HOUSE BILL NO. 288
INTRODUCED BY D. WAGNER
A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT CLARIFYING COUNTY SEWER OR WATER DISTRICT POWERS; PROVIDING THAT CONNECTION CHARGES MAY NOT EXCEED THE ACTUAL COST OF CONNECTING TO A SEWER OR WATER SYSTEM; PROVIDING THAT SEWER OR WATER CHARGES MAY NOT BE ASSESSED DURING A PERIOD OF TIME THAT THE SERVICES ARE DISCONTINUED; AND AMENDING SECTIONS 7-13-2218 AND 7-13-2301, MCA."
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
Section 1. Section 7-13-2218, MCA, is amended to read:
"7-13-2218. District powers related to water and sewer projects. Any district incorporated as provided in this part may:
(1) construct, purchase, lease, or otherwise acquire and operate and maintain water rights, waterworks, sanitary sewerworks, storm sewerworks, canals, conduits, reservoirs, lands, and rights useful or necessary to store, conserve, supply, produce, convey, or drain water or sewage for purposes beneficial to the district. Beneficial purposes include but are not limited to flood prevention, flood control, irrigation, drainage, municipal and industrial water supplies, domestic water supplies, wildlife, recreation, pollution abatement, livestock water supply, and other similar purposes.
(2) if the incorporators of the district are members of a private, nonprofit water association that was formed under the laws of this state, acquire by eminent domain from that water association any type of property referred to in this section;
(3) store water for the benefit of the district; conserve water for future use; appropriate, acquire, and conserve water and water rights for the purposes of the district; commence, maintain, intervene in, and compromise, in the name of the district, and assume the costs of any action or proceeding involving or affecting the ownership or use of waters, water rights, or sewer rights within the district used or useful for any purpose of the district or a benefit to any land situated in the district;
(4) commence, maintain, intervene in, defend, and compromise actions and proceedings to prevent interference with or diminution of the natural flow of any stream or natural subterranean supply of waters used or useful for any purpose of the district or a common benefit to the lands within the district or its inhabitants;
(5) commence, maintain, and defend actions and proceedings to prevent any interference with the waters or rights referred to in this section as may endanger the inhabitants or lands of the district;
(6) lease from any person, firm, or public or private corporation, with the privilege of purchase or otherwise, existing
water rights, waterworks, sewerworks, canals, or reservoir systems; and may carry on and maintain them;
(7) sell water or the use of water for household or domestic or other similar purposes or sell sewer service and, whenever there is a surplus of water or sewerworks capacity, sell or otherwise dispose of the water or sewerworks capacity to municipalities or towns or to consumers located within or outside the boundaries of the district;
(8) retain the services of architects and engineers for designing, preparing a feasibility study for, and drawing plans and specifications of a water or sewer system for the district, with the cost of these services apportioned and assigned against properties in the district; and
(9) establish, by ordinance or resolution, rules and regulations for the operation, maintenance, use, and availability of any of its systems or improvements, including but not limited to connection procedures, service termination, deposits, and payment of rates and charges, including penalties and interest charges for delinquent accounts."
Section 2. Section 7-13-2301, MCA, is amended to read:
"7-13-2301. Establishment of charges for services -- payment of charges. (1) The board of directors shall fix all water and sewer rates and shall, through the general manager, collect the sewer charges and the charges for the sale and distribution of water to all users.
(2) (a) Except as provided in subsection (2)(b), the The board, in furnishing water, sewer service, other services, and
facilities, shall review, at least once every 2 years, and from time to time fix the rate, fee, toll, rent, or other charge for the
services, facilities, and benefits directly afforded by the facilities, taking into account services provided and direct benefits
received, that will be sufficient in each year to provide income and revenue adequate for:
(a)(i) the payment of the reasonable expense of operation and maintenance of the facilities;
(b)(ii) administration of the district;
(c)(iii) the payment of principal and interest on any bonded or other indebtedness of the district; and
(d)(iv) the establishment or maintenance of any required reserves, including reserves needed for expenditures for
depreciation and replacement of facilities, as may be determined necessary from time to time by the board or as covenanted
in the ordinance or resolution authorizing the outstanding bonds of the district.
(b) An original charge established pursuant to 7-13-144 for connecting to a sewer or water system may be assessed by the board, but the charge may not exceed the actual cost of connecting to the sewer or water system.
(3) A person or entity may not use any facility without paying the rate established for the facility. In the event of nonpayment, the board may order the discontinuance of water or sewer service, or both, to the property and may require that all delinquent charges, interest, penalties, and deposits be paid before restoration of the service. The board may not charge any base rate or service charge for a period of time during which sewer or water service has been discontinued.
(4) (a) If the board has ordered discontinuance of service as provided in subsection (3) and the person or entity who
received the service has not made full payment of all delinquent charges, interest, penalties, and deposits, then a district
may elect to have its delinquent charges for water or sewer services collected as a tax against the property by following the
procedures of this subsection (4). If a charge for services is due and payable in a fiscal year and is not paid by the end of the
fiscal year, the general manager shall, by July 15 of the succeeding fiscal year, give notice to the owners of the property to
which the service was provided. The notice must be in writing and:
(i) must specify the charges owed, including any interest and penalty;
(ii) must specify that the amount due must be paid by August 15 or it will be levied as a tax against the property;
(iii) must state that the district may institute suit in any court of competent jurisdiction to recover the amount due; and
(iv) may be served on the owner personally or by letter addressed to the post-office address of the owner as recorded in
the county assessor's office.
(b) On September 1 of each year, the general manager shall certify and file with the county assessor a list of all
property, including legal descriptions, on which arrearages remain unpaid. The list must include the amount of each
arrearage, including interest and penalty. The county assessor shall assess the amount owed as a tax against each lot or
parcel with an arrearage. If the property on which arrearages remain unpaid contains a mobile home, the amount owed must
be assessed as a tax against the owner of the mobile home. If the mobile home for which arrearages remain unpaid is no
longer on the property, the amount owed must be assessed as a tax against the property.
(5)(4) In addition to collecting delinquent charges in the same manner as a tax, a A district may bring suit in any court
of competent jurisdiction to collect amounts due as a debt owed to the district.
(6)(5) Notwithstanding any other section of part 22 or this part or any limitation imposed in part 22 or this part, when
the board has applied for and received from the federal government any money for the construction, operation, and
maintenance of facilities, the board may adopt a system of charges and rates to require that each recipient of facility
services pays its proportionate share of the costs of operation, maintenance, and replacement and may require industrial
users of facilities to pay the portion of the cost of construction of the facilities that is allocable to the treatment of that
industrial user's wastes."
- END -
Latest Version of HB 288 (HB0288.01)
Processed for the Web on January 14, 1999 (5:38PM)
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Status of this Bill
| 1999 Session | Leg. Branch HomePrepared by Montana Legislative Services
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