Printed Page 2550, Apr. 24
| Printed Page 2570, Apr. 24
|
Printed Page 2550, Apr. 24
| Printed Page 2570, Apr. 24
| (a) the indebtedness has not been declared in default by or upon behalf of the holder of it, or
(b) a receiver has been appointed to manage the affairs of the district or application has been made for the appointment of a receiver; or
(4) the district has provided a governmental service within two years of the date of the petition and has formally budgeted funds to resume the provision of a governmental service within the present or succeeding fiscal year;
(5) the governing body of a county in which the district is located objects to the dissolution of the district.
(C) An individual residing or owning property within the boundaries of a special purpose district may petition the Secretary of State Attorney General to dissolve the district through the issuance of an order of dissolution.
(D) A petition for dissolution of a special purpose district must contain the following items:
(1) a description of the governmental services which the district is authorized by law to provide;
(2) a statement that the district is not presently providing any authorized governmental service;
(3) identification of the special legislation or the general legislation pursuant to which the district was created. If the district was created pursuant to general legislation, the petition must state the date upon which the approving referendum was held;
(4) a general description of the boundaries of the district. If the boundaries of the district have at any time been enlarged or diminished pursuant to general laws, the date or dates of the action must be stated;
(5) a statement of the reason or reasons for which dissolution of the district is sought.
(E) The petition must be filed with the clerk of court of each county in which the district is located, and a certified copy of the petition shall within ten days after that time be filed with the Secretary of State Attorney General.
(F) The Secretary of State Attorney General shall, upon receipt of a petition, commence proceedings as set forth in this subsection for the purpose of investigating the matters set forth in the petition and determining whether a district must be dissolved.
(1) Within twenty days of the receipt of a petition, the Secretary of State Attorney General shall serve upon the Governor, the State Treasurer,
(2) Within twenty days of the receipt of a petition, the Secretary of State Attorney General must have published in a newspaper of general circulation in each county in which the district is located once a week for three successive weeks a notice of review which must state:
(a) the name of the district and the boundaries of it;
(b) the statutory authorization for the existence of the district and a brief description of the governmental powers granted by the authorization;
(c) the date upon which the petition was received by the Secretary of State Attorney General;
(d) that the petition is available for inspection at the office of the clerks of court in each county in which the district is located;
(e) that the Secretary of State Attorney General is reviewing the matters set forth in the petition and may undertake to dissolve the district if the matters are found to be true;
(f) the names of the persons shown in the records of the Secretary of State Attorney General, or, in the case of a district with an elected governing body, the county election commission, who constitute the most recently appointed or elected governing body of the district. In the case of an appointed governing body, there also must be identified the official or officials charged with appointing the members of the governing body; and
(g) that persons wishing to comment upon the dissolution of the district may file a return to the petition within twenty days of the last publication of the notice.
(3) A copy of the petition and the notice of review must be served, in the manner provided by law for service of process upon individuals, upon the persons identified as members of the governing body of the district in subsection (F)(2)(f) and mailed to the last known address, if any, of the office of the governing body.
(G) Upon the expiration of the time periods set forth in subsections (F)(1) and (2), the filing of a return to the petition, the Secretary of State Attorney General shall determine whether the district must be dissolved.
(1) the name of the district and the boundaries of it;
(2) the statutory authorization for the existence of the district and a brief description of the governmental powers granted by such authorization;
(3) the date upon which the petition was received by the Secretary of State Attorney General;
(4) that the petition has been served upon the Governor, the State Treasurer, and the governing bodies of each county in which the district is located;
(5) that the notice of review provided for by subsection (F)(2) was published once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in each county in which the district is located;
(6) that the persons shown in the records of the Secretary of State Attorney General, or, in the case of a district with an elected governing body, the county election commission, who constitute the most recently appointed or elected governing body of the district, were served with a copy of the petition and the notice of review; and
(7) that the Secretary of State Attorney General has caused investigation to be made and has determined that the district must be dissolved pursuant to this act.
