[Adopted 10-9-1979(Ch. III, Sec. 2, of Title Five of the
1965 Code)]
A.
Section 4 of Chapter 185 of the Public Laws of Rhode Island 1973, as amended, authorizes the Town Council to assess a portion of the initial cost of the construction, completion and extension of its sewer system by means of a sewer betterment assessment and to recover the balance of the cost of the project by means of the general tax burden.
B.
Of the total initial cost of the sewer system to the
Town, a portion thereof amounting to $8,000,000 should be shared by
the estates which derive a special or particular benefit as a result
of the completion of the sewer project and availability of an operating
sewer system.
C.
Improved real estate which has direct access to the
sewer system will receive a particular and special benefit upon the
completion of the sewer project. The minimum amount of such benefit
is hereby determined to be $1,800 for each single-family dwelling
so benefitting, and real estate which is improved with multifamily
dwellings, commercial establishments, industrial establishments and
nonprofit churches and schools will derive increased particular and
special benefits corresponding to increased occupancy capacity of
structures utilized for such purposes.
D.
Unimproved lots are unable to derive the normal benefits
from the project until such time as they are improved, at which time,
if they are to be directly connected to the sewer system project,
the Town will recover charges comparable to those imposed pursuant
to the sewer assessment authorized by this article on existing structures.
E.
The sewer betterment assessments authorized in this
article do not exceed, with respect to any of the assessed properties,
the special and particular benefits conferred on each such property
as a result of the completion of the sewer project.
Unless the context otherwise requires, any reference
herein to the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
Any structure owned by any incorporated nonprofit organization
used or designed for use as a school and/or for the conduct of religious
services and related purposes, such as a parsonage, rectory, convent,
school or assembly or recreational hall.
Any structure which is used or designed for use as a country
club, private or nonprofit meeting hall or club, business office,
bank, retail or wholesale store, lumberyard, nursery, proprietary
school, professional office and any other commercial, social or community
use (except multifamily residence structures and church or school
structures).
Chapter 185 of the Public Laws of Rhode Island 1973, as the same has been or may hereafter be amended from time to time.
Any structure used or designed for use primarily for warehousing,
assembling, lubricating, shipping, manufacturing or industrial uses
and other related activities.
Any lot or parcel of land defined by metes, bounds or boundary
lines in a recorded deed or shown on a recorded plan or plat.
Any structure used or designed for more than one residential
unit.
The construction, completion, extension, enlargement and
improvement of the Town sewer system, together with the capital cost
paid for by the Town of the improvements made to the East Providence
Sewage Treatment Plant which treats sewage originating in the Town.
Any structure used or designed for occupancy as a single-family
residence. A structure which combines residential and commercial activities
shall be deemed a commercial structure.
With respect to any multifamily residence structure, an identifiable
area used or designed for use as a separate living facility for one
or more persons and having its own facilities for sanitary sewage.
The wastewater (other than storm drainage) from any sewer
assessment structure.
Any main, pipe, lateral or other conduit in a street, highway,
alley, right-of-way or easement, installed at a location and in accordance
with specifications approved in advance by the Town, to which sanitary
sewage is directed by individual sewer service lines from structures
having facilities for sanitary sewage.
Any area in the Town with respect to which the Town Council
has determined that the lots located therein abut a street, highway,
alley, right-of-way or easement in which any operating portion of
the project may be located or are otherwise specifically benefited
by any operating portion of the project.
Includes any lot even though such lot does not have direct access to a sewer where, at the time of certification pursuant to § 155-16, the owner of such sewer assessment lot has legal access to a sewer over an adjoining lot or lots whether by reason of common ownership, easement or otherwise.
[Added 11-24-1980]
Any residence structure, multifamily residence structure,
commercial structure, industrial structure and school or church structure
located on a sewer assessment lot, the construction of which was completed
or undertaken pursuant to a building permit issued prior to the date
such lot was designated a sewer assessment lot and the use or designed
use of which generates, or may result in the generation of, sanitary
sewage.
