Colorado § 32-7-105 - Petition or resolution for formation - designation of services.

§ 32-7-105. Petition or resolution for formation - designation of services.

(1) The formation of a service authority shall be initiated by a petition signed by eligible electors of the proposed service authority in number not less than five percent of the votes cast in the proposed service authority for all candidates for the office of governor at the last preceding general election or by resolution adopted by a majority of the governing bodies of the counties and municipalities having territory within the boundaries of the proposed service authority. The petition or resolution shall be filed with the district court of the county within the proposed service authority which has the largest population and a copy thereof delivered to the organizational commission upon its appointment by the court.

(1.5) Local governing bodies in their resolution for formation or the people in their petition for formation may designate which services listed in section 32-7-111 are to be initially administered by the proposed service authority, subject to the approval of the registered electors as provided in section 17 of article XIV of the state constitution, and the manner in which such services are to be submitted to the electors and may provide that such services shall be voted on separately or in combination with one or more other services. If such provisions are not set forth in the resolution or petition, the organizational commission shall make such determinations.

(2) (a) The petition or resolution shall state the name proposed for the service authority and shall list the counties to be included within the service authority and any municipality to be excluded from the authority pursuant to section 32-7-104.

(b) Upon filing of the petition or resolution, the court shall fix a time not less than twenty nor more than forty days after the petition or resolution is filed for a hearing thereon. At least seven days prior to the hearing date, the clerk of the court shall give notice by publication of the pendency of the petition or resolution and of the time and place of hearing thereon. At the hearing, the court shall determine whether the requisite number of eligible electors have signed the petition or whether a resolution has been adopted by the requisite number of counties and municipalities. No petition with the requisite signatures nor any resolution passed by the requisite number of counties and municipalities shall be declared void on account of minor defects, and the court may, at any time, permit the petition or resolution to be amended to conform to the facts by correcting the defects.

(3) If it appears at the conclusion of the hearings that the petition or resolution conforms with the requirements of section 17 of article XIV of the state constitution and this article, the court, by order entered of record, shall appoint an organizational commission according to the procedures required under section 32-7-107.

Source: L. 72: p. 455, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 89-25-5. L. 75: (1) amended and (1.5) added, p. 1298, § 1, effective June 20. L. 85: (1), (1.5), and (2)(b) amended, p. 1350, § 24, effective April 30. L. 92: (1) and (2)(b) amended, p. 896, § 140, effective January 1, 1993.

Cross references: For service authorities, see § 17 of art. XIV, Colo. Const.

ANNOTATION

Power to create authority originates in constitution. The power to create a service authority originates in § 17 of art. XIV, Colo. Const. In re Reg'l Serv. Auth. v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 199 Colo. 501, 618 P.2d 1105 (1980).

Method of creation decision of general assembly. The method by which the creation of a service authority is to be accomplished is a decision within the discretion of the general assembly, subject only to constitutional restrictions and limitations. In re Reg'l Serv. Auth. v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 199 Colo. 501, 618 P.2d 1105 (1980).

Formation of authority may not be frustrated by prior filing of petition. Implicit in the policy of § 32-7-102, which encourages the creation of single service authorities transcending local government boundaries in the interest of more efficiently providing services to the inhabitants thereof, is the intention that the formation of such an authority may not be frustrated by the prior filing of a petition involving one of the same counties, in the same or in any other court, which then is allowed to become dormant and thus effectively to constitute a bar to the creation of any regional service authority. In re Reg'l Serv. Auth. v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 199 Colo. 501, 618 P.2d 1105 (1980).

Forty-day time limitation in subsection (2)(b) is jurisdictional and compliance therewith is mandatory. In re Reg'l Serv. Auth. v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 199 Colo. 501, 618 P.2d 1105 (1980).

Where no hearing within forty days, court may proceed with subsequent petition. The Denver district court had jurisdiction under § 32-7-106 (1) to proceed with the formation of a regional service authority which included the city and county of Denver, and the counties of Douglas, Jefferson, Arapahoe, and Adams (metropolitan district), where a prior proceeding for the formation of a regional service authority for Douglas county (Douglas district) had been commenced in the district court of Douglas county but had not come up for hearing within 40 days, as required by this section. In re Reg'l Serv. Auth. v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 199 Colo. 501, 618 P.2d 1105 (1980).

Those opposing authority's formation may not support petition, and vote against district's creation. Adequate political accommodation for those who may oppose the formation of a multi-governmental unit service authority lies in the option to refuse to sign or support a petition, and later in the right to vote against the creation of the district, as provided by § 32-7-109. In re Reg'l Serv. Auth. v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 199 Colo. 501, 618 P.2d 1105 (1980).

Hearing on petition not of adversary nature. Even though this article requires a public hearing, it is not to be of an adversary nature in view of the court's limited function under subsection (2)(b). In re Reg'l Serv. Auth. v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 199 Colo. 501, 618 P.2d 1105 (1980).

Had the general assembly intended a hearing on a petition to establish a service authority to be of an adversary nature with designated parties and right of appellate review, it would have so provided. In re Reg'l Serv. Auth. v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 199 Colo. 501, 618 P.2d 1105 (1980).

Court without general jurisdiction to review petition's merits. The court is not granted any general jurisdiction in this article to review the merits of the petition. In re Reg'l Serv. Auth. v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 199 Colo. 501, 618 P.2d 1105 (1980).

Petitioners have right to appellate review. Because this article confers a right on the petitioners to form a regional service authority, the petitioners have the right to an appellate review of an adverse judicial determination of the sufficiency of the petition. In re Reg'l Serv. Auth. v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 199 Colo. 501, 618 P.2d 1105 (1980).

Counties and municipalities have right to review of finding on formation resolution's sufficiency. Counties or municipalities, as the proponents of a resolution for formation of a service authority, have a right to appellate review of an adverse finding concerning the sufficiency of the resolution for formation. In re Reg'l Serv. Auth. v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 199 Colo. 501, 618 P.2d 1105 (1980).

Citizens, as qualified electors, have no standing to challenge by appellate review the findings on the sufficiency of a resolution to form a regional service authority. In re Reg'l Serv. Auth. v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 199 Colo. 501, 618 P.2d 1105 (1980).

No standing to challenge petition's sufficiency. Counties and municipalities have no standing to challenge court findings on the sufficiency of a petition to form a regional service authority. In re Reg'l Serv. Auth. v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 199 Colo. 501, 618 P.2d 1105 (1980).