§ 160A-538.  Extension of service districts.

(a) Standards. - The city council may by ordinance 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;

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

(b) Annexation by Petition. - The city council may also by ordinance 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 council for annexation to the service district.

(c) Report. - Before the public hearing required by subsection (d), the council 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) or (b); 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 city clerk for at least two weeks before the date of the public hearing.

(d) Hearing and Notice. - The council shall hold a public hearing before adopting any ordinance 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 (c) is available for inspection in the office of the city clerk. 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 council to mail the notice shall certify to the council that the mailing has been completed, and his certificate shall be conclusive in the absence of fraud.

(e) Effective Date. - The ordinance extending the boundaries of the district shall take effect at the beginning of a fiscal year commencing after its passage, as determined by the council.

(e1) Passage of Ordinance. - No ordinance annexing territory to a service district as provided for in this section shall be finally adopted until it has been passed at two meetings of the city council by majority vote of the voting members present, and no territory shall be annexed to a service district except by ordinance.

(f) Historic District Boundaries Extension. - A service district which at the time of its creation had the same boundaries as an historic district created under Part 3A of Article 19 of this Chapter may only have its boundaries extended to include territory which has been added to the historic district. (1973, c. 655, s. 1; 1981, c. 53, s. 2; 1987, c. 621, s. 2; 2016-8, s. 3.)