Oregon Statutes - Chapter 523 - Geothermal Heating Districts

• 523.010   Definitions.
  As used in this chapter unless the context requires otherwise: (1) “Board” or “board of commissioners” means the governing body of a district. (2) “By-product”...
• 523.015   Definitions for ORS 523.020.
  For the purposes of ORS 523.020 and this section, notwithstanding ORS 523.610 to 523.670, “board,” as defined in ORS 523.010, includes the governing body of...
• 523.020   City as geothermal heating district.
  (1) An incorporated city, when empowered by its charter to do so, may provide geothermal heating services to persons within and without its boundaries in...
• 523.030   Formation of geothermal heating districts; disposal of surplus; exclusion from district.
  A geothermal heating district may be formed for the purpose of supplying inhabitants of the district with geothermal heat as provided by this chapter. In...
• 523.040   Powers of district; emergency power; applying for financing gifts and grants.
  (1) A district formed under this chapter shall have the power to make contracts, hold and receive and dispose of real and personal property within...
• 523.050   Water and real property transactions; right to obtain geothermal heat from other sources.
  A geothermal heating district may purchase, sell and hold interests in water and real property in carrying out the objects of the district. A district...
• 523.060   Cooperative agreements; bonds.
  (1) Districts may enter into cooperative agreements with each other providing for the joint acquisition, construction, ownership, use or control of facilities for the collection,...
• 523.070   Authority to perform drainage work.
  Any district may perform drainage work for the purpose of reclaiming real property located within the district, protecting real or personal property located within the...
• 523.110   Regulations on use of geothermal heat; effect of failure to comply.
  Any district may adopt and promulgate regulations concerning the use of geothermal heat and the property of the district. The board of commissioners may refuse...
• 523.120   Deposit or other security for use of heat.
  Any district may require a reasonable cash deposit or an irrevocable letter of credit to insure payment for the use or rent of geothermal heat...
• 523.130   Rates; contracts with users.
  A geothermal heating district shall charge consumers for the geothermal heat furnished and fix and collect the rates therefor. Rates charged may be fixed and...
• 523.140   Rate increase procedure.
  (1) Whenever any increase is proposed in the existing rates charged geothermal heat consumers by a district pursuant to ORS 523.130, the board of commissioners...
• 523.150   Termination of service for nonpayment of heating charge.
  In case prompt payment of geothermal heating rent or charge is not made, a district may shut off the geothermal heating supply to the building,...
• 523.160   Refund of heating service extension costs by owner of adjacent property.
  If any person is required by a district to pay the cost of extending a geothermal heating pipeline adjacent to property other than the property...
• 523.210   Special assessment for improvements; report; contents.
  Whenever the district board considers it necessary, upon its own motion, or upon the petition of the owners of one-half of the property that benefits...
• 523.220   Action on special assessment report by board.
  After the report has been filed with the secretary, the district board may by motion approve the report, modify the report and approve it as...
• 523.230   Approval of special assessment report; notice of improvement; contents.
  After the district board approves the report as submitted or modified, the board shall, by resolution, declare its intention to make the improvement, provide the...
• 523.240   Means of constructing improvement.
  The board of a geothermal heating district may provide in the improvement resolution that the construction work will be done in whole, or in part,...
• 523.250   Order to carry out or abandon improvement after public hearing; assessment ordinance.
  (1) At the time of the public hearing on the proposed improvement, if the written remonstrances represent less than the amount of property required to...
• 523.260   Method of assessment.
  The district board in adopting a method of assessment of the costs of the improvement may: (1) Use any just and reasonable method of determining...
• 523.270   Appeal of assessment.
  Any person feeling aggrieved by the assessments made under an assessment ordinance may, within 20 days after the passage of the ordinance levying the assessment...
• 523.280   Notice of assessment to property owners; publication; contents.
  Within 10 days after the ordinance levying assessments is adopted, the secretary of the district shall send by registered or certified mail a notice of...
• 523.290   Entry of amount of assessment; lien; priority; foreclosure.
  After passage of the assessment ordinance by the district board, the secretary shall enter in the docket of district liens a statement of the amounts...
• 523.310   Errors in assessment.
  Claimed errors in the calculation of assessments shall be called to the attention of the secretary of the district, who shall determine whether there has...
