(a) Number; minimum amount. Annual installments shall not exceed ten in number, as Council may determine at the time of confirmation of a special assessment roll, and if a division of the assessment operates to make any installment less than $10, the City Assessor shall reduce the number of installments so that each installment shall be above and as near to $10 as possible.
(b) Due date. All special assessments levied under this chapter shall become due upon confirmation of the special assessment roll, and if they are to be paid in annual installments, Council shall determine the first installment to be due upon confirmation of the roll. Deferred installments shall be due annually thereafter, or, at the discretion of Council, they may be spread upon and made a part of each annual city tax roll thereafter until all are paid.
(c) First installment spread. The first installment of any special assessment shall be spread upon a special city tax roll in a column headed “Special Assessment,” or upon the next annual city tax roll, at the direction of Council. If such first installment is spread on a special tax roll, it may be paid at any time within three months from the date of confirmation without penalties, and if unpaid on or before such three-month period, it shall be added to and made a part of the following July tax roll, together with interest as provided thereon.
(d) Annual installment spread. Annual installments shall be spread thereafter either on a special assessment roll or on the annual city tax roll, as directed by Council, in the same manner and subject to the same provisions as provided for first installments.
(e) Publication of notice to pay. The assessment roll shall be transmitted by the Clerk to the City Treasurer for collection immediately after confirmation. If it is not a part of the annual tax roll, the City Treasurer shall give notice by publication at least once in a newspaper of general circulation that such special assessment roll (describing it) has been filed in the City Treasurer’s office and specifying when and where payments may be made thereon.
(f) Notice by mail. The City Treasurer may mail statements of the several assessments to the respective owners, as indicated by the records of the City Assessor, of the several lots or parcels of land assessed, stating the amount of the assessment and the manner in which it may be paid. However, failure to mail any such statement shall not invalidate the assessment or entitle the owner to an extension of time within which to pay the assessment.
(g) Collection fees and penalties. After the confirmation of any special assessment roll, the same collection fees shall be collected on delinquent special assessments and upon delinquent installments of such special assessments beginning on the first day of the fourth month following the due date, as provided by the City Charter for the collection of delinquent city taxes.
(h) Contested assessments. Except and unless written notice is given to Council of an intention to contest or enjoin the collection of any special assessment for the construction of any pavement, sewer, other public improvement or sidewalk, or for the removal or abatement of any public hazard or nuisance, within 30 days after the date of the meeting of Council at which it is finally determined to proceed with the making of the improvement in question, which notice shall state the grounds on which the proceedings are to be contested, no suit or action of any kind shall be instituted or maintained for the purpose of contesting or enjoining the collection of such special assessment. Regardless of whether or not any public improvement is completed in any special assessment district, no owner of real property located in such district shall be entitled to commence any suit or action for the purpose of contesting or enjoining the collection of any such special assessment after he or she has received the benefits from the substantial completion of that portion of such public improvement for which he or she is assessed.
(Ord. 24, passed 12-8-1954)