A.R.S. tit. 48 ch. 6 — Arizona Revised Statutes Title 48 Chapter 6 — County Improvement Districts

48-901. Definitions In this article, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. "Assessment" or "assessment roll" means a special assessment made under this article. 2. "Block" means a parcel of ground, regular or irregular, bounded by streets or by streets and district boundary lines. 3. "Chairman of the board" means the person designated to preside over meetings of the board of directors. 4. "Clerk" or "district clerk" means the clerk of the board of supervisors, who shall be the clerk under this article and in whose office shall be filed all papers directed or required to be filed with the clerk. 5. "Commercial farming" means the intensive cultivation of arable land by the raising of agricultural or horticultural products as a principal source of the owner's livelihood. 6. "Commercial stock raising" means the breeding, raising and care of domestic animals as a principal source of the owner's livelihood. 7. "Contractor" includes personal representatives or assignee of the contractor. 8. "Delinquency" means delinquency in the payment of an assessment. 9. "Engineer" or "district engineer" means a person designated or employed by the board of directors of a district to perform any or all of the engineering work authorized to be done by the district under this article. 10. "Improvement bond" means a bond issued under this article. 11. "Lighting plants" includes electric light plants, electric power plants, gas plants, distribution systems, poles, parts, pipes, conduits, wires, tanks, reservoirs, generators for gas or electricity, transmission lines, towers, lamps, transformers of every character, machinery, apparatus, equipment and all appliances and structures necessary or incidental to the construction, installation or operation of a complete electric light, power and gas plant and distribution system placed on the streets improved, though extended beyond. 12. "Lot" includes any portion, piece, parcel or subdivision of land, but not property owned or controlled by any person as a railroad right of way. 13. "Owner" means the person in whom legal title appears by recorded deed, or the person in possession under claim or title, or the person exercising acts of ownership for himself or as the personal representative of the owner, including the boards of trustees of school districts and the boards of education of high school districts owning property within the proposed improvement district. 14. "Sewers" includes wastewater treatment facilities, tunnels, excavations, ditches, drains, conduits, channels, outlets, outfalls, cesspools, manholes, catch basins, flush tanks, septic tanks, connecting sewers of every character, machinery, apparatus, equipment and all appliances and structures necessary or incidental to the construction, installation or operation of a complete sewer system for either sanitary or drainage purposes. 15. "Street" includes avenues, alleys, highways, lanes, crossings, intersections, courts, places and grounds opened or dedicated to public use and public ways. 16. "Street superintendent" or "superintendent" means a county employee designated by the board of supervisors to perform the duties of street superintendent for all the districts organized under this article in any county. 17. "Time of delinquency" means the time when assessments become delinquent. 18. "Treasurer" or "district treasurer" means the treasurer of the county in which a district is situated, who shall be the treasurer of the district. 19. "Unincorporated area" means any portion of a county not within the limits of an incorporated city or town, so situated that any of the improvements provided for in this article might reasonably or properly be made or constructed for the benefit of the inhabitants of the area under existing special assessment statutes if the area were situated within an incorporated city or town. 20. "Wastewater systems" means sewers and other wastewater treatment facilities. 21. "Waterworks" means works for the storage or development of water for domestic uses, including drinking water treatment facilities, wells, pumping machinery, power plants, pipelines and all equipment necessary for those purposes. 22. "Work" or "improvement" includes any of the improvements mentioned and authorized to be made in this article, the construction, reconstruction and repair of all or any portion of any such improvement, and labor, services, expenses and material necessary or incidental thereto. 48-902. Authorization for improvement district; areas and lands excluded A. An improvement district may be established in any unincorporated area, whether or not contiguous, by the board of supervisors of the county in which the proposed district is located, for the purpose of constructing and operating a wastewater treatment facility and making other local improvements or acquisitions in the district or for the benefit of the district that are permitted by this article, and may contract for or in any other manner provide transportation services within the district through special assessments in such districts, or the issuing of bonds or making other contractual arrangements for improvements, and levying taxes for the operation and maintenance of improvements and streets within the district or for the benefit of the district. B. With written consent of the state land commissioner an improvement district may include state lands or state trust lands within its boundaries, but those lands shall not be included for purposes of forming or objecting to the formation or expansion of a district. C. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, an improvement district established for the purposes described in section 48-909, subsection A, paragraph 1, 6, 7 or 10 may include areas in an incorporated city or town with the consent of the city's or town's governing body. D. At the time of the establishment of an improvement district, none of the following shall be included in the improvement district: 1. Territory lying within an incorporated city or town except as provided in subsection C of this section. 2. Lands owned or held by any common carrier for use in connection with interstate or intrastate commerce. 3. Unpatented mining claims. E. Unless the improvement district is formed for the purposes described in section 48-909, subsection A, paragraph 7, at the time of establishment of an improvement district, none of the following shall be included in the improvement district if the owner objects to such inclusion as provided in subsection F of this section: 1. Lands owned or held for mining or metallurgical purposes. 2. Any tract of land of twenty or more acres in area actually used for commercial farming or commercial stock raising, or any subdivided lands of which lots or blocks have not been offered generally for sale since the lands were subdivided. F. The owner of any property included in the classifications listed in subsection E of this section may have the property excluded from the proposed improvement district if the owner files a verified statement with the board of supervisors prior to the adoption of the resolution ordering the formation of the district, stating that the person executing the statement is one of the owners of the respective lot or parcel, the respective classification, that the lot or parcel is within such classification on the date of the statement, the legal description of the lot or parcel and that the signer requests that the lot or parcel be excluded from the improvement district. Any property owner may contest the statement at the hearing on formation of the improvement district. The board of supervisors shall rule on all such objections. G. A domestic water improvement district may be formed or expanded in noncontiguous areas. If the proposed boundaries of a noncontiguous district are located within six miles of an incorporated city or town, the district shall obtain the consent of the governing body of the city or town prior to the formation or expansion of the district. 48-903. Petition to establish district; elected board; verification; plat A. A petition addressed to the board of supervisors requesting the establishment of an improvement district may be filed with the clerk of the board if signed by a majority of the persons owning real property and by the owners of fifty-one percent or more of the real property within the limits of the proposed district. B. A petition with the required number of signatures shall not be declared void on account of any alleged defect, but the board of supervisors shall allow the petition to be amended in form and substance to conform to the requirements of this article. One or more similar petitions, or copies of the same petition with additional signatures, for the establishment of any improvement district may be filed prior to the time of the hearing on the first petition, and shall be considered as though filed with the first petition. The petition shall be presumed to contain the signatures of the persons whose signatures appear thereon, unless the contrary is proved. C. The petition shall set forth: 1. The name of the proposed improvement district. 2. The necessity for the proposed district. 3. That the public convenience, necessity or welfare will be promoted by the establishment of the district and that the property to be included in such district will be benefited. 4. The boundaries of the proposed district. 5. A general outline of the proposed improvement. 6. Such other matters as are required by this article. D. In addition to the information required pursuant to subsection C of this section, a petition requesting the establishment of an improvement district for the purposes described in section 48-909, subsection A, paragraph 5 or 6 shall state whether the boundaries of the proposed district are wholly or partially within either of the following: 1. The boundaries of the existing service territory of a public service corporation that provides domestic water or wastewater services as defined by a certificate of convenience and necessity issued by the corporation commission. 2. The boundaries of the proposed service territory of a public service corporation that provides domestic water or wastewater services as defined in an application for a certificate of convenience and necessity that is pending before the corporation commission or that has been considered by the commission within one year before the date the petition for an improvement district is filed with the clerk of the board. E. The petitioner shall obtain the information prescribed by subsection D of this section from the corporation commission. A request submitted to the commission pursuant to this subsection shall include a township, range and section map showing the boundaries of the proposed district. The commission shall provide to the petitioner a township, range and section map that shows the appropriate service areas within fifteen business days after the request. F. A petition requesting the establishment of an improvement district for the purpose of purchasing an existing domestic water delivery system shall provide that the district be governed by a board of directors elected pursuant to article 4 of this chapter. Establishment of an improvement district with an elected board of directors shall be subject to the approval of the board of supervisors. G. On compliance with the requirements prescribed by subsection A of this section, the owners of real property and qualified electors within the limits of an existing district formed for the purpose of purchasing an existing domestic water delivery system may petition the board of supervisors to allow an elected board of directors to govern the district. H. Each copy of the petition shall be verified by one of the petitioners and shall be accompanied by a plat or sketch indicating the approximate area and boundaries of the district. 48-904. Bond of petitioners; additional bond A. At the time of filing a petition for the establishment of an improvement district, or at any time thereafter but before publication of the notice of the hearing on the petition, a bond shall be filed by the petitioners, with security approved by the board of supervisors, sufficient to pay the expenses connected with the proceedings in case the board refuses to establish the district. B. If at any time during the proceedings the board determines the bond to be insufficient, it may order the filing of an additional bond within a time fixed, not less than ten days from the date of its order. Upon failure of the petitioners to file the additional bond, the petition shall be dismissed by the board. 48-905. Hearing on petition; summary establishment; notice A. Except as provided in subsection C of this section, upon receipt of a petition for the establishment of a district, or for an addition to an existing district, the board of supervisors shall set a date for a hearing on the petition not later than forty days after presentation of the petition. At the hearing all interested property owners may appear and be heard on any matter relating to the establishment of the proposed improvement district, or addition to an existing district. Any person wishing to object to the establishment of the district or addition may file, before the date set for the hearing, the person's objections with the clerk of the board of supervisors. B. Notice announcing the hearing and stating the boundaries of the proposed district or addition shall be published twice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county within which the proposed district or addition is located. The publications shall be one week apart, and the first publication shall be not less than ten days prior to the date of the hearing. The notice shall also be mailed by first class mail at least twenty days before the hearing to: 1. The owners of the real property within the area of the proposed district according to the names and addresses that appear on the most recent property tax assessment roll. 2. The corporation commission, if the petition requests the establishment of a district or an addition to an existing district for the purposes described in section 48-909, subsection A, paragraph 5 or 6 and the boundaries of the proposed district or addition are wholly or partially within either of the following: (a) The boundaries of the existing service territory of a public service corporation that provides domestic water or wastewater services as defined by a certificate of convenience and necessity issued by the corporation commission. (b) The boundaries of the proposed service territory of a public service corporation that provides domestic water or wastewater services as defined in an application for a certificate of convenience and necessity that is pending before the corporation commission or