48-909.02. Multijurisdictional entities; limitation of district liability and responsibility

A. Any county improvement district may join with any other person or entity in the creation of a multijurisdictional entity to further the acquisition, construction, operation or maintenance of any of the improvements that are authorized by this article and shall establish the duties and responsibilities of each party in a written operating agreement. The agreement shall state the share of the costs to be borne by the district and by each other party to the agreement. The district's share may be based on any objective criteria that are established in the agreement. The district shall not become liable without its written consent for more than its agreed on share of the cost of construction, operation or maintenance of the improvement or for claims for tortious action, environmental responsibility or any damage proximately caused by the construction, operation or maintenance of the improvement. Any share of liability agreed on in the written operating agreement is the limit of the district's liability without regard to the insolvency or bankruptcy or other inability or unwillingness of any other party to perform its obligations or to pay its proportionate share of those obligations.

B. Costs that are incurred by a person in forming an improvement district that becomes a member of a multijurisdictional entity, including reasonable costs incurred in circulating petitions to form a district, shall be reimbursed by the district and shall be included as incidental expenses of the district.

C. Any county improvement district that is located in a county with a population of less than two hundred thousand persons according to the most recent United States decennial census may purchase an interest in any improvement that is authorized by section 48-909. The district may acquire joint, several or joint and several interests in the improvement.

D. Any multijurisdictional entity that is formed pursuant to this section may enter into a loan repayment agreement with the water infrastructure finance authority of Arizona in the same manner as a county improvement district that is acting pursuant to section 48-909.01. Any loan repayment agreement that is executed between the water infrastructure finance authority of Arizona and a multijurisdictional entity shall also limit the district's repayment obligation to its share as stated in the written operating agreement. This limitation may be evidenced by written acceptance of the district's liabilities and obligations under the loan repayment agreement between the authority and the multijurisdictional entity or by a separate loan repayment agreement or by the delivery of the county improvement district's bonds to the authority to secure the district's obligations under the multijurisdictional entity's loan repayment agreement.