AN ACT Relating to irrigation districts;
amending RCW 87.03.530; adding new sections to chapter 87.03 RCW; adding a new
section to chapter 87.04 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 36.93 RCW; and
creating a new section.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1.
RCW 87.03.530 and 1919 c 180 s 18 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Two or more irrigation districts may
be consolidated into one district as provided in RCW 87.03.535 through
87.03.551 and may include in such district other lands susceptible of
irrigation in the manner provided in this act, and upon the organization of
such consolidated district it shall be an organized irrigation district subject
to ((all)) the provisions of this chapter.
(2) A smaller irrigation district may be
merged into a larger irrigation district as provided in sections 2 through 7 of
this act if the assessed acreage in the smaller district constitutes not more
than thirty percent of the combined assessed acreage of the two districts. In
such a proceeding, the smaller district is referred to as the "minor"
irrigation district and the larger district is referred to as the
"major" irrigation district. The district resulting from such a
merger shall be an organized district subject to the provisions of this
chapter.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.
This section and sections 3 through 7 of this act provide the procedures by
which a minor irrigation district may be merged into a major irrigation
district as authorized by RCW 87.03.530(2).
To institute proceedings for such a merger, the
board of directors of the minor district shall adopt a resolution requesting
the board of directors of the major district to consider the merger.
The board of directors of the major irrigation
district shall consider the request at the next regularly scheduled meeting of
the board of directors of the major district following its receipt of the minor
district's request or at a special meeting called for the purpose of
considering the request. If the board of the major district denies the request
of the minor district, no further action on the request shall be taken.
If the board of the major district does not
deny the request, it shall conduct a public hearing on the request and shall
give notice regarding the hearing. The notice shall describe the proposed
merger and shall be published once a week for two consecutive weeks preceding
the date of the hearing and the last publication shall be not more than seven
days before the date of the hearing. The notice shall contain a statement that
unless the holders of title or evidence of title to at least twenty percent of
the assessed lands within the major district file a protest opposing the merger
with the board of the major district at or before the hearing, the board is
free to approve the request for the merger without an election being conducted
in the major district on the request. If the board of the major district is
considering requests from more than one minor district, the hearing shall be
conducted on all such requests.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.
(1) If, following the public hearing conducted under section 2 of this act, the
board of directors of the major irrigation district denies the request for a
merger, no further action shall be taken on the request. If, following the
public hearing, the board adopts a resolution approving the merger, the merger
is approved by the major irrigation district and no election shall be held in
the major district to approve the merger. However, if the holders of title or
evidence of title to at least twenty percent of the assessed lands within the
major district file a protest opposing the merger with the board of the major
district at or before the public hearing, the board shall call a special
election and submit to the voters of the major district the question of whether
the merger should or should not be approved. Votes shall be cast as
"Merger - Yes" or "Merger - No." If such a special
election must be conducted and a majority of all votes cast in the district
approve the merger, the merger is approved by the major district. Such an
approval is effective on the date the returns of the election are canvassed
under RCW 87.03.105.
(2) The board of directors of the minor
irrigation district shall, within thirty days of the date the merger is
approved by the major district or of the date the board of the major district
issues its call for a special election on the merger, call a special election
within the minor district and submit to the voters of the minor district the
question of whether the merger should or should not be approved. If special
elections must be conducted in both districts, both elections shall be
conducted on the date set by the board of the major district. If only the
minor district must conduct such a special election, the election shall be held
not later than sixty days after the date the merger has been approved by the
board of the major district. Votes on the question shall be cast as
"Merger - Yes" or "Merger - No." If a majority of all
votes cast in the district are cast for "Merger - Yes," the merger is
approved by the minor irrigation district. Such an approval is effective on
the date the returns of the election are canvassed under RCW 87.03.105.
(3) Notice of election in each district on the
merger question shall conform to the requirements of notices for elections in
the major district. Elections and voting in each district shall be consistent
with RCW 87.03.045, 87.03.051, and 87.03.071. If the majority of all votes
cast in a special election in either the major or a minor district are cast for
"Merger - No," the merger is not approved.
(4) If the merger is approved by the major
irrigation district and by the minor irrigation district as provided by this
section, the minor irrigation district is merged into the major irrigation
district. If two or more minor districts are merging with a major district in
one process as authorized by section 7 of this act and if the merger is
approved by the major irrigation district and by at least one of the minor
irrigation districts as provided by this section, each minor irrigation
district so approving is merged into the major irrigation district. The
effective date of the merger is the date by which approval of the merger has
been secured in both districts or, under section 7 of this act, in the major
and minor district or districts. The board or boards of county commissioners
of the county or counties containing territory of the merged districts and the
director of the department of ecology shall be notified that the districts have
merged.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.
