SPONSOR: Bromley
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Local Government by a vote of 11 to 1. Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Rules-Adminstrative by a vote of 6 to 2 with 1 voting present.
Currently, a decree of dissolution to dissolve a public water supply must be passed by a majority of two-thirds of the voters of the district voting on the proposition. This bill reduces the percentage of voters needed to pass the dissolution decree to a majority of four-sevenths of the voters.
This bill is the same as HB 2782 (2024).
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that public water supply districts are much more costly and complicated than they used to be. It is sometimes not beneficial for a community to maintain ownership of the water system. Often smaller communities are burdened by the cost of doing this. There are a number of existing safeguards in place to ensure widespread support for selling the district; this just makes one of those steps more achievable.
Testifying in person for the bill were Representative Bromley; and Missouri American Water.
OPPONENTS: Those who oppose the bill say that it is extremely difficult to create a public water supply district and should be equally difficult to sell one. These water systems become significant assets for the communities that create them. There should be widespread agreement in the community to sell this asset. This bill would make it easier to sell a public water supply district than create one.
Testifying in person against the bill were Public Water Supply District #2 of St. Charles County; Association of Water Districts; Missouri Rural Water Districts; and Arnie C. Dienoff.
Written testimony has been submitted for this bill. The full written testimony and witnesses testifying online can be found under Testimony on the bill page on the House website.
Statutes affected: