MCA Specifics
85-8-302. Election of commissioners — regular term of office.
(1) Except as provided in 13-1-502(4), the election of commissioners must be held annually and conducted in accordance with Title 13, chapter 1, part 5. The term of office of commissioners shall commence on the day of their election. (Held the First Tuesday of May each year)
(2) (a) At the first primary or general election following the organization of a district and in districts organized and in existence on March 1, 1921, and that, on petition, have been divided into divisions, three commissioners must be elected, with one commissioner being elected from each division.
(b) A commissioner must be an actual landowner in the division in which the commissioner is elected.
(c) One of the commissioners, to be determined by lot, shall hold office for 1 year; another of the commissioners, to be determined by lot, shall hold office for 2 years; and the third commissioner shall hold office for 3 years.
(3) After the election of the initial commissioners, one commissioner must be elected each year. Commissioners elected after the initial election shall hold office for a term of 3 years. The person elected as a commissioner in each year to succeed the commissioner whose term is then expiring must be elected as a commissioner from the same division as the commissioner whose term expires.
(4) Each commissioner must be a resident of a county where a portion of the district lands is situated.
85-8-304. Results of election. The secretary of the board of commissioners shall enter the result of the election in the minutes of the board and file with the clerk of the district court creating the district a statement showing the names of the persons elected as commissioners, the names of the commissioners whose term will expire on the first Tuesday in May following, and the names of all of the persons who will compose the board of commissioners for the year next following the first Tuesday in May.
85-8-305. Qualifications of electors.
(1) At all such elections, except as herein otherwise expressly provided, the following persons holding title or evidence of title to lands within the district shall be entitled to vote:
(a) all of the persons having the qualifications of electors under the constitution and general laws of the state;
(b) guardians, administrators, executors, and trustees residing in the state;
(c) domestic corporations by their duly authorized agents.
(2) In all elections each elector shall be permitted to cast one vote for each 40 acres of land or major fraction thereof in the district owned by such elector, but any elector owning 20 acres or less shall be entitled to one vote.
85-8-308. Oath and bond of commissioners — quorum.
(1) Before entering upon their duties, the commissioners shall:
(a) take and subscribe an oath to support The Constitution of the United States and The Constitution of the State of Montana, to faithfully and impartially discharge their duties as commissioners, and to render a true account of their doings to the court by which they are appointed whenever required by law or the order of the court; and
(b) execute a bond running to the clerk of court and the clerk’s successors in office as obligees, to be filed with the clerk for the benefit of the parties interested, in an amount to be fixed by the court or presiding judge and with sureties to be approved by the court or presiding judge, conditioned for the faithful discharge of their duties as commissioners and the faithful accounting for and application of all money that comes into their hands as commissioners.
(2) A majority shall constitute a quorum, and a concurrence of a majority in any matter within their duties is sufficient to its determination.
85-8-313. Annual report of commissioners.
On the first Tuesday of July of each year the commissioners shall file in the office of the clerk of the court having jurisdiction in the matter an itemized statement of all their receipts and disbursements and leave said report in such office for examination by parties interested at all times.
85-8-321. Organization, appointments, and preliminary report.
(1) Within 10 days after the commissioners are appointed and qualified, they shall meet and organize by electing one member as president and by electing a secretary, who may or may not be a member of the board.
(2) The commissioners shall appoint one or more attorneys to assist in the establishment of the district, advise with its officers, agents, and employees, and prepare reports and other necessary documents. The court shall allow the attorney or attorneys just compensation to be taxed in the case.
(3) The commissioners shall appoint a competent civil and drainage engineer, who may be an individual, a partnership, or a corporation, who may employ assistants and make surveys, and who, with the approval of the court, may employ a consulting engineer or secure expert advice. The expense of the engineer, the engineer’s assistants, and the consulting engineer must be taxed as expenses under the petition. The commissioners shall personally examine the lands in the district and make a preliminary report to the court that states:
(a) whether the proposed work is necessary or would be of use in carrying out the purposes of the petition;
(b) whether the proposed work would promote the public health;
(c) whether the proposed work would promote the public welfare;
(d) whether the total benefits from the proposed work will exceed the cost of the work, together with the damages resulting from the work, and in arriving at this, they shall include all benefits and all damages resulting from the work both within and outside of the district.
(4) The commissioners shall in the report fix, as near as may be, and report to the court the boundaries of the proposed drainage district. The boundaries may not be changed from those in the petition described so as to deprive the court of jurisdiction by reason of not having on the petition the required number of signers owning land within the changed boundaries.
85-8-368. Annual report — objections.
(1) The commissioners shall, on or before the first Tuesday of March of each year, file with the clerk of court having jurisdiction a report in which they shall specify in detail:
(a) the emergency repairs which they have made during the preceding year;
(b) the labor and repairs then necessary to the preservation and protection of the work under their control;
(c) the places where such labor and repairs are especially needed;
(d) the amount of the outstanding indebtedness of the district; and
(e) the sum to be assessed against each tract, lot, easement, or corporation to pay all emergency repairs theretofore done, necessary labor and repairs to be done during the ensuing year, maintenance, incidental expenses, and interest on and principal of all outstanding indebtedness.
(2) No notice of the filing of such report shall be necessary. All such assessments shall be apportioned on the last assessment roll of drain districts or on the last assessments in drainage districts confirmed by the court having jurisdiction thereof.
(3) Within 30 days after filing such annual report, at a time and place to be fixed by the court or presiding judge, the court or presiding judge shall examine said report, hear all objections to the same, fix and determine the amount of such assessments, and cause such adjudication to be entered of record in said court and a certified copy of the same to be delivered to said commissioners.
85-8-601. Certification and collection of district taxes.
(1) Subject to 15-10-420 and on or before the third Monday in August of each year, the commissioners shall certify to the department of revenue a correct list of all the district lands in each county and the owners of the lands, together with a statement of the amount of the total tax or assessment against the lands for district purposes for that year. The department of revenue shall immediately enter the assessment roll in the property tax record of the county for each year.
(2) The county treasurer of each county in which a drainage district is located, in whole or in part, shall collect and receipt for all taxes and assessments levied by the district in the same manner and at the same time as is required in the collection of taxes upon real estate for county purposes as provided in 15-16-102. However, the treasurer must receive from any taxpayer, at any time, the amount due on account of any district assessments of any kind, whether other taxes on the same real estate are paid or not. When a county is the possessor of a tax lien for any real estate on account of which the district taxes and assessments have been levied, the taxpayer may pay to the treasurer at any time any semiannual installment of the district tax or assessment, together with the penalty and interest to date of payment on the installment. However, the payment may not be considered a redemption of the property from the tax lien, but must be credited on account of any redemption that may later be made. In case of any payment pursuant to this subsection, a separate tax receipt must be issued showing exactly what assessments have been paid and showing that no other tax on the real estate has been received by the treasurer. However, the county treasurer may not collect, receive, or receipt for any taxes levied for county purposes upon real estate situated wholly or in part within any drainage district upon which an assessment for the purposes of the drainage district has been levied unless the assessment levied for the drainage district purposes is either paid as provided in this section and the receipt is presented to the county treasurer at the time the real estate taxes are paid or paid at the time the drainage district taxes are paid.