Colorado § 37-41-109 - District treasurer - duties - county treasurer to collect district assessments.

§ 37-41-109. District treasurer - duties - county treasurer to collect district assessments.

(1) (a) The district treasurer, who shall be appointed by the board of directors, may collect, receive, and receipt for all money belonging to the district; except that district assessments shall be collected by the county treasurer pursuant to section 39-10-101 and distributed to the district treasurer pursuant to section 39-10-107.

(b) It is the duty of the county treasurer of each county in which the district is located in whole or in part to collect and receipt for all assessments levied as provided in section 37-41-123 in the same manner and at the same time and on the same receipt as is required in the collection of taxes upon real estate for county purposes. The district treasurer shall be responsible for making payments toward warrants drawn against the general fund and for making payments toward interest coupons or bonds maturing within the tax year.

(2) The county treasurer shall remit to the district treasurer all money collected or received by the county treasurer on account of the district in accordance with section 39-10-107. Every district treasurer shall keep a bond fund account and a general fund account. The bond fund account shall consist of all money received on account of interest and principal of bonds issued by the district. The accounts for interest and principal must be kept separate. The general fund consists of all money or general fund warrants received by the collection of assessments or otherwise. The district treasurer shall pay out of the bond fund, when due, the interest and principal of the bonds of the district at the time and place specified in the bonds and shall pay out of the general fund only upon the order of the district, signed by the president and countersigned by the secretary of the district. The district treasurer, on the fifteenth day of each month, shall report to the secretary of the district the amount of money possessed by the district to the credit of the bond fund and the general fund, the amount of warrants paid during the previous month, and the amount of registered warrants, if any. District assessments collected and paid to the county treasurers shall be received in the official capacity of the county treasurers, and the county treasurers shall be responsible for the safekeeping, disbursement, and payment of the district assessments in the same manner as for other money collected by the county treasurers.

Source: L. 05: p. 260, § 21. L. 07: p. 490, § 3. R.S. 08: § 3460. L. 17: p. 306, § 11. L. 19: p. 483, § 1. C.L. § 1998. CSA: C. 90, § 398. CRS 53: § 149-1-22. C.R.S. 1963: § 150-1-22. L. 2023: Entire section amended, (SB 23-057), ch. 53, p. 189, § 5, effective January 1, 2024.

Cross references: For failure of county treasurers to perform duties, see § 30-10-726.

ANNOTATION

I. General Consideration.

II. Receipt and Payment of Coupons.

III. Compensation of Treasurer.

I. GENERAL CONSIDERATION.

This section being explicit does not admit of interpretation beyond its express letter, and must be administered as we find it, and it would be an act of judicial legislation to give to it any construction other than the plain meaning which the language indicates. Chicago Title & Trust Co. v. Patterson, 65 Colo. 534, 178 P. 13 (1918).

The proceeds of the assessments made are to be kept in a distinct "bond fund" with separate interest and principal accounts and that all other income of the district is to be kept in a "general fund", from which all other district expenses and expenditures are to be paid. Gas Sec. Co. v. Nile Irrigation Dist., 293 F. 365 (8th Cir. 1923).

Proceeds from judgment recovered go into general fund. A bondholder is not entitled to a decree applying the proceeds of a judgment recovered against a contractor for construction of irrigation ditches for breach of contract to the construction of irrigation improvements since, by this section, the money goes into the general fund, to be expended for any legitimate purpose. Gas Sec. Co. v. Nile Irrigation Dist., 293 F. 365 (8th Cir. 1923).

A bondholder is limited to the fund provided by this section, and cannot subject other funds of the district to payment of his bonds. Gas Sec. Co. v. Nile Irrigation Dist., 293 F. 365 (8th Cir. 1923).

The county treasurer, as ex officio treasurer of the district, has a duty to collect the taxes levied, place all money received on account of principle and interest of bonds issued by the district in a separate account, from which he shall pay the principle and interest as it becomes due. Denver-Greeley Valley Irrigation Dist. v. McNeil, 80 F.2d 929 (10th Cir. 1936).

A county treasurer may not lawfully demand, receive, and receipt for all other taxes against the lands, leaving district taxes uncollected. Moore v. Gas Sec. Co., 278 F. 111 (8th Cir. 1921).

II. RECEIPT AND PAYMENT OF COUPONS.

The proviso as to payment by coupons applies to anyone having the right to make payment of such taxes, which includes the holder of a previous tax sale certificate. Orchard Mesa Farms Co. v. Canon, 61 Colo. 347, 157 P. 192 (1916); Bd. of Comm'rs v. Heath, 87 Colo. 204, 286 P. 107 (1930).

Coupons from the bonds of an irrigation district are a lawful tender for the district tax levied for the year in which such coupons mature, but which tax is collected in the year next succeeding. Chicago Title & Trust Co. v. Patterson, 65 Colo. 534, 178 P. 13 (1918).

"Maturing within the year" means year in which tax is levied. No other year is mentioned in this section except the year in which the taxes were levied, hence it would do violence to the plain language of this section, in the ordinary and accepted meaning, to say that "maturing within the year" can apply to other coupons or bonds than those maturing within the year in which the tax was levied. Neither can there be any legitimate inference that this language can refer to any other year than the one in which the tax is levied. In fact the inference if any there should be must be to the contrary. Chicago Title & Trust Co. v. Patterson, 65 Colo. 534, 178 P. 13 (1918).

The treasurer is not required to pay the coupons in the order of presentation, but the fund is to be allotted to all holders of coupons who present them within a reasonable time after they are due. Norris v. Montezuma Valley Irrigation Dist., 248 F. 369 (8th Cir. 1918).

The weight of authority is that there should be no distinction made and that all have a reasonable time within which to present their coupons for payment without losing their rights. Thomas v. Patterson, 61 Colo. 547, 159 P. 34 (1916).

When funds are insufficient, bonds are paid off proportionately. When coupons are presented for payment, and there is not sufficient funds in the hands of the treasurer which can be applied to the payment of all the coupons of the bond issue from which they were taken to pay them in full, such proportion of such funds may be applied on the coupons presented as are payable out of the funds in the hands of the treasurer in the ratio they bear to the sum total of the coupons to which such funds must be applied. Thomas v. Patterson, 61 Colo. 547, 159 P. 34 (1916).

III. COMPENSATION OF TREASURER.

The statute fixes the maximum and minimum of the fee allowed the treasurer, not leaving it entirely to the discretion of the district. Bd. of Comm'rs v. Otero Irrigation Dist., 56 Colo. 515, 139 P. 546 (1914).

The compensation allowed is a fee and it is the only fee that can be charged. Bd. of Comm'rs v. Otero Irrigation Dist., 56 Colo. 515, 139 P. 546 (1914).

No commissions are charged on proceeds from sale of district bonds. The proceeds of the sale of the bonds of an irrigation district come into the hands of the treasurer of the county in which the office of the district is located, not as county treasurer, but as ex officio treasurer of the district. No commissions are to be charged thereon. Bd. of Comm'rs v. Otero Irrigation Dist., 56 Colo. 515, 139 P. 546 (1914).

Commissions are to be collected upon irrigation district taxes, according to the rate prescribed by § 30-1-102, and go into the fee fund and pass thence to the treasurer on account of his salary. Bd. of Comm'rs v. Otero Irrigation Dist., 56 Colo. 515, 139 P. 546 (1914).