Colorado § 32-1-701 - Initiation - petition - procedure.

§ 32-1-701. Initiation - petition - procedure.

(1) Whenever the majority of all the members of the board of a special district deems it to be in the best interests of such district that it be dissolved, the board shall file a petition for dissolution with the court.

(2) (a) The board, promptly and in good faith, shall also take the necessary steps to dissolve the special district whenever the lesser of five percent of the eligible electors or two hundred fifty eligible electors or, in case of special districts larger than twenty-five thousand persons, three percent of the eligible electors of the district or the division file an application with the board to dissolve the special district pursuant to the provisions of this part 7. In that case the board shall file a petition for dissolution with the court within sixty days after the date of filing of the application by the eligible electors. The petition for dissolution shall request an election and shall include a report on the steps which have been taken to comply with the requirements of section 32-1-702. The board, at the time it files a petition for dissolution pursuant to this subsection (2), may request that the proceedings under sections 32-1-703 and 32-1-704 be continued until further progress has been made in complying with the requirements of section 32-1-702.

(b) No application to dissolve a special district shall be circulated until it has been approved as following as nearly practicable the requirements of section 31-11-106, C.R.S., for municipal petitions. The application shall be submitted to the secretary of the board of directors of the special district. The secretary shall approve the application as to form or notify the person who submitted the application of any deficiencies in the form of the application by the close of the fifteenth business day following the submission of such application. The secretary shall mail written notice of the approval or deficiencies to the person who submitted the application within two days after the date the action is taken.

(c) Any signature that is affixed to an application to dissolve a special district prior to the date that the written approval notice is mailed pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection (2) shall be invalid.

(d) No application to dissolve a special district filed by the eligible electors in accordance with paragraph (a) of this subsection (2) shall be accepted by the board of directors of such district more than ninety days after the date that the written approval notice is mailed pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection (2).

(3) If at least eighty-five percent of the territory encompassed by a special district lies within the corporate limits of a municipality, the governing body of such municipality may file an application with the board to dissolve the special district, and the board, promptly and in good faith, shall take the necessary steps to dissolve such district in accordance with the procedures specified in subsection (2) of this section.

(3.5) If the territory encompassed by a special district lies wholly within the boundaries of a county, the board of county commissioners of any such county may file an application with the special district's board of directors to dissolve the special district, and the special district's board of directors, promptly and in good faith, shall take the necessary steps to dissolve the district in accordance with the procedures specified in subsection (2) of this section; except that, if more than eighty-five percent of the territory encompassed by the special district lies within the corporate limits of one or more municipalities, the special district's board of directors shall not take any action on the application unless the governing bodies of all such municipalities have consented to or joined the application.

(3.7) If the territory encompassed by a special district lies within the boundaries of two or more counties, the board of county commissioners of each of the counties may jointly file an application with the special district's board of directors to dissolve the special district, and the special district's board of directors, promptly and in good faith, shall take the necessary steps to dissolve the district in accordance with the procedures specified in subsection (2) of this section; except that, if more than eighty-five percent of the territory encompassed by the special district lies within the corporate limits of one or more municipalities, the special district's board of directors shall not take any action on the application unless the governing bodies of all such municipalities have consented to or joined the application. The application must include the consent of such counties to assume the responsibilities for providing the services that had been provided by the special district in their respective jurisdictions or evidence of an agreement to provide the services on a contractual basis.

(4) If the territory encompassed by a special district lies wholly within the boundaries of a regional service authority and if such service authority provides the same service as that provided by the special district, the board of directors of any such service authority may file an application with the board to dissolve the special district, and the board, promptly and in good faith, shall take the necessary steps to dissolve such district in accordance with the procedures specified in subsection (2) of this section.

(5) If the territory encompassed by a special district lies within the boundaries of two or more regional service authorities and if such service authorities provide the same service as that provided by the special district, the two or more service authorities may file jointly an application with the board to dissolve the special district, and the board, promptly and in good faith, shall take the necessary steps to dissolve such district in accordance with the procedures specified in subsection (2) of this section. The application must include the consent of such service authorities to assume the responsibilities for providing the service in their respective jurisdictions or the consent of one regional service authority to provide the service on a contractual basis.

(6) Any application filed with the board to dissolve a special district under subsection (2), (3), (3.5), (3.7), (4), or (5) of this section must be accompanied by a cash bond in the amount of three hundred dollars to cover the expenses connected with the proceedings if the dissolution is not effected.

Source: L. 81: Entire article R&RE, p. 1568, § 1, effective July 1. L. 87: (2) amended, p. 1236, § 1, effective May 8. L. 91: (2) amended, p. 788, § 14, effective June 4. L. 92: (2) amended, p. 882, § 117, effective January 1, 1993. L. 99: (2) amended, p. 448, § 2, effective August 4. L. 2022: (3.5) and (3.7) added and (5) and (6) amended, (HB 22-1097), ch. 31, p. 176, § 1, effective August 10.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 32-1-603 as it existed prior to 1981.