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ARTICLE X

IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS

10.1 POWER TO CREATE DISTRICTS. (a) The City Council shall have the power, except as hereafter provided, to create improvement districts within the City for the purpose of constructing or installing local improvements of every character within such districts; to assess the cost thereof, entirely or in part, upon the property benefited within such districts, and to issue local improvement securities therefor.

(b) The City Council shall, by ordinance and consistent with the provisions of this article, prescribe the method and manner of creating improvement districts, including but not limited to the requirements for notice; the method and time for filing objections and disposition thereof; the method and manner of constructing or otherwise acquiring improvements; letting contracts therefor; assessing the cost thereof; issuing and paying securities for the construction, installation, or purchase or equipping of such improvements, including the costs incidental thereto, for assessing the costs thereof, and for all other matters related to improvement districts.

(c) In the ordinance prescribing the method and manner of creating improvement districts, initiation of improvement districts shall be either by:

(1) Ordinance adopted by the City Council on its own motion, or

(2) By petition of the owners of not less than twenty?five percent of the property by area within an improvement district.

(d) The City Council shall create no improvement district without the express written consent of owners of a majority of the property by area within an improvement district. As used in this section, the term "owners" means only those entities or persons in whom record fee title is vested, although such title may be subject to a lien or other encumbrance; and the term "property" means all land, whether platted or unplatted, regardless of improvements thereon and regardless of lot or land lines.

10.2 IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT SECURITIES. Securities for any improvement district payable from special assessments, which payment may be additionally secured as provided in this article, shall not be subject to any debt limitation or otherwise affect the power of the City to incur indebtedness, nor shall such securities be required to be authorized at any election. Such securities shall not be held to constitute a prohibited lending of credit or donation, or to contravene any limitation of this Charter, Colorado statute, or the Constitution of the State of Colorado.

10.3 TRANSFERS OF UNENCUMBERED FUNDS. When all outstanding securities for an improvement district have been paid and monies remain in accounts provided for such improvement district or for payment of such securities, such monies may be transferred, in whole or in part, by resolution of the City Council to any other fund of the City or to a surplus and deficiency fund. Whenever the monies in any improvement district fund are insufficient to pay the principal of, premium, if any, or interest on any securities, monies sufficient therefor shall be transferred from the surplus and deficiency fund to the extent such monies are available.

10.4 PAYMENT OF SECURITIES. In addition to any other provision for payment, whenever there has been paid and canceled three-fourths of the securities issued for a local improvement district and for any reason the remaining assessments are not paid in time to redeem the final securities for an improvement district, the City shall pay the securities when due and reimburse itself by collecting the unpaid assessments due the improvement district.

10.5 REVIEW OF IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT PROCEEDINGS. No action or proceeding, at law or in equity, to review any acts or proceedings, or to question the validity of, or enjoin the issuance or payment of any securities; or the levy or collection of any assessments authorized by this article, or for any other relief against any acts or proceedings of the City done or had under this article, shall be maintained against the City, unless commenced within twenty days after the performance of such act or the effective date of the ordinance or resolution complained of, or else be thereafter forever barred.

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