Section 73-21-6 - Petition. - New Mexico Statutes

73-21-6. Petition.

A.     The organization of a district shall be initiated by a petition filed in the office of the clerk of the court vested with jurisdiction in a county in which all or part of the real property in the proposed district is situated. The petition shall be signed by not less than twenty-five percent of the taxpaying electors of the district, none of whom shall be an officer, director or shareholder of any business entity with an economic interest in the subdivision and sale of land within the district, provided that at the option of a county and, after adoption of a resolution by the county authorizing the filing of a petition, that county may file a petition which shall be signed by the chairman of the board of county commissioners. The petition and all other instruments relating to the formation of such districts shall be filed with the county clerk of the county in which all or the major portion of the proposed district is located.   

B.     The petition shall set forth:   

(1)     the name of the proposed district consisting of a chosen name preceding the words "water and sanitation district";   

(2)     a general description of the improvements to be constructed or installed within and for the district;   

(3)     the estimated overall cost of the proposed improvements to be constructed or installed within and for the district;   

(4)     an estimated time table for the completion of all intended improvements;   

(5)     the need for the creation of the district and the construction or installation of improvements, stating the nature and extent of the anticipated use of the improvements by persons presently residing on land within the district, and the nature and extent of the anticipated use of the improvements due to future development;   

(6)     a general description of the boundaries of the district or the territory to be included in it, with such certainty as to enable a property owner to determine whether or not his property is within the district;   

(7)     the salary, if any, that the members of the board shall receive for their services; provided, however, that no member of the board shall receive a salary in excess of five dollars ($5.00) per day for each day while in actual attendance upon his duties; and   

(8)     a request for the organization of the district.   

C.     No petition with the requisite signatures shall be declared void on account of alleged defects, but the court may at any time permit the petition to be amended to conform to the facts by correcting any errors in the description of the territory or in any other particular. Similar petitions or duplicate copies of the same petition for the organization of the same district may be filed and shall together be regarded as one petition. All such petitions filed prior to the hearing on the first petition filed shall be considered by the court the same as though filed with the first petition placed on file.