§ 258-38. Levying of assessments; collection of delinquent assessments.

The board may provide for the construction or reconstruction of assessable improvements as defined in section 258-27 hereof, and for the levying of special assessments upon benefited property for the payment thereof, under the provisions of this section.

(1)

The initial proceeding under this section shall be the passage by the board of a resolution ordering the construction or reconstruction of such assessable improvements, indicating the location by terminal points and routes and either giving a description of the improvements by its material, nature, character and size or giving two or more descriptions with the directions that the material, nature, character and size shall be subsequently determined in conformity with one of such descriptions. Sewer or water improvements need not be continuous and may be in more than one locality or street. The resolution ordering any such improvement may give any short and convenient designation to each improvement ordered thereby, and the property against which assessments are to be made for the cost of such improvement may be designated as an assessment district, followed by a letter or number or name to distinguish it from other assessment districts, after which it shall be sufficient to refer to such improvement and property by such designation in all proceedings and assessments, except in the notices required by this section.

(2)

As soon as possible after the passage of such resolution the engineer for the county shall prepare, in duplicate, plans and specifications for each improvement ordered thereby and an estimate of the cost thereof. Such cost shall include, in addition to the items of cost as defined in this act, the cost of relaying streets and sidewalks necessarily torn up or damaged and the following items of incidental expenses:

a.

Printing and publishing notices and proceedings;

b.

Costs of abstracts of title; and

c.

Any other expense necessary or proper in conducting the proceedings and work provided for in this section, including the estimated amount of discount, if any, upon the sale of assessment bonds or any other obligations issued hereunder for which such special assessments are to be pledged. If the resolutions shall provide alternative de- scriptions of material, nature, character or size, such estimate shall include an estimate of the cost of the improvement of each such description.

The engineer shall also prepare in duplicate a tentative apportionment of the estimated total cost of the improvement as between the county and each lot or parcel of land subject to special assessment under the resolution, such apportionment to be made in accordance with the provisions of the resolution and in relation to apportionment of cost provided herein for the preliminary assessment roll. Such tentative apportionment of total estimated cost shall not be held to limit or restrict the duties of the engineer in the preparation of such preliminary assessment roll. One of the duplicates of such plans, specifications and estimates and such tentative apportionment shall be filed with the clerk of the board and the other duplicate shall be retained by the engineer in his files, all thereof to remain open to public inspection.

(3)

The clerk of the board upon the filing with him of such plans, specifications, estimates and tentative apportionment of cost shall publish once in a newspaper published in the county and of general circulation in the county, a notice stating that at a meeting of the board on a certain day and hour, not earlier than 15 days from such publication, the board will hear objections of all interested persons to the confirmation of such resolution, which notice shall state, in brief and general terms, a description of the proposed assessable improvements with the location thereof, and shall also state that plans, specifications, estimates and tentative apportionment of cost thereof are on file with the clerk of the board. The clerk of the board shall keep a record in which shall be inscribed, at the request of any person, firm or corporation having or claiming to have any interest in any lot or parcel of land, the name and post office address of such person, firm or corporation, together with a brief description or designation of such lot or parcel, and it shall be the duty of the clerk of the board to mail a copy of such notice to such person, firm or corporation at such address, at least ten days before the time for the hearing as stated in such notice, but the failure of the clerk of the board to keep such record or so to inscribe any name or address or to mail any such notice shall not constitute a valid objection to holding the hearing as provided in this section or to any other action taken under the authority of this section.

(4)

At the time named in such notice, or to which an adjournment may be taken by the board, the board shall receive any objections of interested persons and may then or thereafter repeal or confirm such resolution with such amendments, if any, as may be desired by the board and which do not cause any additional property to be specially assessed.

(5)

All objections to any such resolution on the ground that it contains items which cannot be properly assessed against property, or that it is, for any default or defect in the passage or character of the resolution or the plans or specifications or estimate, void or voidable in whole or in part, or that it exceeds the power of the board, shall be made in writing, in person or by attorney, and filed with the clerk of the board at or before the time or adjourned time of such hearing. Any objections against the making of any assessable improvements not so made shall be considered as waived, and if any objection shall be made and overruled or shall not be sustained, the confirmation of the resolution shall be the final adjudication of the issue presented unless proper steps shall be taken in a court of competent jurisdiction to secure relief within 20 days.

