§ 153A-303.  Extension of service districts.

(a) Standards. - The board of commissioners may by resolution annex territory to any service district upon finding that:

(1) The area to be annexed is contiguous to the district, with at least one eighth of the area's aggregate external boundary coincident with the existing boundary of the district; and

(2) That the area to be annexed requires the services of the district.

(b) Annexation by Petition. - The board of commissioners may also by resolution extend by annexation the boundaries of any service district when one hundred percent (100%) of the real property owners of the area to be annexed have petitioned the board for annexation to the service district.

(c) Territory lying within the corporate limits of a city or sanitary district may not be annexed to a service district unless the governing body of the city or sanitary district agrees by resolution to such annexation.

(d) Report. - Before the public hearing required by subsection (e), the board shall cause to be prepared a report containing:

(1) A map of the service district and the adjacent territory, showing the present and proposed boundaries of the district;

(2) A statement showing that the area to be annexed meets the standards and requirements of subsections (a), (b), and (c); and

(3) A plan for extending services to the area to be annexed.

The report shall be available for public inspection in the office of the clerk to the board for at least two weeks before the date of the public hearing.

(e) Hearing and Notice. - The board shall hold a public hearing before adopting any resolution extending the boundaries of a service district. Notice of the hearing shall state the date, hour and place of the hearing and its subject, and shall include a statement that the report required by subsection (d) is available for inspection in the office of the clerk to the board. The notice shall be published at least once not less than one week before the date of the hearing. In addition, the notice shall be mailed at least four weeks before the date of the hearing to the owners as shown by the county tax records as of the preceding January 1 of all property located within the area to be annexed. The notice may be mailed by any class of U.S. mail which is fully prepaid. The person designated by the board to mail the notice shall certify to the board that the mailing has been completed, and his certificate shall be conclusive in the absence of fraud.

(f) Effective Date. - The resolution extending the boundaries of the district shall take effect at the beginning of a fiscal year commencing after its passage, as determined by the board. (1973, c. 489, s. 1; c. 822, s. 2; 1981, c. 53, s. 2.)