(H)(1) The order of dissolution must be filed in the office of the clerk of court in each county in which the district is located. The Secretary of State Attorney General shall have published once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in each county in which the district is located a notice of dissolution, which must state:
(a) the date of the filing of the petition;
(b) the statutory authorization for the existence of the district and a brief description of the governmental powers granted by the authorization and the boundaries of the district;
(c) that the Secretary of State Attorney General has determined that the district must be dissolved pursuant to this section;
(d) that the order of dissolution is available for inspection in the office of clerk of court of each county in which the district is located; and
(e) that the order of dissolution will become final on the twenty-first day following the final publication of the notice of dissolution.
(3) Any resident or landowner of the district, the Governor, the State Treasurer, or a county governing body may, by action de novo instituted in the court of common pleas in a county in which the district is located, within twenty days following the publication of the notice of dissolution, but not afterwards, challenge the action of the Secretary of State Attorney General. The scope of any action must be limited to the authorization of the Secretary of State Attorney General to issue the order of dissolution in accordance with the requirements of this chapter or of the Constitution of this State.
(I) In the event a district is located in more than one county and the Secretary of State Attorney General declines to issue an order of dissolution solely on the grounds that the governing bodies of one or more of such counties object to dissolution, the governing body of any county which does not object to dissolution is authorized to diminish the boundaries of the district so that it no longer includes any portion of that county. In diminishing the boundaries of a district, the governing body shall utilize the procedure set forth in Article 3, Chapter 11, Title 6. No consent or action by the governing bodies of other counties in which the district is located is required."
SECTION 45. Section 5-1-10 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 5-1-10. All municipalities which have a certificate of incorporation issued by the Secretary of State Governor and all township governments which have heretofore been established by act of the General Assembly are hereby declared to be perpetual bodies, politic and corporate and are entitled to exercise all the powers and privileges and are subject to all the limitations and liabilities provided for municipal corporations in this State.
The incorporation or corporate capacity of any municipality or township government established heretofore by act of the General Assembly shall not be attacked in any court in this State except as hereinafter provided by statute."
SECTION 46. Section 5-1-30 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 7 of 1991, is further amended to read:
"Section 5-1-30. Before issuing a corporate certificate to a proposed municipality, the Secretary of State Governor shall first determine:
(2) that no part of the area is within five miles of the boundary of an active incorporated municipality; and
(3) that an approved service feasibility study for the proposed municipality has been filed with and approved by the Secretary of State Governor.
When an area seeking incorporation has petitioned pursuant to Chapter 17 the nearest incorporated municipality to be annexed to the municipality, and has been refused annexation by the municipality for six months, or when the population of the area seeking incorporation exceeds fifteen thousand persons, then the provision of the five-mile limitation of this section does not apply to the area.
The five-mile limit does not apply when the boundaries of the area seeking incorporation are within five miles of the boundaries of two different incorporated municipalities in two separate counties other than the county within which the area seeking incorporation lies, and when the boundaries of the proposed municipality are more than five miles from the boundaries of the nearest incorporated municipality that lies within the same county within which the proposed municipality lies, and when the land area of the territory seeking incorporation exceeds one-fourth of the land area of the nearest incorporated municipality.
The population requirements do not apply to areas bordering on and being within two miles of the Atlantic Ocean and to all sea islands bounded on at least one side by the Atlantic Ocean, both of which have a minimum of one hundred fifty dwelling units and at least an average of one dwelling unit for each three acres of land within the area and for which petitions for incorporation contain the signatures of at least fifteen percent of the freeholders and fifty of the electors of the respective areas seeking incorporation. The freeholders and electors need not be all different persons.
This section does not apply to those areas which have petitioned to the Secretary of State before June 25, 1975, or which may be under adjudication in the courts of this State. The five-mile limit does not apply to counties with a population according to the latest official United States Census of less than fifty-one thousand."