(6)

Whenever any resolution providing for the construction or reconstruction of assessable improvements and for the levying of special assessments upon benefited property for the payment thereof shall have been confirmed, as hereinabove provided, or at any time thereafter, the board may issue assessment bonds payable out of such assessments when collected. Said bonds shall mature not later than two years after the maturity of the last annual installment in which said special assessments may be paid, as provided in subsection (11) hereof, and shall bear interest at such rates without limitation as the board shall determine to be necessary to sell said bonds. Such assessment bonds shall be executed, shall have such provisions for redemption prior to maturity, shall be sold in the manner and be subject to all of the applicable provisions contained in section 258-31, except as the same are inconsistent with the provisions of this section. The amount of such assessment bonds for any assessable improvement, prior to the confirmation of the preliminary assessment roll provided for in subsection (10) hereof, shall not exceed 70 percentum of the estimated amount of the cost of such assessable improvements which are to be specially assessed against the lands and real estate to be specially benefited thereby, as shown in the estimates of the engineer referred to in subsection (2) hereof. The amount of such assessment bonds for any assessable improvement to be issued, after the confirmation of the preliminary assessment roll provided for in subsection (10) hereof, including any assessment bonds theretofore issued, shall not exceed the amount of special assessments actually confirmed and levied by the board as provided in subsection (10) hereof.

Such assessment bonds shall be payable from the proceeds of the special assessments levied for the assessable improvement for which such assessment bonds are issued.

(7)

After the passage of the resolution authorizing the construction or reconstruction of assessable improvements has been confirmed as provided in subsection (4) hereof, the board may publish at least once in a newspaper published and of general circulation in the county a notice calling for sealed bids to be received by the board on a date not earlier than 15 days from the first publication for the construction of the work, unless in the initial resolution the board shall have declared its intention to have the work done by county forces without contract. The notice shall refer in general terms to the extent and nature of the improvement or improvements and may identify the same by the short designation indicated in the initial resolution and by reference to the plans and specifications on file. If the initial resolution shall have given two or more alternative descriptions of the assessable improvements as to its material, nature, character and size, and if the board shall not have theretofore determined upon a definite description, the notice shall call for bids upon each of such descriptions. Bids may be requested for the work as a whole or for any part thereof separately and bids may be asked for any one or more of such assessable improvements authorized by the same or different resolutions, but any bid covering work upon more than one improvement shall be in such form as to permit a separation of cost as to each improvement. The notice shall require bidders to file with their bids either a certified check drawn upon an incorporated bank or trust company in such amount of percentage of their respective bids, as the board shall deem advisable, or a bid bond in like amount with corporate surety satisfactory to the board to insure the execution of a contract to carry out the work in accordance with such plans and specifications and to insure the filing at the making of such contract, of a bond in the amount of the contract price with corporate surety satisfactory to the board conditioned for the performance of the work in accordance with such contract. The board shall have the right to reject any or all bids, and if all bids are rejected the board may readvertise or may determine to do the work by the county forces without contract.

(8)

Promptly after the completion of the work, the engineer for the county, who is hereby designated as the official of the county to make the preliminary assessment of benefits from assessable improvements, shall prepare a preliminary assessment roll and file the same with the clerk of the board which roll shall contain the following:

a.

A description of adjacent, adjoining or abutting property or other property in close proximity which will benefit from such assessable improvements and the amount of such benefits to each lot or parcel of land. Said properties shall include the property of the county and any school district or other political subdivision. There shall also be given the name of the owner of record of each lot or parcel when practicable.

b.

The total cost of the improvement and the amount of incidental expense.

(9)

The preliminary roll shall be advisory only and shall be subject to the action of the board as hereinafter provided. Upon the filing with the clerk of the board of the preliminary assessment roll, the clerk of the board shall publish at least once in a newspaper published and of general circulation in the county a notice stating that at a meeting of the board to be held on a certain day and hour, not less than 15 days from the date of such publication, which meeting may be a regular, adjourned or special meeting, all interested persons may appear and file written objections to the confirmation of such roll. Such notice shall state the class of the assessable improvements and the location thereof by terminal points and route.

(10)

At the time and place stated in such notice the board shall meet and receive the objections in writing of all interested persons as stated in such notice. The board may adjourn the hearing from time to time. After the completion thereof the board shall either annul or sustain or modify in whole or in part the prima facie assessment as indicated on such roll, either by confirming the prima facie assessment against any or all lots or parcels described therein or by cancelling, increasing or reducing the same, according to the special benefits which the board decides each such lot or parcel has received or will receive on account of such improvement. If any property which may be chargeable under this section shall have been omitted from the preliminary roll or if the prima facie assessment shall not have been made against it, the board may place on such roll an apportionment to such property. The board shall not confirm any assessment in excess of the special benefits to the property assessed, and the assessments so confirmed shall be in proportion to the special benefits. Forthwith after such confirmation such assessment roll shall be delivered to the clerk of the board. The assessment so made shall be final and conclusive as to each lot or parcel assessed unless proper steps be taken within 20 days in a court of competent jurisdiction to secure relief. If the assessment against any property shall be sustained or reduced or abated by the court, the clerk of the board shall note that fact on the assessment roll opposite the description of the property affected thereby. The amount of the special assessment against any lot or parcel which may be abated by the court, unless the assessment upon all benefited property be abated, or the amount by which such assessment is so reduced, may by resolution of the board be made chargeable against the county at large; or, at the discretion of the board, a new assessment roll may be prepared and confirmed in the manner hereinabove provided for the preparation and confirmation of the original assessment roll.

