NRS318.118. Insect and rat extermination and abatement.

      1.  In the case of a district created wholly or in part for exterminating and abating mosquitoes, flies, other insects, rats, and liver fluke or Fasciola hepatica, the board may:

      (a) Take all necessary or proper steps for the extermination of mosquitoes, flies, other insects, rats, or liver fluke or Fasciola hepatica in the district or in territory not in the district but so situated with respect to the district that mosquitoes, flies, other insects, rats, or liver fluke or Fasciola hepatica from that territory migrate or are caused to be carried into the district;

      (b) Subject to the paramount control of any county or city in which the district has jurisdiction, abate as nuisances all stagnant pools of water and other breeding places for mosquitoes, flies, other insects, rats, or liver fluke or Fasciola hepatica in the district or in territory not in the district but so situated with respect to the district that mosquitoes, flies, other insects, rats, or liver fluke or Fasciola hepatica from that territory migrate or are caused to be carried into the district;

      (c) If necessary or proper, in the furtherance of the objects of this chapter, build, construct, repair and maintain necessary dikes, levees, cuts, canals or ditches upon any land, and acquire by purchase, condemnation or by other lawful means, in the name of the district, any lands, rights-of-way, easements, property or material necessary for any of those purposes;

      (d) Make contracts to indemnify or compensate any owner of land or other property for any injury or damage necessarily caused by the use or taking of property for dikes, levees, cuts, canals or ditches;

      (e) Enter upon without hindrance any lands, within or without the district, for the purpose of inspection to ascertain whether breeding places of mosquitoes, flies, other insects, rats, or liver fluke or Fasciola hepatica exist upon those lands;

      (f) Abate public nuisances in accordance with this chapter;

      (g) Ascertain if there has been a compliance with notices to abate the breeding of mosquitoes, flies, other insects, rats, or liver fluke or Fasciola hepatica upon those lands;

      (h) Treat with oil, other larvicidal material, or other chemicals or other material any breeding places of mosquitoes, flies, other insects, rats, or liver fluke or Fasciola hepatica upon those lands;

      (i) Sell or lease any land, rights-of-way, easements, property or material acquired by the district; and

      (j) Sell real property pursuant to this subsection to the highest bidder at public auction after 5 days’ notice given by publication.

      2.  In connection with the basic power stated in this section, the district may:

      (a) Levy annually a general ad valorem property tax of not exceeding:

             (1) Fifteen cents on each $100 of assessed valuation of taxable property; or

             (2) Twenty cents on each $100 of assessed valuation of taxable property if the board of county commissioners of each county in which the district is located approves such a tax in excess of 15 cents on each $100 of assessed valuation of taxable property.

      (b) Levy a tax in addition to a tax authorized in paragraph (a), if the additional tax is authorized by the qualified electors of the district, as provided in subsections 4 to 7, inclusive.

      3.  The proceeds of any tax levied pursuant to the provisions of this section must be used for purposes pertaining to the basic purpose stated in this section, including, without limitation, the establishment and maintenance of:

      (a) A cash-basis fund of not exceeding in any fiscal year 60 percent of the estimated expenditures for the fiscal year to defray expenses between the beginning of the fiscal year and the respective times tax proceeds are received in the fiscal year; and

      (b) An emergency fund of not exceeding in any fiscal year 25 percent of the estimated expenditures for the fiscal year to defray unusual and unanticipated expenses incurred during epidemics or threatened epidemics from diseases from sources which the district may exterminate or abate.

      4.  Whenever it appears to the board of a district authorized to exercise the basic power stated in subsection 1 that the amount of money required during an ensuing fiscal year will exceed the amount that can be raised by a levy permitted by paragraph (a) of subsection 2, the board may:

      (a) At a special election or the next primary or general election submit to the qualified electors of the district a question of whether a tax shall be voted for raising the additional money;

      (b) Provide the form of the ballot for the election, which must contain the words “Shall the district vote a tax to raise the additional sum of ........?” or words equivalent thereto;

      (c) Provide the form of the notice of the election and provide for the notice to be given by publication; and

      (d) Arrange other details in connection with the election.