• 523.320   Deficit assessment; hearing; objections; notices.
  In the event that an assessment is made before the total cost of the improvement is ascertained, and if it is found that the amount...
• 523.330   Excess assessment; credit; rebate.
  Upon the completion of the improvement project, if it is found that the assessment previously levied upon any property is more than sufficient to pay...
• 523.340   Abandonment of improvement; cancellation of liens; refunds.
  The district board may abandon proceedings for an improvement at any time prior to the final completion of the improvement. If liens have been assessed...
• 523.350   Restriction on rendering assessment invalid; correction by board.
  No improvement assessment shall be rendered invalid by reason of a failure of the improvement report to contain all of the information required by ORS...
• 523.360   Reassessment.
  Whenever any assessment, deficit assessment or reassessment for any improvement which has been made by the district is set aside, or its enforcement restrained by...
• 523.370   [1975 c.782 §34; repealed by 1995 c.333 §37]
• 523.380   Foreclosure of assessment lien.
  (1) In case the whole or any portion of the cost of an improvement is assessed against the property directly benefited and the owner of...
• 523.410   Ad valorem taxation; special tax; collection; enforcement; boundary changes.
  (1) A district may assess, levy and collect taxes in an amount each year not to exceed one-fourth of one percent (0.0025) of the real...
• 523.420   Disposal of taxes levied by invalid district.
  When an attempt has been made to organize a district under the provisions of this chapter and subsequently by a judgment of a court it...
• 523.460   General obligation bonds; limit; issuance; maturity; interest; election; pledge of revenue.
  (1) For the purpose of carrying into effect all or any powers granted by this chapter, the district, when authorized at any properly called election...
• 523.470   Revenue bonds; terms; issuance.
  In addition to the authority to issue general obligation bonds, the district, when authorized at any properly called election, shall have the power to sell...
• 523.480   Refunding bonds.
  Refunding bonds of the same character and tenor as those replaced thereby may be issued pursuant to a resolution duly adopted by the board of...
• 523.490   Issuance of bonds.
  All general obligation and revenue bonds, including refunding bonds, authorized under ORS 523.460 to 523.480 shall be issued as prescribed in ORS chapter 287A. [1975...
• 523.510   Assumption of debts and obligations of district upon dissolution.
  (1) A city may enter into a written agreement with a geothermal heating district contemplating dissolution undertaking to assume, in the event of such dissolution,...
• 523.610   Board; election; authority; term; vacancy.
  (1) Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, the power and authority given to districts is vested in and shall be exercised by a board...
• 523.620   [1975 c.782 §37; repealed by 1983 c.350 §331]
• 523.625   Election laws applicable.
  (1) ORS chapter 255 governs the following: (a) The nomination and election of commissioners. (b) The conduct of district elections. (2) The electors of a...
• 523.630   Meetings; officers; quorum; employees; employee benefits.
  (1) The board of commissioners shall hold meetings at such time and place within the district as it may determine. The board shall hold at...
• 523.640   Special election.
  The board of commissioners at any regular meeting may call a special election of the electors of the district. [1975 c.782 §38]
• 523.650   [1975 c.782 §40; repealed by 1983 c.350 §331]
• 523.660   District funds; deposit; records.
  (1) The money of a district shall be deposited in one or more depositories, as defined in ORS 295.001, to be designated by the board...
• 523.670   Agreements between district and annexed or joined city.
  If a city has been annexed to a district under ORS 198.866 and 198.867 or joined to a district under ORS 198.910, the city and...
• 523.680   Employees’ retirement system; establishment; contents.
  (1) A district may establish an employees’ retirement system. The board of commissioners may enter into agreements necessary to establish the system and carry out...
• 523.690   Payments to retirement plan fund.
  The district may budget and provide for payment into the fund of the retirement plan an amount sufficient: (1) To provide on an actuarial reserve...
• 523.700   Employee contributions to retirement plan.
  The district may collect, as a contribution from any employee, that percentage of the salary received by the employee which is necessary to fund on...
• 523.710   Limit on eligible individuals in retirement plan.
  Nothing in this chapter authorizes the district to budget, provide for payments or collect contributions to fund retirement benefits for an individual who is not...

Last modified: August 7, 2008