27-129. CONSOLIDATION OF DISTRICT — ELECTION. Any cemetery maintenance district may consolidate with one (1) or more existing cemetery maintenance districts, provided that at least one (1) district in the proposed consolidation contains less than one hundred fifty (150) registered electors when consolidation is proposed, and that none of the districts are farther than ten (10) miles apart from any other district in the proposed consolidation. Such a consolidation is only permitted subject to the following procedure and with the following effects:

(1) If, the board of any cemetery maintenance district determines that consolidation with one (1) or more other existing cemetery maintenance districts would be to the advantage of the district, the board will cause to be prepared an agreement for consolidation that will provide:

(a) The name of the proposed consolidated cemetery district;

(b) That all property of the districts to be consolidated will become the property of the consolidated district;

(c) That all debts of the districts to be consolidated shall become the debts of the consolidated district;

(d) That the existing commissioners of the districts to be consolidated shall be the commissioners of the consolidated district until the next election, said election to be held pursuant to the terms of section 27-111, Idaho Code, at which three (3) commissioners shall be elected, unless the agreement of consolidation establishes a five (5) member board, in which case five (5) commissioners shall be elected. If the board consists of three (3) members, commissioners from cemetery subdistricts one (1) and two (2) shall be elected for terms of four (4) years, and the commissioner from cemetery subdistrict three (3) shall be elected for a term of two (2) years. If the board consists of five (5) commissioners, the commissioners from cemetery subdistricts one (1), three (3) and five (5) shall be elected for terms of four (4) years, and the commissioners from cemetery subdistricts two (2) and four (4) shall be elected for an initial term of two (2) years. Thereafter, the term of all commissioners shall be four (4) years; and

(e) At least one (1) public hearing shall be held by the boards of cemetery district commissioners prior to the election.

(2) After approval of the agreement by each of the cemetery maintenance district boards, such consolidation must then be presented to the electors of the cemetery districts for ratification in order to take effect. An election ratifying an agreement consolidating cemetery maintenance districts must be held in an even-numbered year on the dates provided in section 34-106(1)(a) and (b), Idaho Code. The board of each district involved in the proposed consolidation must approve the agreement at least eighty (80) days before such an election and the county clerk where each district is located must be notified of the agreement of consolidation at least eighty (80) days before such an election.

(3) The county clerk will provide personal notice of the election by mail to each elector of the district and notice of whether a levy rate would increase as a consequence of the proposed consolidation, detailing the levy rate that would be adopted by consolidation. The election will otherwise be conducted as provided in section 27-106, Idaho Code, except that the question will be "Consolidation of…. cemetery districts, yes," or "Consolidation of…. cemetery districts, no," or words equivalent thereto. If more than one-half (1/2) of the votes cast for each of the affected districts are yes, the agreement will become effective. If more than one-half (1/2) of the votes cast in either of the affected districts are no, the agreement will be void and of no effect.

(4) Upon the agreement of consolidation becoming effective, the board of the consolidated cemetery district will file a certified copy of the agreement with the county recorder and comply with the provisions of section 63-215, Idaho Code. The consolidated district will thereafter have the same rights and obligations as any other district organized under the statutes of this state.

(5) When the agreement of consolidation is filed with the county recorder, the county commissioners will divide the cemetery maintenance district into as many subdistricts as are provided in the agreement of consolidation. The subdistricts will be as nearly equal in population, area and mileage as practicable. The subdistricts will be used in the next election following consolidation and in elections thereafter as provided in subsection (1)(d) of this section and section 27-111, Idaho Code.

(6) An agreement of consolidation will not take effect unless such consolidation complies with the provisions of section 27-121(2), Idaho Code.

History:

[27-129, added 2018, ch. 196, sec. 6, p. 442.]