(a) At the meeting called for the purpose of establishing a district, as provided in section 7-325, the voters shall, by ordinance, fix the date of the annual meeting of the voters for the election of district officers and transaction of such other business as may properly come before such annual meeting. At the organization meeting of the district, the voters shall elect from their number a president, vice president, five directors, a clerk and a treasurer to serve until the first annual meeting for the election of officers and thereafter such officers shall be elected annually. Not fewer than fifteen voters of the district shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at the organization meeting of the district; and if fifteen voters are not present at such meeting, the selectmen may adjourn such meeting from time to time, until at least fifteen voters are present. Special meetings of the district may be called on the application of ten per cent of the total number of persons qualified to vote in the meeting of a district or twenty of the voters of such district, whichever is less, or by the president or any three directors upon giving notice as hereinafter provided. Any special meeting called on the application of the voters shall be held within twenty-one days after receiving such application. Notice of the holding of the annual meeting and all special meetings shall be given by publication of a notice of such meetings in a newspaper having a general circulation in such district at least ten days before the day of such meetings, signed by the president or any three directors, which notice shall designate the time and place of such meetings and the business to be transacted thereat. Two hundred or more persons or ten per cent of the total number of persons qualified to vote in the meeting of a district, whichever is less, may petition the clerk of such district, in writing, at least twenty-four hours prior to any such meeting, requesting that any item or items on the call of such meeting be submitted to the persons qualified to vote in such meeting not less than seven nor more than fourteen days thereafter, on a day to be set by the district meeting or, if the district meeting does not set a date, by the board of directors, for a vote by paper ballots or by a “yes” or “no” vote on the voting machines, during the hours between twelve o’clock noon and eight o’clock p.m., except that any district may, by vote of its board of directors, provide for an earlier hour for opening the polls but not earlier than six o’clock a.m. The paper ballots or voting machine ballot labels, as the case may be, shall be provided by the clerk. When such a petition has been filed with the clerk, the president, after completion of other business and after reasonable discussion shall adjourn such meeting and order such vote on such item or items in accordance with the petition; and any item so voted may be rescinded in the same manner. The clerk shall phrase such item or items in a form suitable for printing on such paper ballots or ballot labels. Not fewer than fifteen voters of the district shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of the district; and if fifteen voters are not present at such meeting, the president of the district or, in his absence, the vice president may adjourn such meeting from time to time, until at least fifteen voters are present; and all meetings of the district where a quorum is present may be adjourned from time to time by a vote of a majority of the voters voting on the question. At any annual or special meeting, the voters may, by a majority vote of those present, discontinue any purposes for which the district is established or undertake any additional purpose or purposes enumerated in section 7-326.

(b) The president of the district shall be the chief executive officer thereof and shall be a member of the board of directors. He shall preside at all meetings of the voters of the district and at all meetings of the directors, and at all meetings where he presides he shall vote to dissolve a tie when necessary. He shall designate the duties devolving upon each of the five directors, shall approve all bills for payment by the treasurer and shall be, ex officio, a member of all committees and boards of the district. The vice president shall be a member of the board of directors, and shall have all the authority, power and duties of the president whenever the president vacates his office, is absent or from any cause is unable to perform his duties. The clerk shall be a member of the board of directors, shall keep a record of the minutes of all meetings of the voters and of the board of directors and shall keep at all times a list of the voters of the district. The treasurer shall have charge of the collection and payment of all moneys of the district, under such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by the board of directors, and shall prepare the annual budget, which shall be reviewed by the board of directors and transmitted with the board's comments and recommendations to the annual budget meeting of the district for adoption.

(c) The fiscal year of the district shall begin on July first and shall end the following June thirtieth. Annually, not less than thirty days prior to the beginning of the fiscal year, there shall be a meeting of the voters of the district for the purpose of adopting the annual budget, laying the tax and fixing the tax rate.

(d) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or any special act to the contrary, a district may, at its annual meeting or at a special meeting called in accordance with the provisions of this section, (1) increase the membership of the board of directors of the district to nine members, three of whom may be elected each year to three-year terms, and in such case, require the officers of the district to be chosen from among the members of the board or (2) provide for one member of the board of directors of the district to serve as both clerk and treasurer of the district.

(1949 Rev., S. 767; 1957, P.A. 465, S. 17 (d)–(f); September, 1957, P.A. 6, S. 2; P.A. 82-213, S. 2; P.A. 84-318, S. 2, 4; P.A. 89-370, S. 7, 15; P.A. 91-407, S. 37, 42.)

History: P.A. 82-213 amended Subsec. (a) to provide for the ability of voters to petition for a meeting or for a referendum; P.A. 84-318 replaced requirement of posting of notices with requirement for publication of notices and clarified that districts must use a uniform fiscal year in accordance with chapter 110; P.A. 89-370 amended Subsec. (a) to establish quorum requirement; P.A. 91-407 added Subsec. (d) permitting district to increase membership of board of directors to nine members, three of whom to be elected each year for three-year terms and require officers to be chosen from among members of board or provide for one member to serve as both clerk and treasurer.

Kinds of property taxable, and manner of reaching assessment value, are same as in case of school district. 92 C. 674. Cited. 122 C. 402.