This text of Iowa § 358C.17 (Special assessments) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
1.The board of trustees of a real estate improvement district may provide for payment of
all or any portion of the costs of a public improvement as specified in sections 358C.1 and
358C.4, by assessing all, or any portion of, the costs on adjacent property according to the
benefits derived. For the purposes of this chapter, the board of trustees may define “adjacent
property” as all that included within a designated benefited district to be fixed by the board,
which may be all of the property located within the real estate improvement district or any
lesser portion of that property. It is not a valid objection to a special assessment that the
improvement for which the assessment is levied is outside the limits of the district, but a
special assessment shall not be made upon property situa
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1. The board of trustees of a real estate improvement district may provide for payment of
all or any portion of the costs of a public improvement as specified in sections 358C.1 and
358C.4, by assessing all, or any portion of, the costs on adjacent property according to the
benefits derived. For the purposes of this chapter, the board of trustees may define “adjacent
property” as all that included within a designated benefited district to be fixed by the board,
which may be all of the property located within the real estate improvement district or any
lesser portion of that property. It is not a valid objection to a special assessment that the
improvement for which the assessment is levied is outside the limits of the district, but a
special assessment shall not be made upon property situated outside of the district. Special
assessments pursuant to this section shall be in proportion to the special benefits conferred
upon the property, and not in excess of the benefits. The value of a property is the present fair
market value of the property with the proposed public improvements completed. Payment
of installments of a special assessment against property shall be made in the same manner
and under the same procedures as provided in chapter 384 for special assessments by cities.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 384.62, the combined assessments against any lot
for public improvements included in the petition creating the real estate improvement district
or as authorized in section 358C.4 shall not exceed the valuation of that lot as established by
section 384.46.
2. The assessments may be made to extend over a period not to exceed fifteen years,
9 REAL ESTATE IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS, §358C.18
payable in as nearly equal annual installments as practicable. A majority vote of the board of
trustees is requisite and sufficient for any action required by the board of trustees under this
section.
3. Subject to the limitations otherwise stated in this section, a district organized under
this chapter has all of the powers to specially assess the costs of improvements described in
this section, including the power to issue special assessment bonds, warrants, project notes,
or other forms of interim financing obligations, which cities have under the laws of this state.
4. A special assessment under this section shall be recorded in the county in which the
district is located for each lot in the district.
5. Notwithstanding section 384.65, subsection 5, a district shall have a lien on the
benefited property only in the amount of special assessment installments that have come
due but have not been paid. The district shall not have a lien for the total amount of the
special assessment originally levied against the benefited property. A lien, including, but
not limited to, a lien for a mortgage for the construction or the purchase of housing on
property benefited by improvements and against which a special assessment is levied under
this chapter, shall have precedence over a special assessment which has been levied by the
district but is not due. A district’s lien shall only be in the amount of installments whose due
dates have passed without payment, along with all interest and penalties on the delinquent
installments. The district’s lien for delinquent installments, interest, and penalties shall
have equal precedence with ordinary taxes and shall not be divested by judicial sale. Any
remaining special assessment installments that have not become due shall not be divested by
judicial sale and shall become a lien when the special assessment installments become due.