Determined, with respect to any sewer assessment structure,
by measuring all internal areas of each floor (including basements
where such basements are being utilized, or where designed or constructed
in a fashion so that they may be used, for any lawful purpose to which
such sewer assessment structure may be put) but excluding unused attics.
A parcel of land which has no sewer assessment structure
located on it.
Any wires, poles, pipes, maintenance holes, fire hydrants,
electrical substations or other fixtures or equipment used or designed
for use for the transmission of utility services. The term does not
include any structure which would be a sewer assessment structure.
At such time as the Town Council shall by resolution
designate any sewer assessment area, the Tax Assessor shall certify
to the Town Clerk a sewer assessment roll of all sewer assessment
lots within such area. Such sewer assessment roll shall, with respect
to each sewer assessment lot thereon, name the owners of the estates
so assessed, describe by Tax Assessor's lot and plat number the estate
so assessed, designate the category of sewer assessment structure
or structures thereon and state the amount of the sewer assessment
thereon.
Upon receipt of such sewer assessment roll from
the Tax Assessor, the Town Clerk shall endorse the date of delivery
thereof thereon and record the same as a public record.
From the date of delivery to the Town Clerk
of the sewer assessment roll, the amount of such assessment, including
any interest that may accrue thereon, shall constitute a debt payable
to the Town by the owner or owners of the sewer assessment lot so
assessed and a lien upon each sewer assessment lot so assessed on
a parity with the lien for Town taxes until paid in full. Such lien
shall not be subject to termination under § 44-9-1 of the
Rhode Island General Laws (as amended). The Tax Collector shall have
the same power to collect such assessment from the owner or owners
of the estates so assessed, whether or not residents of this state,
and to enforce such lien against the sewer assessment lot so assessed
as they have in the case of Town taxes assessed against residents
of this state.
Prior to or forthwith after delivery to the
Town Clerk of a copy of such sewer assessment roll, the Tax Collector
shall cause notice to be sent to the owner or owners of each sewer
assessment lot as to which a sewer assessment has been made. Such
notice shall comply with the provisions in Section 5 of the enabling
Act.
Each sewer assessment hereunder shall be payable
in equal annual installments in an amount determined by the Town Council
(including principal and interest) over a period of 20 years at such
time or times as the annual payment of Town taxes shall be due and
payable. The amount of such assessment shall bear interest from the
date the assessment roll is delivered to the Town Clerk until paid
at the rate of 7% per annum; provided, however, that the whole sewer
assessment against any owner or estate may be prepaid without interest
at any time prior to the due date of the first installment thereof.
If any such sewer assessment which is not so prepaid is paid in full
before the expiration of 20 years, there shall be an equitable adjustment
of the interest charged so that interest will be paid only on the
unpaid balance of such assessment for the period up to such payment
in full. Annual installments of sewer assessments and interest thereon
may be paid in quarterly payments if the owner elects to pay the annual
Town taxes on the property subject to the sewer assessment in quarterly
installments.
[Amended 4-5-1993 by Ord. No. 93-18]
In the event that after the effective date of any sewer assessment hereunder a sewer assessment lot is divided so as to create one or more unimproved lots, the owner or owners thereof may, by utilizing the procedures specified in § 155-22 hereof, petition the Town Council to apportion the sewer assessment on the sewer assessment lot so divided to the new lot or lots on which are located sewer assessment structures in existence on the date that the sewer assessment levied hereunder was effective and to abate the sewer assessment on the unimproved lots to be created as a result of such division and to discharge the sewer assessment thereon.
The Tax Assessor or the owner of any estate who wishes to invoke the provisions of § 155-21 or who is aggrieved by any action taken hereunder may petition the Town Council for relief from such action or any mistake in the sewer assessment roll as applicable to any estate or interest of such aggrieved party. Any petition hereunder shall be in addition to, and not a condition precedent for, any review provided in the Enabling Act; provided, however, that no petition hereunder will be heard by the Town Council while any review proceedings initiated by a petitioner hereunder are pending before any court. Upon hearing any petition hereunder, the Town Council may correct the sewer assessment roll, abate any sewer assessment or take such other action as it deems appropriate.
This article shall be referred to as the "Barrington
Sewer Assessment Ordinance."
