 136 F.2d 894 (10th Cir. 1943).