This chapter shall apply to the following kinds
of special improvements when constructed upon the streets, alleys
or other public places dedicated to public use and within the boundaries
of the City:
A.
Grading. The term "grading" includes bringing to the
grade duly established by the City, by excavation, fill or other necessary
means, the area between the boundary lines of any alley, street or
other public place. Where no grade of record has been previously established
by the City, the grade and contour of any improvement, when finished,
shall thereafter be accepted as the established grade.
B.
Curbing. Curbing shall consist of either separate
curb or curb and gutter combined.
C.
Paving or surfacing of streets, alleys or other public
ways. Paving or surfacing may include the construction of any semipermanent
wearing surface such as chat, crushed stone, gravel, cinders, water-bound
macadam, sand-clay or clay-sand surface, or any similar material,
and may include a binding coat of any bituminous or saline material.
Paving or surfacing may also include any permanent type of paving
such as Portland cement concrete, bituminous concrete, sheet asphalt
or any combination of these materials or process using them. In connection
with any permanent type of paving, and whenever the public convenience
and necessity or regulations of the City may require, water and sewer
connections may be constructed or renewed underneath and extended
to a practicable and convenient distance outside of such improvement,
and when so constructed the cost thereof shall be able directly to
the property served and benefited as hereinafter set forth.
D.
Surface drainage. Surface drainage shall include all
structures necessary for the collection of stormwater and other surface
drainage and the adequate disposition of same, whether by storm sewers
or other means. Surface drainage may be constructed together with
surfacing or paving or independently from any such improvement.
E.
Sanitary sewers. Sanitary sewer improvement shall
include all systems of sanitary sewage collection by means of underground
pipe sewer systems, and may include house connections from the sewer
main to the property line.
F.
Streetlighting. Such improvements shall consist of
the construction, wiring, installation of posts, and all necessary
work and material to complete such system for use.
G.
Water distribution facilities. Water distribution
facilities include public water distribution lines and all appurtenances
thereof, or any of them.
H.
Sidewalk improvements. Such improvements shall include
the laying of sidewalks of the type adopted by the City, together
with all necessary grading, excavation, fill or leveling necessary
to bring the area between the property line of abutting lots and the
curbline to the grade established by the City. A sidewalk improvement
may embrace any convenient extent of sidewalk or sidewalks, whether
contiguous within any block or not and whether the blocks are contiguous
or not.
All special improvements constructed under this
chapter shall be designated by districts, a district to include all
adjacent construction of the same kind within the same period of time.
The different improvement districts shall be numbered consecutively
under the different kinds of improvements and referred to by district
name and number as "Paving District No. 1," "Sidewalk District No.
1," etc. The different districts shall embrace all the land benefited
by and liable for assessment to pay the cost of any improvement.
Whenever the City Council shall deem it necessary to construct any special improvement, it shall direct the City Engineer to prepare a preliminary estimate of cost, which estimate shall include all items enumerated under § 217-7 for inclusion in the final estimate of cost. Such preliminary estimate of cost shall be compiled with the sole aim of obtaining the probable maximum cost to the owners of the lots, tracts and parcels of land affected; provided that the City may contract for the services of an engineer to perform all necessary engineering work and to pay an engineering fee to be determined by the City Council, which fee shall be paid from assessments to be levied against the property liable for the cost of such improvement.
A.
Upon the filing of the preliminary estimate of cost
with the City, the Council shall examine the same and, if found satisfactory,
shall by resolution adopt and approve the same and declare such special
improvement necessary to be done. Such resolution shall contain a
description of all the land benefited and liable for assessment to
pay for such improvement. The resolution shall be published in six
consecutive issues of a daily newspaper or two consecutive issues
of a weekly newspaper published in and of general circulation in the
City. In the case of all special improvements, except sidewalks, such
resolution shall provide that if the owners of more than 1/2
in area of the land liable to assessment to pay for such improvement
shall not, within 15 days after the last publication of such resolution,
file with the City Clerk their protest in writing against the entire
improvement proposed, then the City shall have the power to cause
such improvements to be made and contract therefor, and levy assessments
for the payment thereof and to create a lien against the property
liable for such assessments, and issue improvement bonds against such
assessments for the financing of such improvements. After such protest
has been filed, the same shall not be altered or changed by the addition
or withdrawal of any names thereon. Any person, firm, corporation,
administrator or guardian holding the legal title to said lands liable
for assessment may enter such protest or objection.
B.
If the contemplated improvement is a sidewalk or sidewalks,
such resolution shall provide that the owner or owners of the property
in front of or alongside of which the sidewalk or sidewalks are to
be constructed shall, within 30 days after the last publication of
such resolution, cause such sidewalk to be so constructed in the manner
provided for in such resolution, and according to the plans and specifications
adopted by the City for such work. Such resolution shall further provide
that if, at the expiration of such period of 30 days, the owner or
owners of the property concerned have failed to construct such sidewalk
or sidewalks, then the City will cause same to be constructed in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter; will levy assessments therefor;
and may issue bonds to pay for the financing of such sidewalk construction
and create a lien against the property liable by reason thereof.
C.
The finding of the Council as to the sufficiency or
insufficiency of the protest, or, in the case of sidewalks, the absence
of such construction so ordered, shall be conclusive and binding for
all purposes and against all persons, and the Council shall have the
power to have hearings thereon and compel the attendance of witnesses
under oath to determine the sufficiency thereof, and no action or
suit to question the findings of the Council on the sufficiency of
the protest shall be commenced later than 15 days after such finding.
