As Amended by House Commettee
         

          Session of 1998
                   
HOUSE BILL No. 2881
         
By Representative Holmes
         
2-11
          10             AN ACT concerning groundwater management districts; relating to as-
11             sessments to finance district operations; amending K.S.A. 82a-1030
12             and repealing the existing section.
13            
14       Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
15           Section 1. K.S.A. 82a-1030 is hereby amended to read as follows:
16       82a-1030. (a) In order to finance the operations of the district, the board
17       may assess an annual water user charge against every person who with-
18       draws groundwater from within the boundaries of the district. The board
19       shall base such charge upon the amount of groundwater allocated for such
20       the person's use pursuant to his or her the person's water right. Such
21       charge shall not exceed sixty cents (60¢) $.60 for each acre-foot (325,851
22       gallons) of groundwater withdrawn within the district or allocated by the
23       water right and shall be assessed against the person to whom the use of
24       the water is allocated. If the authorized place of use of one or more permits
25       or water rights for irrigation purposes pertains to land owned by more
26       than one person, the board shall prorate and assess the charge to each
27       owner in proportion to the amount of authorized land owned by each
28       person unless the owners of the land and associated water rights agree
29       otherwise and notify the board of how the charge is to be assessed. When-
30       ever a person shows by the submission to the board of a verified claim
31       and any supportive data which may be required by the board that his or
32       her the person's actual annual groundwater withdrawal is in a lesser
33       amount than that allocated by the water right of such person, the board
34       shall assess such annual charge against such person on the amount of
35       water shown to be withdrawn by the verified claim. Any such claim shall
36       be submitted by April June April 1 of the year in which such annual
37       charge is to be assessed. The board may also make an annual assessment
38       against each landowner of not to exceed five cents (5¢) $.05 for each acre
39       of land owned within the boundaries of the district. Special assessments
40       may also be levied, as provided hereafter, against land specially benefited
41       by a capital improvement without regard to the limits prescribed above.
42           (b) Before any assessment is made, or user charge imposed, the board
43       shall submit the proposed budget for the ensuing year to the eligible

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  1       voters of the district at a hearing called for that purpose by one (1) pub-
  2       lication in a newspaper or newspapers of general circulation within the
  3       district at least twenty-eight (28) 28 days prior to the meeting. Following
  4       the hearing, the board shall adopt, by resolution, adopt either the pro-
  5       posed budget or a modified budget and shall determine the amount of
  6       land assessment or user charge, or both, needed to support such budget.
  7           (c) Both the user charges assessed for groundwater withdrawn and
  8       the assessments against lands within the district shall be certified to the
  9       proper county clerks and collected the same as other taxes in accordance
10       with K.S.A. 79-1801, and acts amendatory thereof or supplemental
11       amendments thereto, and the amount thereof shall attach to the real prop-
12       erty involved as a lien in accordance with K.S.A. 79-1804, and acts amen-
13       datory thereof or supplemental amendments thereto. All moneys so col-
14       lected shall be remitted by the county treasurer to the treasurer of the
15       groundwater management district who shall deposit them to the credit of
16       the general fund of the district. The accounts of each groundwater man-
17       agement district shall be audited annually by a public accountant or cer-
18       tified public accountant.
19           (d) Subsequent to the certification of approval of the organization of
20       a district by the secretary of state and the election of a board of directors
21       for such district, such board shall be authorized to issue no-fund warrants
22       in amounts sufficient to meet the operating expenses of the district until
23       money therefor becomes available pursuant to user charges or assess-
24       ments under subsection (a). In no case shall the amount of any such
25       issuance be in excess of twenty percent (20%) 20% of the total amount
26       of money receivable from assessments which could be levied in any one
27       year as provided in subsection (a). No such warrants shall be issued until
28       a resolution authorizing the same shall have issuance has been adopted
29       by the board and published once in a newspaper having a general circu-
30       lation in each county within the boundaries of the district. Whereupon
31       such warrants may be issued unless a petition in opposition to the same,
32       signed by not less than ten percent (10%) 10% of the eligible voters of
33       such district and in no case by less than twenty (20) 20 of the eligible
34       voters of such district, is filed with the county clerk of each of the counties
35       in such district within ten (10) 10 days following such publication. In the
36       event such a petition is filed, it shall be the duty of the board of such
37       district to submit the question to the eligible voters at an election called
38       for such purpose. Such election shall be noticed and conducted as pro-
39       vided by K.S.A. 82a-1031 and amendments thereto.
40           Whenever no-fund warrants are issued under the authority of this sub-
41       section, the board of directors of such district shall make an assessment
42       each year for three (3) years in approximately equal installments for the
43       purpose of paying such warrants and the interest thereon. All such as-

HB 2881--Am.

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  1       sessments shall be in addition to all other assessments authorized or lim-
  2       ited by law. Such warrants shall be issued, registered, redeemed and bear
  3       interest in the manner and in the form prescribed by K.S.A. 79-2940 and
  4       amendments thereto, except they shall not bear the notation required by
  5       said statute and may be issued without the approval of the state board of
  6       tax appeals. Any surplus existing after the redemption of such warrants
  7       shall be handled in the manner prescribed by K.S.A. 79-2940 and amend-
  8       ments thereto.
  9           Sec. 2. K.S.A. 82a-1030 is hereby repealed.
10           Sec. 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
11       publication in the statute book.
12      
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