The members of the board of directors of the major irrigation district shall
hold office as directors of the district formed by the merger until the end of
their terms of office. If the major district is divided into director
divisions, the board of the major district shall propose a plan for redividing
the district into divisions that reflect the boundaries of the district created
by the merger and this requirement regarding the directors of the major
district. If the major district is considering a merger with more than one
minor district, the board shall submit plans for the various possible mergers.
The proposal or proposals shall be filed with the county legislative authority
before the merger is approved in the major district or the minor district or
districts. Following the merger, the county legislative authority shall
approve the plan submitted for the districts that actually merged.
On the effective date of the merger, the
directors of the minor district shall transfer the property and other assets of
the district as required in section 6 of this act. Following the transfer of
the property and other assets, the minor irrigation district and the office of
director of the minor district shall cease to exist.
The board of directors of the district formed
by the merger shall have all the powers and obligations of the boards of the
major and minor districts that were merged to form the district including, but
not limited to, such boards' powers and obligations for any local improvement
districts created in the minor or major district under this chapter.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.
(1) The merger of irrigation districts shall not affect or impair any bonds or
obligations of the merged districts and the holders of the bonds of any merged
district shall be entitled to all remedies for their enforcement as if the
district had not been merged. All obligations incurred by the district prior
to its merger shall be a prior lien to any obligation that may be incurred
against the district created by the merger. However, the board of directors of
the merged district may, when authorized under RCW 87.03.200 and with the
consent of the bondholders, exchange the bonds of the district created by the
merger for the bonds of the districts that merged. If the major or minor
district entered, prior to the merger, into a contract with the United States
under this chapter and the board of directors of the district created by the merger
proposes that the merged district enter into a contract with the United States,
the board may do so when authorized under RCW 87.03.200 and may, with the
consent of the United States, cancel any contract previously entered into
between the major or minor district and the United States.
(2) The district created by the merger shall be
entitled to all remedies for the enforcement of the irrigation district
assessments and other obligations of lands to the districts that merged as if
the districts had not merged. All obligations incurred for irrigation district
or local improvement district purposes by the lands within the major or minor
district prior to its merger shall be a prior lien to any obligation that may
be incurred against those lands after the merger.
(3) Until premerger assessments have been
collected and all of the premerger indebtedness of the major and minor
districts that merged have been paid, separate funds shall be maintained for
each district as were maintained in each prior to the merger. The board of
directors of the irrigation district created by the merger may establish a
local improvement district for each district included in the merger to carry
out the obligations of each such district. This board shall have all the
powers possessed by the boards of directors of the districts included in the
merger to carry out all contracts of the included districts and to levy,
assess, and cause to be collected any and all assessments or charges against
the lands of each of the included districts. A petition shall not be required
for the formation of a local improvement district created for this purpose.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.
Prior to or on the effective date of a merger of a minor irrigation district
and a major irrigation district, the board of directors of the minor district
shall cause to be prepared a statement of all property and other assets of the
minor district. The statement shall be filed with the board of directors of
the district created by the merger and on the effective date of the merger.
The statement shall also be filed with the county auditor of the county
containing the majority of the territory of the district after the merger.
Upon the filing with the board, the property and other assets of the minor
district shall, subject to the rights of the holders of bonds or other
obligations of the minor district, become the property and other assets of the
district created by the merger.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7.
More than two irrigation districts may merge under RCW 87.03.530(2) and
sections 2 through 6 of this act in one merger process. However, only one of
the districts may be a "major" irrigation district and the assessed
acreage in all of the other districts merging in the process, when taken
collectively, shall not constitute more than thirty percent of the combined
assessed acreage of all of the merging districts. In such a case, each of
these other, nonmajor districts is considered to be a "minor"
irrigation district under RCW 87.03.530(2) and sections 2 through 6 of this
act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8.
Nothing in RCW 87.03.530(2) and sections 2 through 7 of this act shall
authorize the impairment or operate to impair any existing water rights.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. A
new section is added to chapter 87.04 RCW to read as follows:
RCW 87.04.030 through 87.04.055 do not apply to
redividing a district immediately following a merger as provided in section 4
of this act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. A
new section is added to chapter 36.93 RCW to read as follows:
This chapter does not apply to the merger of irrigation
districts authorized under RCW 87.03.530(2) and sections 2 through 7 of this
act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11.
Sections 2 through 7 of this act are each added to chapter 87.03 RCW.
