(1) (a) As soon as the district has been organized and a board of directors has been appointed and qualified, such board of directors shall have the power and authority to fix the amount of an assessment upon the property within the district not to exceed six-tenths of one mill for every dollar of valuation for assessment therein, as a level or general levy to be used for the purpose of paying the expenses of organization, for surveys and plans, to pay the salary of officers and the per diem allowed to directors and their expenses, and for other incidental expenses which may be incurred in the administration of the affairs of the district. A two-thirds vote of the membership of said board shall be required to fix the amount of said levy. (b) The amount of assessment on each dollar of valuation for assessment shall, in accordance with the schedule prescribed by section 39-5-128, C.R.S., be certified to boards of county commissioners of the various counties in which the district is located and by them included in their next annual levy for state and county purposes. Such amount so certified shall be collected for the use of such district in the same manner as are taxes for county purposes, and the revenue laws of the state for the levy and collection of taxes on real estate for county purposes, except as modified in this article, shall be applicable to the levy and collection of the amount certified by the board of directors of said district as aforesaid, including the enforcement of penalties, forfeiture, and sale for delinquent taxes. (c) All collections made by the county treasurer pursuant to such levy shall be paid to the treasurer of the conservancy district on or before the tenth day of the next succeeding calendar month. If any items of expense have already been paid in whole or in part from any other sources by the said district, they may be repaid from receipts of such levy. Such levy may be made, although the work proposed or any part thereof may have been found impracticable or for other reasons abandoned. The collection of data and the payment of expenses therefor, including salaries of engineers and attorneys and clerical assistants, to conserve the water of said district and to enable said district to adopt plans for the orderly development of said district are hereby declared to be a matter of general benefit to the public welfare, and such that a tax for said purposes may be properly imposed, in the opinion of the general assembly. (d) If this subsection (1) or any clause, phrase, or part thereof is held unconstitutional or invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity or force of any other part of this section or any other part of this article, and the general assembly hereby declares it would have enacted the remainder of this article without this subsection (1). (2) In lieu of the level or general tax authorized by subsection (1) of this section, the board may levy special assessments upon all real estate within the district, except such real estate as is exempted in this article, to raise funds to pay expenses of organization, salaries, expenses, and per diem allowances of officers and directors and to prepare a general plan for the maintenance of constant streamflow and adequate water supplies in all the principal tributaries and the main stream of the San Juan and Dolores rivers in said district and provide for future development of the district and insure water therefor. Such assessments shall be made in proportion to the benefits to each piece of real estate accruing by reason of the adoption of a comprehensive plan of development of the natural resources of the district as a whole. The board of directors, if it deems it advisable at any time before levying special assessments, shall appraise the benefits to the several parcels of real estate within the district which shall result from the organization of said district and the general plans and development. The board may adopt rules for such purpose and provide inter alia for notice and hearing to all persons affected thereby. A permanent record arranged by counties of the benefits which will accrue to each tract of land shall be kept, and such benefits shall be apportioned over a series of years, the amount to be collected each year to be in the discretion of the board; but the amount of such assessment to be levied and assessed against the real property in said district in any one year shall not exceed a total of seven thousand five hundred dollars, and it is hereby declared that the amount of special benefits accruing annually to the real estate in said district is in excess of such amount. All property owned by the state, counties, cities, towns, school districts, or other governmental agencies shall be exempt from taxation or special levies under this article. (3) Prior to October 15 of each year in which an assessment is made, the board of directors shall appoint a time and place where it will meet within the district for the purpose of hearing objections to assessments at least thirty days prior to the dates so appointed. Notice of such hearing shall be given by posting a notice thereof at or near the door of the treasurer's office in each county in said district and by publishing said notice in a legal newspaper not less than three consecutive times within a period of thirty days, immediately prior to the hearing. The notice posted in each county shall be sufficient if it pertains to the property subject to assessment in said county only and need not contain the description of or any reference to property situated in other counties also affected by such assessment. Said notice shall contain a description of the real estate so assessed in the county in which said notice is posted and published, the amount of the assessment fixed by the board, and the time and place or places fixed by the board for the hearing of objection to such assessments. It shall not be necessary for the said notice to contain a separate description of the lots or tracts of real estate, but it shall be sufficient if the said notice contains such descriptions as will inform the owner whether or not his real estate is covered by such descriptions, and to inform the owner of the amount of special assessments thereon. (4) If, in the opinion of any person whose real estate is assessed, his property has been assessed too high or has been erroneously or illegally assessed, at any time before the date of such hearing, he may file written objections to such assessments, stating the ground of such objections, which statement shall be verified by the affidavit of said person or some other person familiar with the facts. At such hearing the board shall hear evidence and argument offered concerning the correctness or legality of such assessment and may modify or amend the same. Any owner of property desiring to appeal from the finding of the board as to assessments within thirty days from the finding of the board shall file with the clerk of the district court of the county in which the property is situated a written notice making demand for a trial by the court. At the same time, the appellant shall file a bond with good and sufficient security, to be approved by the clerk of said court, in a sum not exceeding two hundred dollars, to the effect that, if the finding of the court is not more favorable to the appellant than the finding of the board, the appellant will pay the costs of the appeal. The appellant shall state definitely from what part of the order the appeal is taken. In case more than one appeal is taken, upon a showing that the appeals may be consolidated without injury to the interests of anyone, the court may consolidate and try the same together. (5) The court shall not disturb the findings of the board unless the finding of the board in any case is manifestly disproportionate to the assessments imposed upon other property in the district created under this article. The trial shall be to the court, and the matter shall take precedence before the court and shall be taken up as promptly as may be after the appeal is filed. If no appeal is taken from the finding of the board within the time prescribed in this section, or after the finding of the district court in case an appeal is taken from the finding of the board, then said assessments shall be final and conclusive evidence that said assessments have been made in proportion to the benefits conferred upon each tract of real estate of said district by reason of the general plans of survey, comprehensive plan of development, and the completion of improvements to be constructed under the provisions of this article, and such assessments shall constitute a perpetual lien as provided in this article upon the real estate so assessed until paid.
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