No. CS/CS/HB 1075
Filed under Local Government.
Utilities ; Requires municipalities that operate utility services to allow other municipalities & property owners outside its municipal boundaries to connect with & use its utility services under specified conditions; prohibits municipalities that operate utility services from denying such services based on specified criteria; requires municipalities to make certain determinations; provides for appeal of such determinations; provides that municipalities are not liable for such fees & costs under certain conditions; authorizes notices for rural electrical cooperative board of trustees meetings to be delivered by electronic mail; revises notice requirements for meetings during which elections will occur; requires board of trustees, beginning on specified date, to annually prepare list of cooperative members & to make list available for certain inspection; revises quorum requirements; revises requirements for rural electrical cooperative bylaws; requires appointment of election inspectors; authorizes rural electric cooperatives to conduct elections & membership votes through electronic voting; requires electronic voting to be authorized by resolution of board of trustees; provides for cooperative members to consent to & opt out of electronic voting; provides for cooperative members to petition board of trustees to adopt electronic voting.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDA municipality that runs a utility must now let a nearby municipality or property owner outside its boundaries connect, if the system has spare capacity, the property isn't already served by another utility, and it sits within a mile of a main line.
A city cannot refuse a connection just because the property owner won't agree to annexation, and a denial for lack of capacity can be appealed to court, where the city risks paying the owner's legal fees if it loses without a good-faith engineering basis.
Separately, a municipality can no longer use its zoning or land-use rules to block another local government's upgrade of an existing wastewater plant or pump station sitting inside city limits, as long as that infrastructure predates the stricter rule.
Rural electric cooperatives get new election rules too: quorum jumps from 1 to 5 percent of members (10 percent for trustee elections), inspectors must oversee vote counts, and members can now vote online if the board or a member petition authorizes it.
AIA municipality that operates a utility must now allow a qualifying outside municipality or property owner to connect, replacing the old rule that merely let it permit such connections at its own discretion.
AIA municipality may not deny a connection request just because the property owner will not consent to annexation, unless the property is already tied up in an annexation, developer, or joint planning agreement as of July 1, 2026.
AIA municipality must issue a written, engineering-based capacity determination within 30 days of a complete application; a denied applicant may appeal to circuit court for de novo review, and a municipality that loses can be ordered to pay the applicant's attorney fees and court costs.
AIA municipality may not apply its comprehensive plan or land-use rules to block another political subdivision's upgrade of existing wastewater treatment, lift, vacuum, or pump station infrastructure that already sits within the municipality's boundaries.
AIThe share of rural electric cooperative members needed for a quorum rises from 1 percent to 5 percent present in person for ordinary business, and to 10 percent for any meeting electing trustees.
AIA rural electric cooperative may let members vote online if each member consents and the system meets identity-authentication, vote-integrity, receipt, and ballot-secrecy requirements set out in the new law.
AIA municipality serving water or wastewater into a county-designated economic development zone outside its boundaries must sign an interlocal agreement with the county covering service responsibilities, cost allocation, timelines, and dispute resolution.
AICooperative bylaws must include a process for members to nominate trustee candidates, for the board to certify their qualifications, and for a rejected nominee to challenge that decision; every trustee election must also have appointed inspectors who verify turnout, validate ballots, and count votes.