SECTION 47. Section 5-1-40 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 5-1-40. Except as otherwise provided by law, the citizens of any proposed municipality in this State, desiring to be incorporated, shall file with the Secretary of State Governor their petition for that purpose,
SECTION 48. Section 5-1-50 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 5-1-50. After receipt of such a petition, the Secretary of State Governor shall then issue to three or more persons residing in the area of such proposed municipality, a commission empowering them to (a) hold an election not less than twenty days nor more than ninety days after the issuance of the commission, and (b) appoint three managers of election who shall conduct such election. Notice of the election shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the community [or] by posting in three public places within the area sought to be incorporated which shall contain detailed information concerning the election. The notice shall be published or posted not less than five nor more than fifteen days before the date of the election.
At such election, all registered electors living in the area sought to be incorporated shall be allowed to vote on the following questions: (a) incorporation; (b) name of the municipality; (c) the form of government; (d) method of election as prescribed in Section 5-15-20; (e) whether the election shall be partisan or nonpartisan; and (f) the terms of the mayor and council members. When any of the above questions proposed in an election contain more than two options, the option receiving the highest number of votes will prevail.
Provided, however, that when any community votes in favor of incorporation pursuant to this section and selects a form of government in such election, notwithstanding the results of the selections made by the voters as to questions (d), (e) and (f) above, the initial governing body of the incorporated municipality shall consist of four council members and a mayor, all elected at large in a nonpartisan election for terms of two years.
The managers of election shall conduct the election, unless otherwise provided for in this chapter, according to the general law governing the conduct of special elections mutatis mutandis."
SECTION 49. Section 5-1-70 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 5-1-70. The commissioners shall certify the result of such election under oath to the Secretary of State Governor, and if the result is in favor of incorporation, the Secretary of State Governor shall issue a certificate of incorporation of such municipality and the municipality shall have all the privileges, powers and immunities and shall be subject to the limitations provided by law."
"Section 5-1-80. Before any certificate of incorporation is delivered by the Secretary of State Governor, he shall require the production of a receipt from the State Treasurer for the payment of the incorporation fees as follows: (a) for municipalities with a population of one thousand or less, one hundred dollars; (b) for municipalities with a population between one thousand and five thousand, three hundred dollars; (c) for municipalities with a population over five thousand, six hundred dollars."
SECTION 51. Section 5-1-100 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 5-1-100. Whenever it shall appear that a municipality has decreased in population since its incorporation to less than fifty inhabitants, the certificate of such municipality shall be automatically forfeited and void. Whenever a majority of the registered electors of any municipality shall file with the municipal council of such municipality a petition requesting the municipal certificate be surrendered, the council shall order an election to determine the question, at which election all qualified electors of the municipality shall be permitted to vote, and if two-thirds of those voting shall vote in favor of surrendering the certificate, the council shall certify the result to the Secretary of State Governor, who shall thereupon cancel the certificate theretofore issued to such municipality.
If the Secretary of State Governor shall determine that any previously incorporated municipality is neither performing municipal services nor collecting taxes or other revenues and has not held an election during the past four years, he shall cancel the certificate of such municipality."
SECTION 52. Section 5-3-90 of the 1976 Code, as last amended Section 59, Act 181 of 1993, is further amended to read:
"Section 5-3-90. Any city or town increasing its territory shall file a notice with the Secretary of State Governor, Department of Transportation, and the Department of Public Safety describing its new boundaries. Such notice shall include a written description of the boundary, along with a map or plat which clearly defines the new territory added."
SECTION 53. Section 5-3-280 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 5-3-280. Whenever a petition is presented to a city or town council signed by a majority of the resident freeholders of the city or town asking for a reduction of the corporate limits of the city or town, the council shall order an election after not less than ten days' public advertisement. Such advertisement shall describe the territory that is proposed to be cut off. If a majority of the qualified electors vote at such election in favor of the release of the territory, then the council shall issue
SECTION 54. Section 5-5-30 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 5-5-30. Until changed by an election, the selection of the form of government as initially determined by the governing body by ordinance shall remain effective. The ordinance selecting the form of government shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State Governor who shall issue an appropriate certificate of incorporation to the municipality. No other such election shall be held for a period of four years after an election is held pursuant to Section 5-5-20."
