§ 3341. General provisions—Policy and definitions
(a) It is hereby declared to be the policy of the State to authorize two or more towns
or other municipal corporations to join together to establish a consolidated water
district for the purpose of developing or acquiring a supply of water and a water
distribution system for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of the district or
the member systems within the district with pure water for domestic, sanitary, agricultural,
commercial, and industrial purposes, and for supplying the member towns with water
for all lawful municipal purposes, including development, construction, and operation
of water sources to supply existing municipal water systems.
(b) As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings,
unless the context shall indicate another or different meaning or intent:
(1) “Town” means any municipality within the meaning of 1 V.S.A. § 126.
(2) “Water system” means and includes all plants, systems, facilities or properties used
or useful or having the present capacity for future use in connection with the supply
or distribution of water, and any integral part thereof, including water supply systems,
water distribution systems, reservoirs, wells, intakes, mains, laterals, aqueducts,
pumping stations, standpipes, filtration plants, purification plants, hydrants, meters,
valves, and all necessary appurtenances and equipment and all properties, rights,
easements, and franchises relating thereto and deemed necessary or convenient by the
water commission for the operation thereof.
(3) “Improvements” means such repairs, replacements, additions, extensions, and betterments
of and to a water system as are deemed necessary by the water commissioners to place
or to maintain such system in proper condition for its safe, efficient, and economic
operation or to meet requirements for service in areas that may be served by the district
and for which no existing service is being rendered.
(4) “Cost” as applied to a water system shall include the purchase price of any such system,
the cost of construction, the cost of all labor, materials, machinery, and equipment,
the cost of improvements, the cost of all lands, property, rights, easements, and
franchises acquired, financing charges, interest prior to and during construction
and, if deemed advisable by the water commissioners for one year after completion
of construction, cost of plans and specifications, surveys, and estimates of cost
and of revenues, cost of engineering and legal services, and all other expenses necessary
or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of such construction.
(5) “Wholesale consolidated water district” means a water district established for the
purpose of developing sources of water, together with a system of delivering or treating
it, or both, to existing municipal or private water companies. (1964, No. 20 (Sp. Sess.), § 1, eff. March 10, 1964; amended 1966, No. 10 (Sp. Sess.), eff. Feb. 22, 1966; 1967, No. 209, § 1, eff. April 17, 1967.)
§ 3342. Organization and operation—Establishment of consolidated water district
(a) When a majority of the voters of each town of a proposed consolidated water district
present and voting in each case by Australian ballot at a town meeting duly warned
for that purpose for the same day and during the same hours that shall be at least
eight consecutive hours shall vote to join with one or more neighboring towns as specified
in the warning for the purpose of forming a consolidated water district, such vote
shall be certified by the clerk of each town to the Secretary of State; and when all
towns proposed as members of the consolidated water district as specified in such
vote have so affirmatively voted and the results have been certified to the Secretary
of State, the Secretary of State shall file the same in his or her office and shall
send a written notice to the clerk of each town to be included in the consolidated
water district that the requirements of this section have been met by each town in
the district. Upon the filing of such records in the Office of the Secretary of State,
the consolidated water district shall become a body politic and corporate with the
powers incident to a public corporation and such records shall be notice to all parties
of the establishment of the consolidated water district with all the powers incident
to such a district as provided under this section; and the filing shall be prima facie
evidence that the requirements for the creation of a consolidated water district as
set forth in this section have been fully complied with. A consolidated water district
may sue and be sued and may hold and convey real estate and personal estate for the
use of the district and shall have and may exercise the powers and be subject to the
duties and obligations of a municipal corporation provided for in chapter 89 of this
title so far as the same may be applicable and except as otherwise provided in this
chapter.
(b) A consolidated water district may enter into agreements with the State or federal
governments or any agency of either or any corporation, commission, or board authorized
by the State or federal government to grant or loan money to or otherwise assist in
the financing of projects such as a consolidated water district is authorized to carry
out, and to accept grants and borrow money from any such agency, corporation, commission,
or board, as may be necessary or desirable to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
(c) The district shall have the right of eminent domain as set forth in sections 3301, 3302, 3303, and 3304 of this title within the district.
