§1674.5. Report of costs; assessments

Upon the award of the contract as hereinabove provided, the treasurer of the board of commissioners shall prepare a report showing the total cost of the said improvements, including a reasonable amount for engineering fees, legal fees, contingencies and all other expenses incidental to the cost, which report shall also show the amount chargeable to each assessable lot or parcel of real estate in the assessment area of the district in accordance with the provisions of the resolution of intention required by R.S. 38:1674.2. Thereafter, there shall be introduced at any regular meeting or at a special meeting of the board an ordinance levying a local or special assessment on each assessable lot or parcel of real estate in the assessment area of the district in the amount chargeable to it, and no final action shall be taken on final adoption of such ordinance at the meeting at which it is introduced or prior to the next regular meeting of the board occurring at least three weeks after its introduction. Such ordinance shall be introduced substantially in the form in which it is finally passed, and shall remain on file with the secretary of the board for public inspection at least two weeks before final adoption thereof, and notice of the time at which the board proposes to take final action thereon shall be published once in a newspaper published within the district; or, if there be none, in some newspaper published in the parish wherein the district is located, at least one week before the final adoption thereof. Written notice of the introduction of such resolution shall be given to each owner of each assessable lot or parcel of real estate in the assessment area of the district, which notice shall contain a general description of the project or improvement, the amount of the assessment, and the terms of paying therefor. The notice shall be given by depositing said written notice in the United States mail, postage prepaid, and addressed to the owners of each assessable lot or parcel of real estate at the address as it appears on the last approved tax roll on the property to be assessed and said notice shall be mailed at least ten days prior to the date on which the board proposes to take final action thereon. The certificate of the secretary of the board certifying that the foregoing provisions as to notice have been fulfilled shall establish a conclusive legal presumption that the notice requirements of this section have been legally satisfied. On the date designated for final adoption, the board shall then adopt the ordinance levying a local or special assessment on each assessable lot or parcel of real estate in the amount chargeable to it, and the total of all such special assessments shall represent the total cost of said improvements as set forth in the treasurer's report, less that part of the total cost, if any, to be provided from any other source; provided, however, that such assessments shall be levied only on the real estate which the board determines will be improved or benefited by the construction of said improvements. The amounts assessed in said ordinance shall be due and collectible immediately on its passage, and if not paid within thirty days from the date of the adoption of said ordinance, it will be conclusively presumed that any property owner whose property is affected thereby exercises the right and option, which is hereby authorized, to pay the amount due in equal annual installments, bearing interest at a rate or rates not exceeding the maximum rate provided for conventional interest by the Louisiana Civil Code as the same now exists or may be hereafter amended, payable annually, and extending over a period of not exceeding twenty years, all within the discretion of the board, and as provided for in the ordinance levying such local or special assessments. The first installment shall become due on December 31st of the then current year, and annually thereafter. The failure to pay any installment or the interest thereon when due shall ipso facto cause all other installments and interest thereon to become due and payable and the district shall, within thirty days from date of such default, proceed against the property for the collection of the total amount due thereon, including interest, plus ten percent additional on principal and interest unpaid as attorney's fees. A certified copy of said ordinance levying the local or special assessments on the real estate, as aforesaid, shall be filed with the clerk of court in the parish in which the drainage district is situated, who shall forthwith record the same in the mortgage records of the parish, and when so filed and recorded shall operate as a lien and privilege against all real estate therein assessed, and which aforesaid lien and privilege shall prime all other claims except ad valorem taxes. The payments made in cash shall be expended for no other purpose than for the payment of the cost of said improvements.

In order to operate and maintain any drainage facilities financed, in whole or in part, by the levy of local or special assessments as herein provided, the board of commissioners may impose annually an acreage tax in an amount not exceeding five dollars on each acre of land in the district and assessment area except that the high lands shall pay an amount equal to twenty percent of such annual acreage tax as levied against each acre or square foot of the undrained lands in the assessment area. The tax shall be imposed in compliance with the provisions of Article XV of the Constitution of the State of Louisiana for the year 1921, as amended, and shall be collected in the manner set forth in R.S. 38:1633.

Added by Acts 1962, No. 144, §1. Amended by Acts 1970, No. 617, §3.