48-2207.01. Territory of health service district; additions and deletions; notice and hearing

A. If it appears at the hearing for establishment of a health service district that territory not included in the petition should be included in the district, notice shall be given in the manner provided for the original hearing and a subsequent hearing shall be held on the question of including the additional territory.

B. Annexations to the territory of a health service district shall be made in the manner provided for establishment of a health service district, but the petition to annex need only be signed by ten per cent of the qualified electors and signed by persons owning collectively more than one-half of the assessed valuation of the property of the area sought to be annexed to the district and the election shall be conducted only within the area sought to be annexed. Annexed territory need not be contiguous to the annexing district. No territory may be added to or deleted from a district without consent of the board of directors of the district evidenced by a resolution adopted by the majority vote of the board of directors.

C. For purposes of this section " assessed valuation" does not include the assessed valuation of property that is owned by a county.

D. If an area wishes to withdraw property from a district and the board of supervisors determines that such withdrawal is appropriate, the board shall enter an order separating the area from the balance of the district.

E. If an area is separated from the balance of the district pursuant to subsection D, the following provisions must be met:

1. The property withdrawn from the district shall remain subject to taxes, special assessments or fees levied or collected to meet the contracts and covenants of the bonds. The board of supervisors shall provide for the levy and collection of such taxes, special assessments or fees.

2. The board of directors shall:

(a) Annually determine the amount of special property taxes, special assessments, or fees that must be levied and collected from property withdrawn from the district and the mechanism by which such amount is to be collected.

(b) Notify the board of supervisors on or before the third Monday in July of the amount determined in subdivision (a).

3. Property withdrawn from an existing district shall not be subject to any further taxes, special assessments or fees arising from the indebtedness of such district except as provided in this subsection.

F. Not later than twenty days after the final determination by the board of directors or the board of supervisors, a party aggrieved by an act of one of the boards in the establishment of, annexation to, or withdrawal from, a health service district may bring an action in the superior court in the county in which the district is located in the manner prescribed by title 12, chapter 7, article 6. The appellant shall post a bond equal to the probable costs conditioned that the appellant will prosecute his appeal and will pay all costs that accrue in the court if a judgment is rendered affirming the decision of one or both boards. The court shall require the district board of directors to pay all costs that accrue in the court, including reasonable attorney fees, and the bond shall be returned to the appellant, if a judgment is rendered in favor of the appellant.