(A) Notice of Hearing. Whenever any officer of the city shall perform any labor or work on any private lot, tract, or parcel of land in the city, or in any street, alley or public way adjacent thereto, which work or labor is authorized to be done by any section of this code, the officer shall report such work together with the cost thereof to the Council at its next regular meeting after such work has been done. The Council shall thereupon fix its next regular meeting as a date upon which such report shall be heard and upon which the owners of such property may be heard with reference to the assessment of the cost of such work against such property. The Clerk-Treasurer shall prepare a notice stating the character of such work, the cost of the same and a description of the property for or on which such work was done and time for hearing the same, which notice shall be delivered to the Chief of Police by the Clerk-Treasurer. The Chief of Police shall at least seven days before the date of such hearing serve such notice on the owner of such property if he is a resident of the city and known by leaving a copy of such notice with the owner. If the owner is a nonresident, the Chief of Police shall serve such notice by sending a copy thereof by registered mail to the owner, if the address of the owner is known to the Chief of Police. If the owner is a nonresident and his address unknown, the Chief of Police shall serve the notice by delivering a copy thereof to the occupant of the real estate described in the notice, and if such real estate is vacant and unoccupied and the resident of the owner is unknown, the Chief of Police shall post a copy of the notice on the property in a conspicuous place, all of which shall be done at least seven days prior to such hearing. The Chief of Police shall report the service of notice at the meeting of the Council.
(B) Hearing. At its meeting, the Council shall hear any property owner whose property is liable to be assessed and is described and mentioned in such report and shall determine the actual cost of the work. If the charge is found reasonable, the amount so determined shall be assessed against such property and shall at once attach and become a lien against the property to the same extent that taxes are a lien, and shall be collected by the Clerk-Treasurer as herein provided.
(C) Assessment Records. The Clerk-Treasurer shall maintain a book known as the “Special Assessment Duplicate,” and he shall enter therein all such assessments, together with a description of the property assessed, the name of the owner, and the nature of the work for which such assessment is made. On the first day of each month the Clerk-Treasurer shall transcribe all such assessments from his records on to the “Special Assessment Duplicate.”
(D) Lien. Such assessments shall be done and become delinquent at the times and on the same terms as taxes are now due and become delinquent and the Clerk-Treasurer shall, if the same are not paid, proceed to advertise and sell the real estate assessed in the same manner as now provided by law for the sale of real estate for delinquent taxes by County Treasurers, or the City Attorney may bring a suit in the name of the city in any court of competent jurisdiction to foreclose the lien.
(‘85 Code, § 4.18)