(a) For the purpose of paying the interest on and principal of the bonds issued by the county as in this chapter provided for the water and sewerage systems to be constructed, purchased, or established under this chapter, the board may fix an annual assessment on all properties, improved or unimproved, binding upon a street, road, lane, alley, or right-of-way in which a water main or sewer has been built. The annual assessment shall be made upon the front foot basis, and the first payment shall be collected during the year in which the construction is completed on the water supply or sewerage system or in which the systems are purchased or acquired. All sums collected by the board for benefits levied against the property for water or sewerage construction shall be set aside as a separate fund to be known and designated as the front foot benefit assessment fund.
(b) The board for the purpose of assessing benefits shall divide all properties binding upon a street, road, lane, alley, or right-of-way, in which a water pipe or sanitary sewer is to be laid, into four (4) classes, namely: agricultural, small acreage, industrial or business, and residential, and the board may subdivide each of these classes in such manner as it deems to be in the public interest. Whenever any water or sewerage project in the service area has been completed and declared ready for service, the board shall fix and levy an assessment for the remainder of the fiscal year on a pro rata basis upon all property in the service area abutting upon the water main or sewer, in accordance with the classification or subdivision thereof; and it shall in writing notify all owners of the properties into which class and subdivision their respective properties fall and the charge determine upon, naming also in the notice a time and place, when and at which time the owner will be heard. Such notice may be mailed to the last known address of the owner, or served in person upon any adult occupying the premises or in case of a vacant or unimproved property, posted upon the premises.
(c) The classification of and the benefit assessment made against any property by the board is final, subject only to revision at the hearing. The board may change the classification of properties from time to time as the properties change in the uses to which they are put. The benefit assessment shall be levied for water supply and sewerage construction and shall be based for each class of property upon the number of front feet abutting upon the street, lane, road, alley, or right-of-way in which the water pipe or sewer is placed; provided, however, that in the case of any irregular shaped lot abutting upon a road, street, lane, alley, or right-of-way in which there is or is being constructed a water or sewer system at any point, the lot shall be assessed for such frontage as the board may determine to be reasonable and fair; and provided further that no residential property may be assessed on more than one side unless it abuts upon two (2) parallel streets, that corner lots may be averaged and assessed upon such frontage as the Board may deem reasonable and fair, and that all lots in the residential and industrial or business classification shall be assessed even though a water main or sewer may not extend along the full length of any boundary; and provided further, that no land classified as agricultural by the board shall be assessed a front foot benefit when it has constructed through it or in front of it a sewer or water main until such time as the water or sewer connection is made, and when so made and for every connection such land is liable to a front foot assessment for such reasonable frontage not exceeding three hundred (300) feet, or as may be determined by the board, and shall be immediately assessed at the rate of assessment determined by the board for agricultural land. Any land owned by a religious body upon which there is erected a church or a parsonage and which is used exclusively for customary religious purposes, in the discretion of the Board, may be exempted from front foot benefit assessment for that frontage not exceeding one hundred fifty (150) feet.
(d) Front foot benefit assessments for water supply and sewerage construction shall be as nearly uniform as is practicable for each class or subclass of property for any one year, and no benefit charge, once levied, may be increased; provided, however, that whenever the county acquires an existing system other than a municipal system, the construction of which has been added in whole or in part to the purchase price of land or lots abutting upon the system and which contribution the board has determined to be a factor in the cost to the [commission] county of such system, the board in its discretion may levy such lesser assessment as may take into account this factor.
(e) The amount of the assessment per front foot for each class of property for water and sewer systems may be reduced from time to time by the [commission] board in its discretion, if cost and conditions are deemed by it to justify the reduction, but may be subsequently increased to the amount of the original assessment in the event revenues prove to be insufficient. The benefit assessments shall be paid annually by all properties located as above specified for a period of years coextensive with the period of maturity of the bonds out of the proceeds of which such construction was done.
(f) The county may [at any time] permit a connection with a water main or sewer by a property owner whose property does not abut on the water main or sewer. The entire cost of extending the system to the property to be connected (specifically including, but without limitation, the cost of engineering and feasibility studies, and of acquiring necessary easements) shall be paid by the property owner requesting service. However, if the size of the extension required by the county exceeds that which may be necessary to serve the property of the owner requesting service, then the cost of the excess shall be paid by the county. The costs to be paid by the property owner, as estimated by the county, plus a reasonable reserve for contingencies, shall be deposited by the property owner with the county before the county enters into any contract or incurs any expense in connection with the proposed extension. The cost of the extension required to be paid by the property owner shall be in addition to those front foot benefit assessments as may be assessed according to this chapter, and those connection charges as may be imposed.
(g) The annual benefit assessment or other charge as above specified is a lien upon the property against which it is assessed until paid, any statute of limitations to the contrary notwithstanding, subject only to prior state and county taxes. If any property is sold for state and/or county taxes, or both, by the treasurer of the county, and if after the sale there is a surplus after all costs and expenses incident to the sale have been paid, the county upon proper petition to the circuit court shall be allowed any balance from the surplus, and shall be a preferred lienor to the extent of its lien; and for the purpose of giving notice to the general public as to existing liens and charges against any property within Frederick County abutting upon any water or sewer main, or connected thereto, the board shall keep a public record of all names or owners of property, locations of said property, lot numbers when of record, and the amount of such benefit assessments, water service charges, or such other charges that may become liens from time to time. The records shall be kept in the office of the board as a public record, and when so kept shall be legal notice of all existing liens within Frederick County. The board shall request the county treasurer to print a notice on the state and county tax bills that benefit assessments and other charges for water and sewer services must be paid in the office of the board or elsewhere as the board may designate.
(h) The board may reserve sewerage or water treatment capacity for the development of schools or other public buildings, facilities or services, or industrial development. The amount of capacity held in reserve may not exceed fifteen (15) percent of the system.
(i) In addition to the authority to fix assessments on a front foot benefit basis as described in this section, the county may fix assessments on a basis that is similar and reasonably reflects the benefit to the property, subject to county regulations. The assessments may be levied on all property benefitted by a particular system or systems or may be levied on all property benefitted by water, sewer, or drainage systems.
(Code 1959, § 10A-25; 1968, Chapter 609, § 1; 1972, Chapter 609, § 1; 1979, Chapter 723, § 1; 1988, Chapter 659, § 1)
Ch. 723 of the 1979 Acts designated the above section as section 10A-25 of the 1959 county code; however, such section constitutes an amendment and renumbering of former section 10A-19 of the 1959 Code.