SECTION 55. Section 6-11-1620 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 6-11-1620. (A) Within ninety days after the effective date of this article, and before December thirty-first of every even-numbered year thereafter, the governing bodies of all special purpose districts in this State must notify the Secretary of State Governor and the auditor of the county in which the special purpose district is located of their existence.
(B) The notification required by subsection (A) of this section must substantially conform to the following form and all portions of the form must be completed if applicable:
1. -----------------------------------------------------------
Legal Name of Special Purpose District
2. ------------------ ----------------------------------------
Permanent address (If no permanent address,
telephone number, name, and address of agent)
3. -----------------------------------------------------------
Services provided
4. -----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
General description of geographical boundary of service
area
(Attach legal description)
5. -----------------------------------------------------------
Citation of Statutory Authority (Please include copy)
6. -----------------------------------------------------------
Date of Origin
7. ----------------------------------------------------------
Tax Rate or Fee Charged
office:
------------------------------ --------------------------
------------------------------ --------------------------
9. ------------------ ----------------------------------------
Method of selecting members of governing body
10.Financial information for prior fiscal year (Please
identify year):
-----------------------------------------------------------
Total revenues by source including investment earnings
-----------------------------------------------------------
Total expenditures
-----------------------------------------------------------
Total indebtedness (indicate bonded or otherwise)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Total investments (individual amounts, location,
rate of interest)
11. ----------------------------------------------------------
Person Completing this Form
------------------ ------------------
Title Date
(C) The auditor of the county in which the special purpose district is located must inspect and sign the notification forms."
SECTION 56. Section 6-11-1630 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 6-11-1630. (A) Notification as provided in Section 6-11-1620 must be forwarded to the Secretary of State Governor and the auditor of the county in which the district is located within ninety days after the election of the governing body of a special purpose district created after the effective date of this article.
(B) The Secretary of State Governor shall issue each even-numbered year a directory of active and inactive special purpose districts in the State. The directory shall contain all information provided by the districts as required by the notification form. Inactive districts must be deleted after being listed for two consecutive report cycles. This directory must be mailed to all special purpose districts and general purpose governments in the State.
(C) If the governing body of a public service district fails to report to the Secretary of State Governor as provided by this article, the Secretary Governor may determine that the district is nonfunctioning and notify the governing body of the county or municipality with a certified copy of the
(D) The governing body of any county or municipality so notified shall withhold any fees, taxes, or interest thereon collected for any special purpose district by the municipality or county until the special purpose district complies with the notification requirements of this article."
SECTION 57. Section 6-11-1640 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 6-11-1640. (A) The Secretary of State Governor shall investigate failures of special purpose districts to disclose information required by this article. Where special failures are a result of good faith efforts to file reports, the Secretary of State Governor may grant extensions to districts not to exceed sixty days.
(B) When the reports required by this article have not been produced because of a volitional refusal by the governing body of a special purpose district, the Secretary of State Governor or the county auditor may seek a writ of mandamus in the county in which the special purpose district is located to compel the production of the reports."
SECTION 58. Section 6-13-20 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 6-13-20. In order to create a district under the provisions of this article, at least twenty-five owners of real property residing within the boundaries of the proposed district shall file a petition with the governing body of the county which, among other things, shall propose a name for the district. The petition shall set forth a full description of the area of the district. Upon receipt of the petition, the governing body shall call for an election to be held within the area within sixty days. Notice of the election shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation within the area for at least two consecutive weeks prior to the election. The governing body shall have prepared and distributed a sufficient number of ballots, including absentee ballots, if requested. The ballots shall contain the question regarding the formation of the district and such other instructions as the governing body deems necessary. The governing body shall appoint managers for the election and such other personnel as it deems necessary and shall canvass the results of the ballots. The final result shall be filed in the office of the clerk of court and, if favorable, also in the offices of the Secretary of State Governor and the Code Commissioner, together with a full description of the district. Should a majority of those voting in the election vote in favor of the creation of the district, it shall become immediately effective."
Printed Page 2550, Apr. 24
| Printed Page 2570, Apr. 24
|