(d) If a town in its entirety votes to enter a consolidated water district and is accepted
by the district, no village or municipal subdivision thereof may be a member concurrently.
If a town either takes no vote, is not accepted, or declines to be a member of the
district, any municipal subdivision thereof, including a village or fire district,
may be considered under the language of this statute as a “town” and may become a
member. If a subdivision is a member of a consolidated water district and the entire
town later votes to join the district, the town shall replace its municipal subdivisions
in the district. (Added 1964, No. 20 (Sp. Sess.), § 2, eff. March 10, 1964; amended 1967, No. 209, § 2, eff. April 17, 1967; 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 261.)
§ 3343. Organizational meeting
(a) Within 60 days after the Secretary of State notifies the clerks of the member towns
that the requirements of section 3342 of this title have been met, the voters in the consolidated water district shall meet and organize
the district. The meeting shall be warned by the chair of the legislative body of
each town of the district or by a member designated by his or her respective board
to act in the chair’s stead. The warning shall state the day, hour, and place within
the district where the meeting will be held and shall be posted in not less than six
public places in the district, including at least two public places within each member
town, and shall be published three times in a newspaper circulating in the district,
the last publication to be at least six days previous to the day of the meeting. The
meeting shall be called to order by the clerk of the town in which the meeting is
held, at which time a temporary presiding officer and clerk shall be elected from
among the qualified voters. At such organizational meeting or an adjournment of the
meeting, the district shall elect a moderator and a permanent clerk; shall determine
the number of water commissioners constituting the board of water commissioners; and
shall elect a board of water commissioners, who shall be the legislative branch, a
treasurer, and three auditors. All officers elected at the organizational meeting
shall hold office until others are elected and qualified following the first annual
meeting. The selectboard of each town may appoint an alternative water commissioner
for each commissioner elected from that town, whose duty shall be to serve in place
of the elected commissioner if the latter is unable to serve, resigns, or is unable
to proceed in office. The total number of water commissioners and the member from
each member town may be agreed upon by the several member towns in advance of the
organizational meeting. In the absence of such agreement, the number shall be set
by the organizational meeting at not less than three nor more than 11 commissioners,
including at least one from each member town. Changes in the total number of commissioners
may be made at any annual meeting of the district duly warned for that purpose by
vote of two-thirds of those present and voting; except that it shall always include
at least one from each member town. Water commissioners elected at the organizational
meeting shall be elected from nominations made by the several towns at their most
recent annual or special meeting, if such nominations have been made. Water commissioners
to serve on the board of water commissioners of the consolidated district following
the first annual meeting shall be elected by the member towns at their own annual
or special meetings. Such elections shall be by Australian ballot in those member
towns that elect their respective legislative branches by Australian ballot. All other
consolidated water district officers shall be elected by the consolidated district.
When there is only one nominee for any of the offices, the voters may, by acclamation,
instruct an officer to elect that nominee by casting one ballot, and upon the ballot
being cast the nominee shall be declared to be legally elected.
(b) At such organizational meeting or at an adjournment of the meeting, the district may
further authorize its board of water commissioners to pay any expense incurred by
or on behalf of the district in the period between the date on which the member towns
voted to join the district and the first annual meeting of the district. The word
“expense” as used in this chapter shall include the cost of architects, surveyors,
engineers, contractors, lawyers, or other consultants or experts as well as current
operating expenses to be incurred by the district from its organizational meeting
until its first annual meeting. The district may authorize its board of water commissioners
to borrow money pending receipt of payments from the member towns as provided in this
chapter by the issuance of its notes or orders payable not later than one year from
the date. At the organizational meeting, the district shall further select a name
for the district, determine compensation, if any, to be paid to its officers, determine
the date on which its annual meeting shall be held, (which shall not be earlier than
October 1 or later than December 31), and adopt a seal. A certified copy of the vote
designating the name of the consolidated water district shall be forthwith filed by
the clerk of the district with the Secretary of State.