that has been considered by the commission within one year before the date the petition for an improvement district is filed with the clerk of the board. C. Except as provided in subsection G of this section, if the petition is signed by the owners of all of the real property in the proposed district and if the petitioners provide a copy of a record search that shows the names of the owners of all the property in the proposed district, the board of supervisors may summarily order the formation of the district and a hearing is not required. D. The clerk shall retain all notices that are mailed pursuant to subsection B of this section and that are returned to the clerk as undeliverable or that indicate that the address is incorrect. The clerk shall prepare a list of the names and addresses on the returned notices and shall deliver that list to the county recorder or a searcher of records. E. The county recorder or a searcher of records shall determine from the records in the office of the county recorder whether the listed owner has another address or whether a different person is shown as the owner of the parcel. The county recorder or a searcher of records shall provide to the clerk the new information on the owners and the addresses as shown in the records. The new information shall be used by the clerk for purposes of sections 48-916, 48-917, 48-924 and 48-928 until a new assessment roll is approved by the board of supervisors of the county. The recorder may charge up to three dollars for each record search. The charges of the recorder or of a searcher of records are incidental expenses pursuant to section 48-927. F. A district may be formed or its boundaries may be changed without mailing notice to new owners or new addresses that are provided to the clerk pursuant to subsection E of this section. G. The board of supervisors shall hold a hearing pursuant to subsection A of this section if the petition requests the establishment of a district or an addition to an existing district for the purposes described in section 48-909, subsection A, paragraph 5 or 6 and the boundaries of the proposed district or addition are wholly or partially within the service area or proposed service area of a public service corporation as prescribed in section 48-903, subsection D. 48-906. Establishment of district; dismissal of proceedings; costs; addition or elimination of certain areas A. Upon the hearing, if it appears after consideration of all objections that the petition is signed by the requisite number of owners of real property, and that the public convenience, necessity or welfare will be promoted by the establishment of the district, the board of supervisors by formal order shall declare its findings, establish the boundaries and declare the improvement district organized under a corporate name by which it shall be known in all proceedings. Thereafter the district shall be a body corporate with the powers of a municipal corporation for the purposes of carrying out this article. B. If the board finds that the territory set out in the petition should not be incorporated into an improvement district, it shall dismiss the proceedings and tax the costs against the signers of the petition, and may collect the costs on the bond of the petitioners. If the district is established, certified bills covering the costs of the board of supervisors and the disbursements of the petitioners shall be presented to the board of directors of the district and paid from the funds of the district. C. If it appears to the board of supervisors at the hearing that territory not included in the petition should be included within the improvement district, the real property owners in the additional territory shall be notified in like manner as provided in connection with the original hearing, and a subsequent hearing shall be held on the question of including the additional territory. In establishing the improvement district, the board shall eliminate any territory described in the petition which it finds will not be benefited by the establishment of the district. D. Additions to and alterations of an improvement district shall be made as follows: 1. A petition addressed to the district governing board requesting the addition or alteration may be filed with the clerk of the governing body, if signed by a majority of the persons owning property and by the owners of fifty-one per cent or more of the assessed valuation of the property within the limits of the proposed addition or alteration. 2. A petition with the required number of signatures shall not be declared void on account of any alleged defect, but the governing body shall allow the petition to be amended in form and substance to conform to the requirements of this article. One or more similar petitions, or copies of the same petition with additional signatures, for the addition to or alteration of the improvement district may be filed before the time of the hearing on the first petition, and shall be considered as though filed with the first petition. The petition shall be presumed to contain the signatures of the persons whose signatures appear on the petition, unless the contrary is proved. 3. The petition shall set forth: (a) The name of the improvement district to which the addition or alteration is proposed. (b) The necessity for the proposed addition or alteration. (c) That the public convenience, necessity or welfare will be promoted by the addition or alteration of the district and that the property to be included in the district will be benefited. (d) The boundaries of the proposed addition or alteration. 4. Each copy of the petition shall be verified by one of the petitioners and shall be accompanied by a plat or sketch indicating the approximate area and boundaries of the district. 5. On receipt of a petition for an addition or alteration of a district, the governing body shall set a date for a hearing on the petition not later than forty days after presentation of the petition. At the hearing all interested property owners may appear and be heard on any matter relating to the addition to or alteration of the district. Any person wishing to object to the addition or alteration may file, before the date set for the hearing, the person's objections with the clerk of the governing body. 6. Notice announcing the hearing and stating the boundaries of the proposed addition or alteration shall be published twice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county within which the district is located. The publications shall be one week apart, and the first publication shall be not less than ten days before the date of the hearing. The notice shall also be mailed by first class mail at least twenty days before the hearing to the property owners within the area of the proposed addition or alteration according to the names and addresses that appear on the most recent property tax assessment roll. 7. Notice announcing the hearing and stating boundaries of the proposed addition or alteration shall be mailed by first class mail at least twenty days before the hearing to the corporation commission, if the petition requests an addition or alteration of a district for the purposes described in section 48-909, subsection A, paragraph 5 or 6 and the boundaries of the proposed addition or alteration to a district are wholly or partially within either of the following: (a) The boundaries of the existing service territory of a public service corporation that provides domestic water or wastewater services as defined by a certificate of convenience and necessity issued by the corporation commission. (b) The boundaries of the proposed service territory of a public service corporation that provides domestic water or wastewater services as defined in an application for a certificate of convenience and necessity that is pending before the corporation commission or that has been considered by the commission within one year before the date the petition for an addition or alteration of a district is filed with the clerk of the governing board. 