§9-9-11. Establishment of district - Filing of objections to organization of district; hearing and proceedings upon petition and objections; issuance of order declaring organization of district; dismissal of petition and issuance of itemized bill of costs and expenses.

(a) Any owner of real property affected by said proposed district who wishes to object to the organization and incorporation of said district shall, on or before 12:00 noon of the day set for the causes to be heard, file his objection in writing stating why such district should not be organized and incorporated. On the day appointed for the hearing, the court shall hear and determine in a summary manner any objection that may be offered to the sufficiency of the petition or to the report of the engineer or plan submitted by petitioners. If it appears that there is any land within the proposed district that is not in the watershed, if the proposed plan includes purposes other than drainage or is not in the benefited area if the proposed plan includes only the drainage purpose, such lands shall be excluded. If it shall be shown that there is any land without the proposed district that is in the floodplain or elsewhere in the watershed and will be benefited by the proposed works of improvement if the proposed plan includes purposes other than drainage, or is in the benefited area if the proposed plan includes only the drainage purpose, the boundaries of the district may be so changed as to include such lands, and such owners of additional lands shall be made parties to the proceedings; and such notice to the owners of such additional lands shall be given by publication as provided in this article, or by personal service, and the hearing shall be continued to a date to be fixed by the court, upon which date the objections, if any, that are filed to the inclusion of additional lands shall be adjudicated, and such additional lands as may be adjudged in the benefited area shall thereupon be included within the proposed district.

(b) If it further appears that the purpose of this article would be subserved by the creation of the proposed water management district, the court shall, after disposing of objections as justice and equity require, by its findings duly entered of record, adjudicate all questions of jurisdiction and declare the district organized as a body corporate, giving it a corporate name by which in all proceedings it shall thereafter be known with all the powers of a public corporation, with the powers to sue and to be sued, to incur debts, liabilities and obligations, to exercise the powers of eminent domain for the purpose of securing adequate outlets, floodwater-retarding structure sites and such other rights-of-way as may be necessary within and without the district to carry out the intentions of this article and the right of assessment as provided in this article, to issue bonds and to do and perform all acts expressly authorized and all acts necessary and proper for the carrying out of the purpose for which the district was created and for executing the powers with which it is invested.

(c) If the court at the final hearing shall find against the sufficiency of the petition or the improvement, it shall dismiss the petition and proceedings at the cost of the petitioners and shall issue an itemized bill of all costs and expenses, which itemized statements of costs and expenses shall have the full force and effect of a judgment and constitute a lien upon the lands of the petitioners within said proposed district, which liens shall be of equal dignity with the lien for general state, county, city, village, school and road taxes, and the court shall forthwith order the levying and collection of a uniform acreage tax on all of the lands included in the petition owned by the petitioners for organization to meet the expenses incurred, and such tax shall be due and payable as soon as levied; and, if not paid by December 31 of the year in which it is levied, the same shall become delinquent and shall be turned over to the tax collector of the county in which the lands are located for collection, and the collection of such taxes shall be proceeded with in the same manner as delinquent general state and county taxes.

(Acts 1965, No. 685, p. 1246, §9; Acts 1969, No. 442, p. 883, §9.)