(c) All district officers elected at an annual meeting and water commissioners elected
by their constituent towns shall enter upon their duties on April 1 following their
election, unless a different date is set at an annual meeting. A vacancy occurring
in any district office other than commissioner caused by death, resignation, removal
from the district, or incapacity of an officer to carry his or her duties, shall be
temporarily filled by the board of water commissioners with a person from the municipality
from which the vacancy occurs within 10 days after the vacancy occurs and until the
date when the newly elected officers take office. The vacancy shall be filled at the
next annual meeting of the district. The term of office of the water commissioners
and the auditors shall be three years and all other officers one year. At the first
annual meeting, the terms of office of the commissioners shall be divided by agreement.
If possible by lot, if not, with one-third expiring after one year, and one-third
expiring after two years, or as nearly as may be. At said first annual meeting, one
auditor shall be elected for one year, and one auditor for two years, and thereafter
for three years or until their successors are chosen and qualified.
(d) The fiscal year of a consolidated water district shall be the calendar year. If the
change in the date of an annual meeting is to be made, a notice of the proposed change
shall be inserted in the warning of the annual meeting. (Added 1964, No. 20 (Sp. Sess.), § 3, eff. March 10, 1964; amended 1967, No. 209, § 3, eff. April 17, 1967; 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 262.)
§ 3344. Warnings of meetings
(a) Meetings shall be warned by the clerk, or in case of his or her inability to act,
by a majority of the water commissioners, by posting a notice thereof, specifying
the time, place, and business of the meeting, in not less than five public places
in the district, including at least one public place in each member town, at least
10 days before the time therein specified and causing the same to be published in
a paper circulating in the district, such publication to be not less than 10 days
before the date of the meeting, and the warning shall be recorded in the office of
the clerk before being posted.
(b) Any meeting called for the purpose of considering a bond issue shall be warned as
is provided for in chapter 53, subchapter 1 of this title.
(c) The water commissioners shall have the same authority and obligation to warn or call
meetings of the district as selectmen have to warn or call town meetings. (Added 1964, No. 20 (Sp. Sess.), § 4, eff. March 10, 1964.)
§ 3345. Eligibility of voters
Persons residing within the limits of the district, who are qualified voters in their
town meetings, shall be voters in the district meeting. The moderator, clerk, and
members of the board of water commissioners shall decide all questions as to the eligibility
of a person to vote at a district meeting. (1964, No. 20 (Sp. Sess.), § 5, eff. March 10, 1964.)
§ 3346. Check list
The clerk of each town within a consolidated water district shall furnish to the clerk
of the district, at the expense of the district, authenticated copies of the check
lists of legal voters within said town as the same appears after revision of such
check list before the last town meeting, annual or special, preceding the date of
the district meeting, which check list shall control for the purposes of determining
the voters eligible to vote at the district meeting. Whenever a matter, including
bond issues under chapter 53, subchapter 1 of this title, is to be determined by ballot
or voting machine, the board of water commissioners may designate polling places not
to exceed one in each member town. (1964, No. 20 (Sp. Sess.), § 6, eff. March 10, 1964.)
§ 3347. Record of proceedings
The clerk shall keep a record of the votes and the proceedings of the district meetings
and give certified copies thereof when required. A clerk who neglects to perform
this duty shall forfeit $20.00 to the district, to be recovered in a civil action
on this statute. (1964, No. 20 (Sp. Sess.), § 7, eff. March 10, 1964.)
§ 3348. Finances; water rates; application of revenue
(a)(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3311 of this title, the board of water commissioners of a consolidated water district shall establish
rates for the water and services by meter service and all individuals, firms, and
corporations, whether private, public, or municipal, shall pay to the treasurer of
that district the rates and stand-by charges established by the board of water commissioners.