8. At the hearing, if it appears after consideration of all objections that the petition is signed by the requisite number of property owners, and that the public convenience, necessity or welfare will be promoted by the addition to or alteration of the district, the governing body by formal order shall declare its findings and order the addition to or alteration of the district. 9. If the governing board finds that the public convenience, necessity or welfare will not be promoted by the addition to or alteration of the district, the governing body by formal order shall declare its findings. E. Notwithstanding subsection D of this section, any property owner whose land is within a county that contains an improvement district and whose land is adjacent to the boundaries of the improvement district may request in writing that the governing body of the district amend the district boundaries to include that property owner's land. If the governing body determines that the inclusion of that property will benefit the district and the property owner, the boundary change may be made by order of the governing body and is final on the recording of the governing body's order that includes a legal description of the property that is added to the district. A petition is not required for an amendment to an improvement district's boundaries made pursuant to this subsection. F. On approval of any boundary change of the district, the district board may order the successful petitioners or requester to pay all of the costs of the boundary change. 48-907. Review of action of supervisors Any party aggrieved by any act of the board of supervisors in the establishment of an improvement district may bring an action in the superior court of the county in which the district is located to set aside the action of the board, not later than twenty days after final determination by the board. 48-908. Board of directors; expenses Unless established pursuant to section 48-903, subsection F, districts organized under this article shall be governed by the board of supervisors of the county in which the district is situated and the board of supervisors shall be deemed to be the board of directors of the district. The directors shall receive no compensation for their services as such except as provided pursuant to section 48-1013 but shall be reimbursed for their necessary expenses in attending district meetings. 48-909. Purposes for which public improvements may be undertaken; powers incidental to public improvements A. When the public interest or convenience requires, the board of directors of an improvement district may order: 1. The whole or any portion, either in length or width, of one or more of the streets of the district graded or regraded, paved or repaved, landscaped or otherwise maintained, improved or reimproved. 2. The acquisition, construction, reconstruction or repair of any street, tunnel, subway, viaduct or conduit in, on, under or over which the district may have an easement or right-of-way therefor. 3. The construction or reconstruction of sidewalks, crosswalks, curbs, gutters, culverts, bridges, tunnels, siphons, manholes, steps, parkings and parkways. 4. The placement, replacement or repair of pipes, hydrants and appliances for fire protection. 5. The acquisition, construction, reconstruction, maintenance or repair of wastewater treatment facilities, sewers, ditches, drains, conduits, pipelines and channels for sanitary and drainage purposes, with outlets, cesspools, manholes, catch basins, flush tanks, septic tanks, connecting sewers, ditches, drains, conduits, channels and other appurtenances in, under, over or through any street or any land of the district or any right-of-way granted or obtained for such a purpose, either within or without the district limits. 6. The acquisition, construction, reconstruction, maintenance or repair of waterworks, including drinking water treatment facilities, for the delivery of water for domestic purposes, and of wells, ditches, canals, channels, conduits, pipelines and siphons, together with the necessary or usual appurtenances for carrying storm water or water from irrigation ditches, watercourses, streams or springs into, through or out of the district in, under, over or through any street, or any land of the district or any right-of-way granted or obtained for such a purpose, either within or without the district limits. This section does not prohibit the board of directors of an improvement district from purchasing an existing domestic water delivery system within the district or outside the district or constructing an initial or improving an existing domestic water delivery system inside or outside the district. 7. The construction, reconstruction or repair of breakwater levees or walls, riverbank protection or replacement of riverbanks and supporting land. A district established for this purpose shall cooperate and coordinate its plans and activities with the county flood control district established in the county and any incorporated city or town in which the district is established. 8. The acquisition, construction, reconstruction or repair of lighting plants and poles, wire conduits, lamps, standards and other appliances for the purpose of lighting and beautifying streets or other public lands. 9. The construction, reconstruction or repair of any work incidental to or connected with any improvement. 10. The acquisition, in the name of the district, by gift, purchase or otherwise and the maintenance, repair, improvement or disposal of any real or personal property necessary or convenient for district operation for a community center, park or recreational area. 11. Pursuant to section 48-902, the board of directors of an improvement district may contract for or in any other manner provide transportation services within the district. B. In addition to the powers specifically granted by or reasonably inferred from this article, an improvement district through its board of directors may: 1. Acquire by gift, purchase, condemnation or otherwise in the name of the district and own, control, manage and dispose of any real or personal property or interest in the property necessary or convenient for the construction, operation and maintenance of any of the improvements provided for by this article. 2. Join with any other improvement district, any city, town, governmental agency or Indian tribe, or any agency or instrumentality of an Indian tribe, or any person in the construction, operation or maintenance of any of the improvements hereby authorized. 3. Join with any other improvement district or any city, town, county or Indian tribe, or any agency or instrumentality of an Indian tribe, in improving streets running on or along the boundary of the district and levy assessments and issue bonds for the district's part of the cost of those improvements. 