TITLE 31

COUNTIES AND COUNTY LAW

CHAPTER 9

RECLAMATION, DRAINAGE AND DROUGHT RELIEF — COOPERATION WITH FEDERAL AGENCIES

31-901.  Cancelation or adjustment of taxes. Whenever, in matters relating to reclamation, drainage and drought relief, the board of county commissioners shall deem it necessary or desirable to cooperate with any department or agency of the government of the United States authorized to make loans to irrigation or drainage districts, or loans on real property or farm crops, or with any agency or corporation created or organized under any act of congress and authorized to make such loans, including the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, the Federal Housing Administration and the Farm Credit Administration, and any agency or corporation operating under the supervision of said Farm Credit Administration or Federal Housing Administration, in order to make available to the people of any district or community within the county the benefits that may accrue from the loaning of money to or in such district or community by any such agency or agencies, and if, in the judgment of the board, the public interest and common welfare require that any ad valorem tax be canceled or otherwise adjusted in order to effect such cooperation and make available the benefits herein referred to, and if it be found that the cancelation or adjustment of such taxes will not be detrimental to the interest of the county or the tax-levying bodies affected thereby, the board of county commissioners, if the tax be a lien upon real property in such county, shall have power and authority to cancel or otherwise adjust such tax upon the conditions and in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth, if it finds and determines that one (1) or more of the following conditions exist:

(a)  The lands upon which the tax is a lien are situated in an irrigation project having a water right so inadequate, uncertain and undependable that the landowners have found it necessary to reorganize and readjust the project by eliminating a substantial acreage therefrom and transferring the water rights appurtenant to the lands eliminated to the remaining lands in order to assure the production of normal crops on the lands retained in the project, and that it is believed that the lands retained in the project, upon the consummation of the readjustment, will be able to pay the taxes thereafter levied against such lands, and that the cancelation or adjustment of the taxes theretofore levied is deemed necessary to accomplish a readjustment of the project and make available to the farmers and landowners thereon the benefits that may be had from any such lending agency or agencies; or

(b)  The lands on which such taxes are a lien are located within an irrigation or drainage district or are served by an incorporated water company which is refinancing its outstanding indebtedness, the payment of which is a charge against such lands, on a substantially reduced basis, and that the cancelation or adjustment of such tax is necessary in order to enable such district or company to obtain such reduction and refinancing of its indebtedness, and that by such action the lands will be enhanced in value and become better able to pay the taxes thereafter levied and assessed against such lands and will thereby by [be] qualified to receive the benefits that may be had from any such lending agency or agencies; or

(c)  The irrigation or drainage works serving such lands, or dikes protecting the same against overflow, have been damaged or destroyed by flood or other unforeseen casualty, or are in such condition that it is impossible to finance the necessary repair or reconstruction of such works through or with the aid of any such lending agency or agencies, without an adjustment of the unpaid taxes on the lands affected thereby.

History:

[31-901, added 1935 (1st E.S.), ch. 52, sec. 1, p. 137.]