(2) In those districts in which water is supplied by the consolidated water district to
the consumer, rates shall be uniform within the district. A wholesale consolidated
water district shall set a rate that is uniform to all member towns, and it may further
establish a separate schedule for nonmember users. The board of water commissioners
may also enter into a contract with member and nonmember municipalities for the supply
of water over a period of years.
(3) All rates shall be established so as to provide revenue for the following purposes:
(A) to pay current expenses for operating and maintaining the water systems;
(B) to provide for the payment of interest on the indebtedness created by the district;
(C) to provide each year a sum equal to not less than two percent or more than five percent
of the entire indebtedness created or assumed by the district to pay for the cost
of the water system and improvements to the water system, which sum shall be used
to pay indebtedness maturing in that year or turned into a sinking fund and there
kept to provide for the extinguishment of indebtedness of the district;
(D) to capitalize a sinking fund, the proceeds of which shall be used to match federal
funds.
(4) If any surplus remains at the end of the year, it may be turned into the sinking fund
or used to pay the cost of improvements to the water system.
(b) The money set aside for the sinking fund and any increment thereon shall be devoted
to the retirement of obligations of the district or for the purpose of matching federal
funds, or invested in such securities as savings banks or fiduciaries or trustees
are now or hereafter allowed to hold. The balance of the revenue, if any, required
to meet said expenses shall be apportioned among and collected from member towns as
provided under this chapter.
(c) In the event that a member town in the district elects to establish a system by vote
at an annual or special town meeting for fire protection, a consolidated water district
may, at the expense of that town, purchase and install hydrants in the town and shall
establish an annual fire protection stand-by charge for each hydrant, which charge
shall be uniform throughout the district, and which shall be paid to the treasurer
of the district by the member town in which the system is located. Any municipality
purchasing water from a consolidated water district may, in turn, sell the water to
any adjoining municipality and may set a charge for the water that takes into account,
in addition to the rate paid to the consolidated water district, a sum to cover the
expense of transporting the water to the purchasing municipality. (Added 1964, No. 20 (Sp. Sess.), § 8, eff. March 10, 1964; amended 1967, No. 209, § 4, eff. April 17, 1967; 1997, No. 62, § 63, eff. June 26, 1997; 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 263.)
§ 3349. Annual budget; apportionment; assessment; taxes
(a) The board of water commissioners of the district shall at each annual meeting present
to the district its budget for the ensuing year, which shall include an estimate of
the revenue from water rates and other sources, except taxes and the expenses for
the ensuing year, and the district shall appropriate such sum as it deems necessary
for all of the expenses that are not disapproved (which disapproval shall not include
interest on or principal of any indebtedness created or assumed by the district),
together with the amount required to pay any balance left unpaid from the preceding
year as will not be met from such estimated revenues, expressing the sum in dollars
in its vote. At its first annual meeting, the district shall likewise vote a sum sufficient
to pay any unpaid balance of expense, as defined in section 3343 of this title, that has been incurred by or on behalf of the district. Immediately following the
annual meeting, the board of water commissioners shall compute the share of each member
town in the sums so voted and give notice of the amount to the legislative branch,
as defined in section 1751 of this title, of each member town.
(b) The expense of establishing, acquiring, maintaining, extending, improving, and operating
a water system for a consolidated water district shall, to the extent that the expense
will not be met from the proceeds of indebtedness or from water rates, rents, and
other charges received from the use of the water system, be divided among the member
towns in accordance with a formula agreed to by the member towns by vote at an annual
or special town meeting or, in the absence of any such agreement, as follows: two-thirds
of the expense shall be divided in the proportion that the total number of gallons
distributed to the inhabitants of each member town of the district bears to the total
number of gallons so distributed in all the member towns in the last preceding full
calendar year of operation of the district, and the balance of the expense (or all
of the expense until the water system has been in operation for at least one full
calendar year) shall be divided among the member towns in the proportion that the
population of each member town according to the last rental census bears to the total
population of the district.