4. Sell, lease or otherwise dispose of any property of the district or interest in the property when the property is no longer required for the purposes of the district or the use of which may be permitted without interfering with the use thereof by the district. 5. Sell or otherwise dispose of any property or material acquired in the construction or operation of any improvements as a by-product or otherwise, and acquire rights-of-way for the disposal by condemnation or otherwise. 6. Accept from this state or the federal government, or any agency, department or instrumentality of either, grants for or in aid of the construction of any of the improvements provided for by this chapter. 7. Notwithstanding any other law, sell improvement bonds to the federal government, or any agency, department or instrumentality of the federal government, for the construction of any of the improvements provided by this chapter. 8. Enter into contracts with this state or the federal government, or any agency, department or instrumentality of either or both, for the construction or supervision of construction by the state of Arizona or the federal government, or any agency, department or instrumentality of either or both, but reserving to the district the right to assess against the property benefited by the improvement, and located within the district, that portion of the cost of the improvement that does not qualify for aid under a state or federal grant. 9. Operate, maintain and repair the streets within the district and any improvements made pursuant to this chapter. 10. Do all things incidental to the exercise of the powers granted by this article. C. A county improvement district formed for the purpose of purchasing an existing or constructing a new domestic water delivery system within the district or outside the district shall have the same authority and responsibility as an incorporated city or town pursuant to title 45 and chapters 22 and 28 of this title. D. An improvement district that proposes to provide domestic water service within the certificated area of a public service corporation serving domestic water shall provide just compensation to the public service corporation pursuant to section 9-516 for the facilities or certificated area taken. The right to compensation for a public service corporation from an improvement district shall not apply if no facilities of the public service corporation are actually acquired by the improvement district and either of the following conditions exist: 1. At the time the law providing for compensation became effective the certificated area for which compensation is sought is an area that was within the boundaries of an improvement district. 2. A certificate is issued to a public service corporation for any area that is within an improvement district at the time the certificate is issued. E. If the county board of supervisors determines that the public interest or convenience so requires, an improvement district that is formed for the purposes of providing domestic water service pursuant to article 4 of this chapter may also provide domestic wastewater service. 48-909.01. Wastewater treatment facility; waterworks; sewer collection system and nonpoint source projects; financial assistance loan repayment agreements; definition A. Notwithstanding any other law, a county improvement district, including a domestic wastewater improvement district, may construct or improve a wastewater treatment facility, sewer collection system, waterworks, including a drinking water treatment facility, or nonpoint source project or any combination of those projects with monies borrowed from or financial assistance provided by the water infrastructure finance authority of Arizona pursuant to title 49, chapter 8. B. To repay financial assistance from the water infrastructure finance authority of Arizona, a county improvement district, including a domestic wastewater improvement district, may enter into a financial assistance loan repayment agreement with the authority to repay any financial assistance provided by the water infrastructure finance authority of Arizona. A financial assistance loan repayment agreement is payable from any revenues otherwise authorized by law to be pledged to repay long-term indebtedness. A financial assistance loan repayment agreement may be secured either by assessments or by a pledge of revenues of the district or any combination of those sources. If the financial assistance loan repayment agreement is secured in whole or in part by assessments levied pursuant to this article, the financial assistance loan repayment agreement shall be treated as a series of bonds to the extent that they are secured by those assessments and the board of directors of the district has all powers and duties to collect assessment installments and enforce delinquent assessments through sale and eventual issuance of deeds in the same manner as if the assessments were evidenced by bonds. C. The board of directors of the district shall obtain approval for the financial assistance loan repayment agreement in the same manner provided by law for approving and issuing bonds or other long-term indebtedness that is secured by those assessments or revenues or a combination of assessments and revenues that are to be pledged to repay the loan. D. A financial assistance loan repayment agreement entered into pursuant to this section shall contain the covenants and conditions pertaining to constructing a wastewater treatment facility, sewer collection system, waterworks, including a drinking water treatment facility, or nonpoint source project or any combination of those projects and repaying the loan as the water infrastructure finance authority of Arizona deems proper. Financial assistance loan repayment agreements may provide for paying interest on the unpaid principal balance of the agreement at the rates established in the agreement. The agreement may also provide for paying the district's proportionate share of the expenses of administering the clean water revolving fund established by section 49-1221 and may provide that the district pay financing and loan administration fees approved by the water infrastructure authority of Arizona. These costs may be included in the assessment and revenue amounts pledged to repay the financial assistance loan repayment agreement. Districts are bound by and shall fully perform the financial assistance loan repayment agreements, and the agreements are incontestable after the loan is funded by the water infrastructure finance authority of Arizona. The district shall also agree to pay the authority's costs in issuing bonds or otherwise borrowing to fund a loan. E. The water infrastructure finance authority of Arizona shall not require that payment of a financial assistance loan repayment agreement be made from other than those sources permitted in subsection B of this section. The financial assistance loan repayment agreement may also include covenants concerning the operation of the system, the setting of rates and provisions for the appointment of a receiver to take charge of and operate a sewer collection system, a waterworks, including a drinking water treatment facility, and a wastewater treatment system if the financial assistance loan repayment agreement is not paid in a timely manner and, in the sole discretion of the water infrastructure finance authority of Arizona, if the district will