(11)

Any assessment may be paid at the office of the clerk of the board within 60 days after the confirmation thereof, without interest. Thereafter all assessments shall be payable in equal installments, with interest at not exceeding two percentum per annum over the net interest rate on the bond issue under which the assessment is being financed, and not exceeding 18 percentum per annum, from the expiration of said 60 days in each of the succeeding number of years which the board shall determine by resolution, not exceeding 20; provided, however, that the board may provide that any assessment may be paid at any time before due, together with interest accrued thereon to the date of payment, if such prior payment shall be permitted by the proceedings authorizing any assessment bonds or other obligations for the payment of which such special assessments have been pledged.

All such special assessments shall be collected by the tax collector of the county at the same time as the general county taxes are collected by the tax collector of the county; and the board shall certify to the county tax collector in each year a list of all such special assessments and a description of the properties and names of the owners of the properties against which such special assessments have been levied and the amounts due thereon in such year, and interest thereon, and any deficiencies for prior years.

All assessments shall constitute a lien upon the property so assessed from the date of confirmation of the resolution ordering the improvement, of the same nature and to the same extent as the lien for general county taxes falling due in the same year or years in which such assessments or installments thereof fall due, and any assessment or installment not paid when due shall be collectible with such interest and with a reasonable attorney's fees and costs, but without penalties, by the county in the manner hereinafter set forth; providing that any such collection proceedings shall embrace all installments of principal remaining unpaid with accrued interest thereon, which installments shall, by virtue of the institution of such proceedings, immediately become due and payable. Nevertheless, if, prior to the entry of a final judgment in such proceedings, payment be made of the installment or installments which are shown to be due under the provisions of the resolution passed pursuant to subsection (10) of this section, and by this subsection (11) and all costs including interest and attorney's fee, such payment shall have the effect of restoring the remaining installments to their original maturities as provided by the resolution passed pursuant to this subsection (11) and the proceedings shall be dismissed as to those lands. It shall be the duty of the board to enforce the prompt collection of assessments by the means herein provided, and such duty may be enforced at the suit of any holder of bonds issued under this act in a court of competent jurisdiction by mandamus or other appropriate proceedings or action.

Not later than 30 days after the annual installments are due and payable, it shall be the duty of the board to certify the delinquent assessments or installments by description of the lands and the amount due. Thereafter, the board within 60 days shall institute legal proceedings for the collection thereof. Such proceedings shall be commenced by filing a complaint in the court of general jurisdiction pursuant to the provisions of this act against all of the lands described in such certified list. Upon the filing of the complaint, the clerk of the court shall mail a notice of the commencement of such proceeding and the return day to the record owner of the property as it appears on the tax rolls in the office of the tax assessor for the year in which such proceeding is commenced. In addition, the board shall cause to have published in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county in which the lands are situated, a notice describing the lands upon which assessments are delinquent, such notice being directed in general terms to all persons, firms or corporations having any interest in said lands. It shall not be necessary in said notice to set forth the names of such parties. Said notice shall require all such parties to appear and show cause before the court on or before a day certain specified in said notice, which day shall be not less than 15 days, nor more than 30 days after the publication of such notice.

Upon the return day in said notice, every person having any interest in said lands, shall appear and show cause why the fee simple title to said lands should not be vested in said county, and the only sufficient cause shall be that the assessments have been paid. Failure of said parties to appear shall entitle the board to have a final judgment entered in its favor declaring the fee simple title to said lands to be vested in the county. Lands so acquired by the county may be sold in the same manner as other lands owned by the county according to law, the proceeds of which shall be placed in the fund provided by subsection (12) of this section.

(12)

All assessments and charges made under the provisions of this section for the payment of all or any part of the cost of any assessable improvements for which assessment bonds shall have been issued under the provisions of this article, or which have been pledged as additional security for any other bonds or obligations issued under this act, shall be used only for the payment of principal of or interest on such assessment bonds or other bonds or obligations.

(13)

The county and each school district and other political subdivision wholly or partly within the county shall possess the same power and be subject to the same duties and liabilities in respect of assessments under this section affecting the real estate of such county, school district or other political subdivision which private owners of real estate possess or are subject to hereunder, and such real estate of any such county, school district and political subdivision shall be subject to liens for said assessment in all cases where the same property would be subject to such liens had it at the time the lien attached been owned by a private owner.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 67-1145, § 12; Laws of Fla. ch. 69-871, § 2; Laws of Fla. ch. 70-593, § 2; Laws of Fla. ch. 75-334, § 2; Laws of Fla. ch. 75-342, § 2; Laws of Fla. ch. 81-342, § 1)