61 Colo. 340 | Colo. | 1916
delivered the opinion of the court.
The plaintiff in error brought this action to compel the defendant in error, as County Treasurer of Mesa County
The record discloses that in 1913 the district board certified, and the board of county commissioners made, four .levies for district purposes, namely: A. — Interest on bonded indebtedness. B. — For maintenance, operating and current expenses for the year next ensuing. C. — To meet deficiency in the payment of outstanding warrants for maintenance, operating and current expenses issued for 1912. And D. — Same as C., except for years prior to 1912. It also discloses that in 1914 a similar certificate and levy was issued and made, with the exception that the amount to meet the deficiency was not divided into different years. Fifteen per cent was added to each to cover deficiency therein.
The real contention is whether the statute provides that upon its organization the district should pay all warrants in the order of their registration, regardless of the years in which they were issued, or the levy made to take care- of warrants for the expenses .of any year, or whether it was intended that each year’s levy should pay the warrants of that year, and that any deficiency should be paid by a subsequent levy for that purpose. Plaintiff in error contends that the endless chain system was intended, and
This district was organized under our irrigation district act of 1905, and it is agreed that this contention is controlled by certain of its sections. Section 18 reads:
“It shall be the duty of the board of directors, on or before September first of each year, to determine the amount of money required to meet the maintenance, operating and current expenses for the ensuing year, and to certify to the County Commissioners of the county in which the office of said district is located, said amount, together with such additional amount as may be necessary to meet any deficiency in the payment of said expenses theretofore incurred.”
Section 20, among other things, provides that the County Commissioners, upon receipt of the certificate of the board of directors certifying the total amount of money required to be raised as herein provided, shall fix the rate of levy necessary to provide the amount of money required to pay the interest, etc., of- the bonds, also to fix the rate necessary to provide the amount of money required for any other purpose, as in this act provided, and which are to be raised by the levy of assessments upon the real property of the district, etc., to which shall be added fifteen per cent. Section 21 makes the County Treasurer the treasurer of the irrigation district, and provides that he shall receive in payment of the general fund tax above mentioned, for the year in which said taxes were levied, warrants drawn
We agree with plaintiff in error that in the formulation of this act for the operation of irrigation districts, the legislators adhered to the modern policy of keeping municipal or quasi-municipal corporations on a cash basis, or practically so, but we cannot agree that it was not intended that a similar method to that requiring cities and counties to anticipate in each year their expenditures, etc., is impractical or was not intended to apply to these districts, but to the contrary, section 18, supra, requires that they anticipare and certify these amounts; but appreciating the uncertainties that might arise from determining these questions m advance, the legislature attempted to meet them by the latter portion of this section in providing that, upon the following year such additional amount might be raised as is necessary to meet any deficiency in the payment of the expenses theretofore incurred. We also agree with plain
We agree with the plaintiff in error that the act contemplates that the levy made for maintenance, etc., for one year shall be sufficient for that purpose; it so states; and that it, with the fifteen per cent required to be added to the total, was intended to insure the payment of sufficient, regardless of delinquencies, to take up all warrants for that year issued against this levy, but upon account of unforseen contingencies, etc., that might arise, which tend to make the amount needed uncertain, the act recognizes that such might not be the case, and in order that those furnishing the dis
The judgment is affirmed.
Affirmed.
Decision en banc.