not be able to cure the default. F. A district may employ or contract for the services of attorneys, accountants, financial consultants and other experts in their fields as deemed necessary to perform services with respect to the financial assistance loan repayment agreement. These costs are incidental expenses and shall be included in any assessments. G. This section is supplemental and alternative to any other law under which a district may borrow monies or issue bonds. This section is not the exclusive authorization to enter into loan agreements with the water infrastructure finance authority of Arizona. H. A district may borrow additional monies or enter into additional financial assistance loan repayment agreements with the water infrastructure finance authority in an amount up to the amount approved pursuant to subsection C of this section less the amount that the district is obligated to repay to the water infrastructure finance authority of Arizona pursuant to a financial assistance loan repayment agreement. I. For the purposes of this section, "nonpoint source project" has the same meaning prescribed in section 49-1201. 48-909.02. Multijurisdictional entities; limitation of district liability and responsibility A. Any county improvement district may join with any other person or entity in the creation of a multijurisdictional entity to further the acquisition, construction, operation or maintenance of any of the improvements that are authorized by this article and shall establish the duties and responsibilities of each party in a written operating agreement. The agreement shall state the share of the costs to be borne by the district and by each other party to the agreement. The district's share may be based on any objective criteria that are established in the agreement. The district shall not become liable without its written consent for more than its agreed on share of the cost of construction, operation or maintenance of the improvement or for claims for tortious action, environmental responsibility or any damage proximately caused by the construction, operation or maintenance of the improvement. Any share of liability agreed on in the written operating agreement is the limit of the district's liability without regard to the insolvency or bankruptcy or other inability or unwillingness of any other party to perform its obligations or to pay its proportionate share of those obligations. B. Costs that are incurred by a person in forming an improvement district that becomes a member of a multijurisdictional entity, including reasonable costs incurred in circulating petitions to form a district, shall be reimbursed by the district and shall be included as incidental expenses of the district. C. Any county improvement district that is located in a county with a population of less than two hundred thousand persons according to the most recent United States decennial census may purchase an interest in any improvement that is authorized by section 48-909. The district may acquire joint, several or joint and several interests in the improvement. D. Any multijurisdictional entity that is formed pursuant to this section may enter into a loan repayment agreement with the water infrastructure finance authority of Arizona in the same manner as a county improvement district that is acting pursuant to section 48-909.01. Any loan repayment agreement that is executed between the water infrastructure finance authority of Arizona and a multijurisdictional entity shall also limit the district's repayment obligation to its share as stated in the written operating agreement. This limitation may be evidenced by written acceptance of the district's liabilities and obligations under the loan repayment agreement between the authority and the multijurisdictional entity or by a separate loan repayment agreement or by the delivery of the county improvement district's bonds to the authority to secure the district's obligations under the multijurisdictional entity's loan repayment agreement. 48-910. Domestic water and domestic wastewater services; authority to set fees; liens; foreclosure A. The board of directors of a domestic water improvement district, a domestic wastewater improvement district or a county improvement district that provides or is established for the purpose of providing water or wastewater services shall have the authority to set fees for the district following a public hearing. Fees may include any of the following: 1. User fees that are proportionate shares of the cost of operation, maintenance and replacement of a water delivery system, a water disposal system or a wastewater treatment and disposal system or any combination of those systems, including a system for the treatment and use of effluent, and may include the cost of administrators, surveyors, sanitation experts, engineers, legal counsel and other persons as are reasonably necessary for the operation, maintenance and replacement of the systems. The fees may also include any contractual amounts required to meet covenants relating to bonds or other obligations of the district secured by a pledge of, or promise to pay from, the district's fees. 2. Hookup fees for connection to the district water or wastewater system, not including the cost of the actual physical connection. 3. Lateral fees for the cost of constructing a water or wastewater lateral from the property line of the user to the middle of the easement or right-of-way in which the water system or wastewater system is located. 4. For a domestic wastewater improvement district or a county improvement district that provides or is established for the purpose of providing wastewater systems or services, either of the following: (a) A capacity fee based on the cost of developing the wastewater collection, treatment and disposal facilities that are required to treat the flows into the system from a particular wastewater connection. (b) An availability fee that is charged on all property in the district that is not connected to the existing wastewater treatment system but that is adjacent to a wastewater line and that is based on the cost of having the wastewater line and treatment facility capacity to accommodate that property if it is developed. An availability fee is limited to fifty per cent of the user fee. B. Notice announcing the hearing shall be posted in not less than three places within the district for not less than ten days before the date of the hearing and shall be published twice in a newspaper of general circulation within the district. The newspaper publications shall be not less than one week apart, and the first publication shall be not less than ten days before the date of the hearing. The district may also mail notice of the hearing to all district customers. The notice may be included in the district's regular billings and shall be mailed at least ten days before the date of the hearing. C. The board of supervisors shall be notified by mail of the hearing not less than ten days before the date of the hearing. The board of supervisors may be represented at the hearing and may advise the board of directors. D. At the hearing all interested district property owners and customers may appear and be heard on any matter relating to the establishment of the proposed fees. Any person wishing to object to the establishment of the proposed fees, before the date set for the hearing, may file objections with the chairman or the clerk