Relating to record access by members of certain special districts and associations providing utility service

This bill provides that if a rural water district, rural water association, nonprofit cooperative association, or cooperative association provides utility service to members, the most recent biennial report and financial information, including the budget and balance sheet, for the rural water district, rural water association, nonprofit cooperative association, or cooperative association must be made available to a member within days of a reasonable request by the member. A rural water district means a rural water district incorporated and organized pursuant to the provisions of Code chapter 357A. A rural water association means a rural water association organized and incorporated as a cooperative association under Code chapter 499 or as a nonprofit corporation under Code chapter 504. A nonprofit cooperative association means a corporate body composed of actual producers or consumers of the given commodity handled by the association, whose business is conducted for the mutual benefit of its members and not for the profit of stockholders, and for which control is vested in its members upon the basis of one vote to each member. A cooperative association is one that deals with or functions for its member and that distributes its net earnings among its members in proportion to their dealings with it, except for limited dividends or other items permitted in Code chapter 499, and in which each voting member has one vote and no more.