(c) The legislative branch of each member town shall, upon receipt of the notice of the
share in the district expenses to be paid by the member town, assess upon the grand
list of the member town, in addition to any tax previously voted on the grand list,
a tax sufficient to raise the member town’s share in the district expenses. The additional
tax as so assessed shall be collected as are other taxes of the member town and be
deposited in the member town’s account. The legislative branch of the member town
shall order the additional tax to be paid over to the treasurer of the district as
collected by the 20th of the month after the member town’s taxes become payable. If
by the end of its fiscal year a member town has failed to collect and pay over to
the treasurer of the district a sum sufficient to pay the member’s share of the expenses
of the district, the legislative branch of the member town shall assess a special
tax of five percent on the grand list of the member town, or such multiple thereof
as is necessary to make up the unpaid balance of the member town’s share, which special
tax shall be collected as are other taxes of the member town. Upon the collection
of the special tax, the same shall be paid over to the treasurer of the district.
If by the end of its fiscal year a member town fails to pay its share of the expenses
of the district, or fails to make up a deficit therein from the preceding year as
provided in this subsection, the board of water commissioners of the district may
bring a civil action on this statute in the name of the district to recover of the
member town twice the amount of the share of the member town as remains unpaid, and
upon judgment may levy its execution against any of the real or personal property
within the member town. (Added 1964, No. 20 (Sp. Sess.), § 9, eff. March 10, 1964; amended 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 264.)
§ 3350. Special tax assessment for payment of execution
When a demand is made upon the district for the payment of an execution issued against
it and the district has no available funds to pay the same, the board of water commissioners
shall compute the share of each member town in such execution, with costs, interest,
and other charges, to be paid by it in accordance with the agreement among the member
towns or the formula established in section 3349 of this title, and shall give notice of the amount thereof to the legislative branch of each member
town. Such member town through its proper officer shall forthwith pay to the treasurer
of the district its share of such execution and any charges. If the member town has
insufficient funds to pay its said share, its legislative branch shall forthwith assess
and have collected a tax sufficient to pay the same in the manner its other taxes
are assessed and collected. (1964, No. 20 (Sp. Sess.), § 10, eff. March 10, 1964.)
§ 3351. Debts and liabilities of member towns
No debt or liabilities of a town that is a member of the district shall accrue against
the district. (1964, No. 20 (Sp. Sess.), § 11, eff. March 10, 1964.)
§ 3352. Tax exemption
Property of a consolidated water district shall be exempt from all taxation by any
town within the district. (1964, No. 20 (Sp. Sess.), § 12, eff. March 10, 1964; amended 1967, No. 209, § 5, eff. April 17, 1967.)
§ 3353. Indebtedness
(a) General obligations. A consolidated water district may incur indebtedness as provided by chapter 53, subchapter
1 of this title and by chapter 89 of this title for the purpose of paying the cost
of a water system and improvements to the water system or for funding or refunding,
including the payment of premium, any bonds or other evidences of indebtedness issued
or assumed by the district, provided, however, that the limits on indebtedness in
chapter 53 of this title or otherwise shall not apply to indebtedness incurred or
assumed by a consolidated district for the purposes of this chapter.
(b) Joint and severable obligations. Obligations incurred under chapter 53, subchapter 1 and chapter 89 of this title or
as otherwise authorized in this chapter by a consolidated water district, except obligations
incurred under chapter 53, subchapter 2, shall be the joint and several obligations
of the district and the member towns composing it. However, as among the member towns,
their respective shares of the obligation shall be apportioned and paid in the manner
provided in this chapter. Any joint or several liability incurred by a member town
under the provisions of this chapter shall not be considered in determining its debt
limit for its own separate purposes. Notwithstanding the limitations in sections 1755 and 1759 of this title, bonds or other evidences of indebtedness of a consolidated water district may be
authorized by a majority of the voters present and voting on the question at a district
meeting, may be paid in not more than 40 years from their date of issue, may be made
callable at the option of the district with or without premium, and the serial maturities
of the bonds or evidences of indebtedness may be so arranged that beginning with the
first year in which principal is payable, the amount of principal and interest payable
in any year shall be as nearly equal as is practicable according to the denominations
in which the bonds or other evidences of indebtedness are issued.