of the board of directors. E. A domestic water improvement district, domestic wastewater improvement district or a county improvement district that provides or is established for the purpose of providing water or wastewater systems or services may file a lien on property for the nonpayment of user fees for services provided to the property if the fees are delinquent for more than ninety days. At least thirty days before filing the lien, the district shall provide written notice to the owner of the property and shall include notice of an opportunity for a hearing before a designated officer of the district. The notice of lien shall be personally served on the property owner or mailed by certified mail to the property owner's last known address or to the address to which the most recent property tax assessment was mailed. If the property owner does not reside on the property, the notice shall be mailed by certified mail to the owner's last known address. F. The unpaid user fees are a lien on the property from the date of recording in the office of the county recorder in the county in which the property is located until the fees and all costs are paid. The lien is subject and inferior to the lien for general taxes and to all prior recorded mortgages and encumbrances of record. A sale of the property to satisfy a lien assessed pursuant to this section shall be made on a judgment of foreclosure and order of sale. A domestic water or domestic wastewater improvement district or a county improvement district that provides or is established for the purpose of providing water or wastewater systems or services may bring an action to foreclose the lien in the superior court in the county in which the property is located any time after recording. Failure to foreclose the lien does not affect its validity. The recorded unpaid user fees are prima facie evidence of the truth of all matters recited in the recording and of the regularity of all proceedings before the recording. G. Unpaid user fees pursuant to this section accrue interest at the rate prescribed by section 44-1201. H. The district shall add all costs incurred by the district, including interest, attorney fees and costs in filing and enforcing the lien, to the unpaid user fees, and the costs are a liability of the property owner payable from the proceeds of the sale. I. A prior assessment of unpaid user fees pursuant to this section does not bar a subsequent assessment pursuant to this section, and any number of liens on the same parcel of property may be enforced in the same action. J. A district shall not file a lien for unpaid user fees against a residential property that is occupied by a lessee and at which the lessee is responsible for payment of the user fees. The district shall determine the status of leased residential property before filing the lien. 48-911. Rights of way within district; improvements and maintenance A. All streets, lanes, alleys, places, courts, avenues, boulevards, highways, crossings, intersections, public ways and grounds in an improvement district organized under this article, which are open to the public use or dedicated to public use by a plat of record or otherwise, shall be deemed to be public and subject to improvement and maintenance under this article. The board of directors of the district may order to be done thereon any work or improvement mentioned in this article, but no provision of this article or any proceeding or improvement had or made under this article shall be held to impose on the county the duty of maintaining the same as county roads or highways unless and until the county takes them over as county roads or highways by appropriate resolution to that effect. B. If there are in any such district public roads or highways which are maintained by the county, the county roads or highways may be improved by the district under the provisions of this article and in that case the resolution of intention for the improvement shall state what portion, if any, of the cost of the improvement will be paid by the county and to what extent the county will maintain the public road or highway after the improvement is made, but the portion, if any, of the cost of the improvement to be paid for by the county shall be included in the assessment and may be paid for in cash, or the amount thereof may be included in any bonds issued for the improvement, and, if so included, the assessment shall bear the same interest and be payable by the district in installments, as assessments against property of private persons. The district, however, may contract with the county for the payment to the district of such assessment and interest as may become due and payable, and the county shall perform the contract. 48-912. Resolution of intention to order improvement A. Before ordering an improvement authorized by this article that will result in an assessment against one or more lots within the district, the board of directors of the district shall pass a resolution of intention briefly describing the improvement. By the resolution of intention and the subsequent proceedings, one or more of the improvements may be made on one or more streets or any portion of any street and shall constitute one improvement and be constructed under one contract. If any such work is already done for any lot, the lot shall be excepted from that assessment to the extent of the work done. B. When the proposed improvement in the opinion of the board of directors is of more than local or ordinary public benefit, it may order the expense of the improvement chargeable upon an assessment district, and shall describe the extent of such assessment district in general terms in its resolution of intention, either by reference to street lines or block numbers, or by designating its exterior boundaries by their courses and distances from the street or streets the improvement of which is contemplated, and may refer for a more particular description of the district to a map on file with the district engineer, showing the exterior boundary lines of the assessment district, and delineating block and lot numbers or containing such details as will show the location of the lines. C. The board of directors in the resolution of intention may provide that the improvement described in the resolution may be made according to any of several alternative plans and specifications, methods, classes or kinds of construction or classes or kinds of material to be determined by the board of directors. 48-913. District engineer; appointment; compensation A qualified engineer shall be appointed or employed as district engineer and his compensation fixed by the board of directors. Claims of the engineer for compensation or expenses, approved by the board of directors, may be paid out of the county general fund, and the general fund shall be reimbursed out of the funds of the district. 48-914. Preliminary plans; estimate of cost; limitation on assessment Before passing the resolution of intention, the engineer shall prepare preliminary plans that show the location and the type and character of the proposed improvements and estimates of the cost and expenses of the proposed improvements and shall file the preliminary plans with the clerk. The assessment for any lot shall not exceed its proportion of the estimate. 