Colorado § 31-12-102 - Legislative declaration.

§ 31-12-102. Legislative declaration.

(1) The general assembly hereby declares that the policies and procedures in this part 1 are necessary and desirable for the orderly growth of urban communities in the state of Colorado, and to these ends this part 1 shall be liberally construed. The general assembly further declares that it is the purpose of this part 1:

(a) To encourage natural and well-ordered development of municipalities of the state;

(b) To distribute fairly and equitably the costs of municipal services among those persons who benefit therefrom;

(c) To extend municipal government, services, and facilities to eligible areas which form a part of the whole community;

(d) To simplify governmental structure in urban areas;

(e) To provide an orderly system for extending municipal regulations to newly annexed areas;

(f) To reduce friction among contiguous or neighboring municipalities;

(g) To increase the ability of municipalities in urban areas to provide their citizens with the services they require; and

(h) To respect the sovereignty of federally recognized Indian tribes with lands within the exterior boundaries of a federally recognized Indian reservation and within the exterior boundaries of the state, to reduce the jurisdictional complexities that arise when municipalities annex Indian reservation land, and to ensure cooperation and collaboration by municipalities with tribal governments.

(2) The general assembly further declares that:

(a) Section 30 of article II of the state constitution was added to the state constitution as a voter-approved ballot measure in 1980;

(b) Since its adoption, section 30 of article II of the state constitution has been in lawful force and effect. As part of the state constitution, all annexations since its enactment have been or should have been undertaken subject to its terms.

(c) By enacting House Bill 10-1259, enacted in 2010, which amends various provisions of this part 1, the general assembly does not intend to change the law governing annexations in the state but rather to better harmonize the provisions of this part 1 with those of section 30 of article II of the state constitution.

Source: L. 75: Entire title R&RE, p. 1076, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2010: (2) added, (HB 10-1259), ch. 211, p. 913, § 1, effective August 11. L. 2024: (1)(f) and (1)(g) amended and (1)(h) added, (SB 24-193), ch. 451, p. 3136, § 1, effective June 6.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 31-8-102 as it existed prior to 1975.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. Since § 31-12-102 is similar to former § 31-8-102 prior to the 1975 repeal and reenactment of this title, and laws antecedent thereto, relevant cases construing those provisions have been included in the annotations to this section.

Policy. Policy of the enactment is to encourage natural and well-ordered development of municipalities, not to discourage it by providing for last minute maneuvers designed only to defeat annexation. Pomponio v. City of Westminster, 178 Colo. 80, 496 P.2d 999 (1972).

Organization of enclaves of municipal area into separate political units is inconsistent with objectives of section. This type of incorporation results in a duplication of government facilities, frustrates area-wide coordination and uniformity of regulations, complicates government structure, often circumvents legitimate zoning controls, frequently leads to an avoidance of city tax burdens, and thus causes an inequitable distribution of the costs of municipal services. In re Incorporation of Town of Eastridge v. City of Aurora, 198 Colo. 440, 601 P.2d 1374 (1979).

Applied in City of Aspen v. Howell, 170 Colo. 82, 459 P.2d 764 (1969); City & County of Denver v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 191 Colo. 104, 550 P.2d 862 (1976).