      5.  A special election may be held only if the board determines, by a unanimous vote, that an emergency exists. The determination made by the board is conclusive unless it is shown that the board acted with fraud or a gross abuse of discretion. An action to challenge the determination made by the board must be commenced within 15 days after the board’s determination is final. As used in this subsection, “emergency” means any unexpected occurrence or combination of occurrences which requires immediate action by the board to prevent or mitigate a substantial financial loss to the district or to enable the board to provide an essential service to the residents of the district.

      6.  Except as otherwise provided in this chapter:

      (a) The secretary of the district shall give notice of the election by publication and shall arrange such other details in connection with the election as the board may direct;

      (b) The election board officers shall conduct the election in the manner prescribed by law for the holding of general elections and shall make their returns to the secretary of the district; and

      (c) The board shall canvass the returns of the election at any regular or special meeting held within 6 working days following the date of the election, or at such later time as the returns are available for canvass, and shall declare the results of the election.

      7.  If a majority of the qualified electors of the district who voted on any proposition authorizing the additional tax voted in favor of the proposition, and the board so declares the result of the election:

      (a) The district board shall report the result to the board of county commissioners of the county in which the district is situated, stating the additional amount of money required to be raised. If the district is in more than one county the additional amount must be prorated for each county by the district board in the same way that the district’s original total estimate of money is prorated, and the district board shall furnish the board of county commissioners and auditor of each county a written statement of the apportionment for that county; and

      (b) The board of county commissioners of each county receiving the written statement shall, at the time of levying county taxes, levy an additional tax upon all the taxable property of the district in the county sufficient to raise the amount apportioned to that county for the district.

      8.  The district shall not:

      (a) Borrow money except for medium-term obligations pursuant to chapter 350 of NRS;

      (b) Levy special assessments; or

      (c) Fix any rates, fees or other charges except as otherwise provided in this section.

      9.  The district may determine to cause an owner of any real property to abate any nuisance pertaining to the basic power stated in this section, after a hearing on a proposal for such an abatement and notice thereof by mail addressed to the last known owner or owners of record at the last known address or addresses of the owner or owners, as ascertained from any source the board deems reliable, or in the absence of the abatement within a reasonable period fixed by the board, to cause the district to abate the nuisance, as follows:

      (a) At the hearing, the district board shall redetermine whether the owner must abate the nuisance and prevent its recurrence, and shall specify a time within which the work must be completed;

      (b) If the nuisance is not abated within the time specified in the notice or at the hearing, the district board shall abate the nuisance by destroying the larvae or pupae, or otherwise, by taking appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of further breeding;

      (c) The cost of abatement must be repaid to the district by the owner;

      (d) The money expended by the district in abating a nuisance or preventing its recurrence is a lien upon the property on which the nuisance is abated or its recurrence prevented;

      (e) Notice of the lien must be filed and recorded by the district board in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the property is situated within 6 months after the first item of expenditure by the board;

      (f) An action to foreclose the lien must be commenced within 6 months after the filing and recording of the notice of lien;

      (g) The action must be brought by the district board in the name of the district;

      (h) When the property is sold, enough of the proceeds to satisfy the lien and the costs of foreclosure must be paid to the district and the surplus, if any, must be paid to the owner of the property if known, and if not known, must be paid into the court in which the lien was foreclosed for the use of the owner if ascertained; and

      (i) The lien provisions of this section do not apply to the property of any county, city, district or other public corporation, except that the governing body of the county, city, district or other public corporation shall repay to any district exercising the basic power stated in subsection 1 the amount expended by the district upon any of its property pursuant to this chapter upon presentation by the district board of a verified claim or bill.

      (Added to NRS by 1967, 1694; A 1973, 13; 1993, 1061; 1995, 1815; 2007, 623)