48-915. Petition to incur expense; sufficiency A. Before incurring any expenses for which the district may become liable and that will result in an assessment against one or more lots within the district, the board of directors shall require that there be filed with the clerk a petition signed by property owners as provided by this section. B. The petition may consist of one or more like or similar instruments filed with the clerk. The sufficiency of the signatures shall be determined by the rules prescribed for determining the sufficiency of protests against the improvement. C. The petition may be accepted as sufficient by the board of directors if it or its several parts have attached the affidavit of a property owner whose property is subject to assessment for the improvement, stating on oath that the property owner has examined the petition and that the signatures are the genuine signatures of the owners of a majority of the frontage of the property fronting on the proposed improvement or, if the cost of the improvement is proposed to be made chargeable upon an assessment district, the owners of a majority of the frontage of property contained within the limit of the assessment district. D. Notwithstanding subsection C, if the board of supervisors of a county finds that a proposed assessment by the district is a matter of public health, welfare and safety and on a showing that a reasonable effort has been made by first class mail to contact absentee owners, the board of directors may accept the petition as sufficient if it is signed by the majority of resident and responding absentee owners, as determined by the board of directors, of a majority of the frontage of the property fronting on the proposed improvement or contained within the district, as the case may be. Mailed petitions shall provide for either acceptance or rejection by the owner and shall include a notice stating that only returned petitions will be counted. The absentee owners who are contacted by first class mail have thirty days from the date the mail is postmarked to return the petition. The maximum amount of the proposed assessment under petitions authorized by this subsection shall be no more than one dollar fifty cents per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation. 48-916. Notice of resolution A. The district shall mail to the owners of all real property within the area to be assessed a notice that contains the following: 1. A notice of the passage of the resolution of intention with the date of the resolution of intention. 2. A description of the work to be performed and the property to be assessed. 3. The total amount of the engineer's estimate of costs and expenses of the work. 4. A description of the board's intention to levy assessments and issue bonds, as applicable. B. The notice shall be mailed to owners based on the names and addresses that appear on the most recent property tax assessment roll. 48-917. Protest against proposed improvement; protest as bar to improvement proceedings; objection to extent of assessment district A. The owners of a majority of the frontage of the property fronting on the area of the proposed improvement, or, when the cost of improvement has been made chargeable upon a district, the owners of a majority of the acreage of property contained within the limits of the assessment district, may make a written protest against the improvement within twenty days after the date of the mailing of the notice of the passage of the resolution of intention. B. The protest shall show a description of the property and the amount of the frontage or acreage, as applicable, owned by each signer together with his post office address. The protest shall be filed with the clerk who shall endorse thereon the date of delivery to him. Protests so delivered and endorsed, if sufficient, shall be a bar to any further proceedings in making the improvement for six months from the date the protest is filed, unless the owners of one-half or more of the frontage or acreage, as applicable, meanwhile petition for the work to be done. No portion of the improvement included in any proceeding barred by the protest shall be included within a new proceeding within six months from filing the protest unless the owners of one-half or more of the frontage or acreage, as applicable, petition for the work to be included in the new proceeding. C. When the cost of the improvement has been made chargeable upon an assessment district, objections to the extent of the district to be assessed to pay the expenses of the improvement may be made by an owner in the assessment district within the time provided for the filing of protests against the work. The objections shall show the amount of frontage owned by each signer and his post office address. D. When an objection to the extent of the proposed assessment district has been filed, the board of directors shall fix a time for hearing the protest, and the clerk shall notify the objectors by mail of the address given by each objector of the date of the hearing at least ten days prior thereto. E. At the hearing, which may be adjourned, the board of directors shall hear and pass upon the objections, and its decisions shall be final and conclusive. The board may modify the extent of the proposed assessment district, in which event a new resolution of intention shall be passed containing a description of the modified assessment district, which shall be published, and notices thereof posted as required of an original resolution of intention. 48-918. Procedure for making and hearing protests and objections A. In determining protests and objections, the board of directors shall be guided by these rules: 1. Each paper containing signatures shall have attached thereto the affidavit of an owner to be assessed, stating that each signature was affixed in his presence and is the signer's genuine signature. 2. The protest or objection shall be counted only for the property described as belonging to the signer, and a signature without the description shall not be counted. 3. The signature of one cotenant or, if community property, the signature of either spouse, is sufficient for a protest if no objection to the signature is made by the other cotenant or spouse. If such an objection is made, the protest shall be counted only to the extent of the signer's interest in the property. 4. A protest or objection signed by a guardian, conservator, personal representative, administrator or trustee is valid without an order of court therefor. 5. A protest or objection by a person in possession under contract of purchase is valid. 6. When several persons have a claim to or an interest in property, the signature of any of them is sufficient unless questioned by another having such claim or interest, whereupon the wishes of the person legally entitled to possession of the property at the date of the protest shall control. 7. A protest or objection signed by an agent or attorney in fact shall be disregarded unless the authority of the agent has been recorded with the county recorder, or written or telegraphic authority is attached to the protest or objection before expiration of the time for filing the protest or objection. 8. A signature may be withdrawn from a protest or objection by filing the withdrawal with the clerk in his office at or before five o'clock p.m. of the last day set for the filing of protests. 9. An objection to the signature of a cotenant, spouse, claimant or person interested may be filed, and the authority of an agent or attorney in fact questioned, at any time before the