§ 36-9-9-10 — Street light assessments and liens

(a) After an electrical lighting system has
been completed and is ready for operation, the municipal works board
shall assess the real property in the city block or blocks affected for the
proportionate part of the annual lighting cost and, in the case of a
system of ornamental lighting, the installation costs, that the property
owners are required to pay annually. The works board shall assess each
lot or parcel of the property equally per front foot.
(b) The works board shall prepare and file an assessment roll,
setting forth the assessments against each lot and parcel of real
property to be assessed, based upon:
(1) the cost of the lighting for the full period of one (1) year and
for that part of a year the system may be operated between the
time of its completion and the beginning of the next calendar
year; and
(2) in the case of a system of ornamental lighting, the costs of
installing the system.
The preparation and filing of the assessment roll and all proceedings
for its adoption and confirmation, notices to property owners, certifying
the roll to the county treasurer, and all other proceedings in connection
with the roll must be according to the statutes regarding public
improvements in municipalities.
(c) The first assessment made against each lot or parcel of real
property is a lien on that lot or parcel, from the time of the final
acceptance of the electrical system by the municipality. The lien covers
the cost of lighting for the part of the calendar year following
acceptance of the system, the cost of lighting for the next full calendar
year, and, in the case of a system of ornamental lighting, the cost of
installing the system.
(d) After the first assessment is made, a lien attaches upon the
assessment date of each year without further certification to the county
treasurer, for the amount of the lighting cost for the succeeding
calendar year and in the same proportions per front foot as fixed by the
original assessment roll.
(e) Assessments made under this section shall be paid in the same
manner as taxes are paid, at the regular tax paying periods following
the adoption of the assessment roll. An assessment not paid at the time
fixed by statute is subject to and may be collected according to the
statutes regarding delinquent taxes, and all property upon which an
assessment is a lien is subject to proceedings for the collection of taxes.
(f) The lien of an assessment under this section has equal priority
with all other assessment liens and is superior to all other liens except
liens for taxes.
[Pre-Local Government Recodification Citations: 19-5-24-8
part; 19-5-24-10.]
As added by Acts 1981, P.L.309, SEC.82. Amended by
P.L.245-2015, SEC.29.