Brief⁽¹⁾

House Sub. for H.B. 2505 would enact an alternative procedure for the transfer of land from one rural water district to another. The procedure would include the following steps:

• �The landowner desiring to be released from one water district and attached to another would have to file a petition with the board of directors of the district in which the land is located seeking the release. The petition would have to be signed by at least 75 percent of the land owners of the affected land. The bill specifies information that would have to be included in the petition.



• �The board of directors would have to hold a hearing within 30 days of receipt of the petition. The bill would establish notice requirements for that hearing.



• �On the date of the hearing, the board would have to approve or disapprove the requested release based on the best interests of the district and the petitioning landowners.



• �If the petition for release were granted, the landowner would petition the board of the district to which the land would be attached. The bill specifies the information that would have to be included in the petition.



• �The second board would hold a hearing under the same time constraints and publication requirements as the first board.



• �After both boards approve the petitions, copies of the approvals would be filed with the chief engineer and the county clerk.

The bill states that this procedure would be an alternative to the existing statutory procedure for attachment or release of property and that provisions of the bill would not limit use of that procedure.

Background

The House Committee on Local Government recommended a substitute bill to H.B. 2505 which would have established a procedure for sewer districts in Montgomery County.

The House Committee of the Whole added provisions of H.B. 2216 dealing with rural water districts to H.B. 2505.

The Senate Committee on Elections and Local Government deleted the provisions which established sewer districts in Montgomery County, leaving only the provisions of H.B. 2216 in House Sub. for H.B. 2505.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html