(c) Obligations payable solely from revenue. In addition to the authority granted in this section, a consolidated water district
may issue bonds or other evidences of indebtedness pursuant to chapter 53, subchapter
2 of this title; provided, however, that no such bonds payable solely from revenues
shall be issued while the district has outstanding any bonds or other evidences of
indebtedness for which the district and the member towns are jointly and severally
liable as provided under this chapter, except notes or other evidences of indebtedness
issued temporarily in anticipation of revenue. (Added 1964, No. 20 (Sp. Sess.), § 13, eff. March 10, 1964; amended 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 265.)
§ 3354. Changes in membership; inclusion of additional towns
(a) When a majority of voters of a town, present and voting at a meeting duly warned for
that purpose, vote to apply to a consolidated water district for admission as a member
of that district, the vote shall be certified by the clerk of the town to the clerk
of the consolidated water district and to the Secretary of State. The vote and certification,
if accepted by the consolidated district within two years after the date of the vote,
shall be binding on the town without the subsequent vote in the town contemplated
in subsections (b) and (c) of this section.
(b) When it appears to the board of water commissioners that the boundaries of a consolidated
water district should be changed to include another town, they may insert an article
fully describing the proposed change in the warning for a regular or special meeting
of the district, which proposed change shall state the number of additional members
to be added to the board of water commissioners if the change is approved.
(c) When a majority of the voters voting at such a meeting vote to include an additional
town within the boundaries of the consolidated water district as a member of the district,
the board of water commissioners shall notify the legislative body of the additional
town of the vote. Upon notification, the legislative body of the additional town proposed
to be included shall duly warn a meeting of the town, setting forth in the warning
the vote of the consolidated water district and the proposed change in its boundaries.
If a majority of the voters voting at the meeting of the additional town vote to be
included within the district, the result of that vote and the result of the vote already
taken by the consolidated water district shall be certified to the Secretary of State,
who shall record the same in his or her office. A certificate of the record shall
immediately be filed by the Secretary of State in the office of the clerk of the consolidated
water district and of any additional town to be included as a member of the district,
which filing shall be notice to all parties of the addition to the consolidated district.
(d) A consolidated water district so enlarged shall have all the powers and responsibilities
given it by this chapter. Any vacancy on the board of water commissioners created
as a result of the increase in the number of member towns shall be filled as provided
in section 3343 of this title. The additional member town shall share in the expenses of the district in the proportion
provided in this chapter for other member towns from the date the certificate of the
Secretary of State is filed in the office of the clerk of the district and the office
of the clerk of the additional town. (Added 1964, No. 20 (Sp. Sess.), § 14, eff. March 10, 1964; amended 1967, No. 209, § 6, eff. April 17, 1967; 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 266.)
§ 3355. Withdrawal from district
(a) A town which is a member of a consolidated water district may vote to withdraw from
said district if one year has elapsed since said district has become a body politic
and corporate as provided in section 3342 of this title and if said consolidated water district has not voted to bond itself for construction
or improvements.
(b) When a majority of the voters of a town present and voting at a town meeting duly
warned for that purpose shall vote to withdraw from a consolidated water district
such vote shall thereupon be certified by the clerk of the town to the Secretary of
State who shall thereupon record such certificate in his or her office, and the membership
of the withdrawing town in the consolidated water district to be at an end as of December
31 immediately following or as soon thereafter as the obligations of said withdrawing
district as incurred under this chapter have been paid to the district.
(c) A vote of withdrawal taken after a consolidated water district has become a body politic
and corporate as provided in section 3342 of this title but less than one year after said date shall be null and void. A vote of withdrawal
from a consolidated water district taken after said district has voted to bond itself
for construction or improvements shall be null and void. (1964, No. 20 (Sp. Sess.), § 15, eff. March 10, 1964.)