Not less than 10 days before the hearing, the Clerk shall notify each
listed owner of lots or tracts of land within the district, as shown
by the current year's tax rolls in the County Treasurer's office,
in the following manner:
(1)
By mailing a postal card directly to the listed owner
at his last known address as shown by such tax roll, notifying the
owner of the initiation of proceedings and advising him that his property
will be liable to assessment and referring him to the newspaper and
issues thereof in which the resolution is or will be published. If
several tracts appear to be owned by the same person, all may be included
in the same notification; or
(2)
In lieu of the mailing of such postal card, the Clerk
may mail to each of the listed owners a copy of the newspaper publication,
which mailing shall not be less than 10 days before the first hearing.
Proof of the notification given shall be made by certificate of the
Clerk, which shall be filed in his office; provided, however, that
failure of any one or more of the listed owners to receive the notification
shall not invalidate any of the proceedings hereunder.
Any property owner, or other person interested in a proposed improvement, shall have the right to institute an action in the District Court of Canadian County at any time, not later than 15 days after the publication of the resolution provided for in § 217-4, to contest the action of the Council of the City in adopting and approving the maps, plans, profiles, specifications or preliminary estimate of cost filed by the City Engineer. Any suit instituted after the expiration of such 15 days shall be not maintained to question such maps, plans, profiles, specifications or preliminary estimate of cost, and the property owners liable for assessment shall be deemed to have waived all objections thereto.
Upon the filing of a petition signed by the owners of not less than 50% of the land liable to assessment, petitioning for the construction of any improvement mentioned in this chapter, the Council, if such improvement is deemed necessary, shall proceed to cause the improvement to be made as provided in this chapter, except that the notice providing for determining the necessity of such improvement shall not be published or mailed as provided in § 217-4. The finding of the Council as to the sufficiency of any such petition shall be conclusive and binding for all purposes and against all persons, and the Council shall have the power to hold hearings thereon and compel the attendance of witnesses under oath to determine the sufficiency thereof and no action or suit to question the findings of the Council on the sufficiency of the petition shall be commenced later than 15 days after such finding.
A.
After the expiration of the time for objection or
protest on the part of the property owners, or if in the opinion of
the Council insufficient protest has been filed, the Council shall
thereupon notify the City Engineer to proceed with his final estimate
of cost for improvements to be made under this chapter. Such final
estimate of cost shall include a district map showing the extent of
the improvement district proposed, together with the lots, pieces
and parcels of land comprising such district, together with complete
plans, profiles, specifications and estimates of the probable actual
cost of such improvement. Such estimate shall be by unit prices and
shall cover, in general, each separate item of the work to be done,
classified according to usual engineering practice, and shall also
include the probable cost of rights-of-way and easements necessary
for such improvement construction, together with advertising, interest
on special improvement warrants that may be issued during progress
of the work, and all such other expenses as, in the judgment of the
City Engineer, are necessary or essential to the completion of such
work of improvement and payment of the entire cost thereof. When all
such items are compiled and totaled, the City Engineer may add thereto
a fee for engineering and superintendence which in no case shall exceed
the amount determined by the Council and which combined total shall
represent the total cash cost of such improvement. To the combined
total thus arrived at, the City Engineer may add a further percentage,
to be determined by the Council, to cover the cost of attorney's fees,
title examinations, examination of proceedings made and followed hereunder,
and all other expense incident to obtaining money by the sale of bonds
of the district. Such percentage thus arrived at shall be added to
the estimated total cash cost and the total thereof shall be the final
total of cost under the extended payment plan, and which final total
shall in no event exceed the preliminary estimate of cost.
B.
Accompanying the final estimate of cost shall be a
supplemental estimate of cost of material only, showing by totals
the amount of each different class and kind of material which enters
into the work, and the estimated cash cost thereof F.O.B. railcars
at the site nearest and most convenient to the work.
C.
The final estimate of cost shall be promptly filed
with the Council.
A.
Coincident with the compilation of the final estimate of cost, as provided for in § 217-7, the City Engineer shall, at the same time, prepare and submit an assessment roll, which shall embrace therein and be computed upon the final estimate of cost, and shall also show therein the lots, tracts and parcels of land able with the cost of such improvement occasioned by the benefits to each of such lots, tracts and parcels of land, to be assessed for the cost of such work of improvement, and determining the amount of such cost arrived at by apportionment in the manner set forth in this chapter. Such amount of cost for each lot, tract or parcel of land shall be expressed first in figures in a column representing the cost, if paid for by the property owner within the time limit hereinafter allowed for paying cash, and which figures are herein referred to as the "cash cost"; and second, in a parallel column, by figures representing the cost if the property owner elects to avail himself of the method of extended annual payments as hereinafter set forth, and which figures are herein referred to as "extended payment cost." The difference between the cash cost and the extended payment cost shall, in all cases, vary by the same percentage as was used in computing the cost of financing described in § 217-7. Such assessment roll shall also state the number of annual payments required to be made under the method of extended annual payments.
B.
The assessment roll shall be promptly filed with the
Council and shall accompany the final estimate of cost.
A.
In the case of all improvements mentioned in this
chapter, except sidewalks, after the expiration of the time for objection
or protest on the part of property owners, or if insufficient protest
is filed, or, in the case of sidewalk improvements, if the construction
has not been performed by the property owners concerned, the Council
shall examine the final estimate of cost and the assessment roll based
thereon and, if found satisfactory, approve and adopt the same by
a resolution conforming to this section.
B.
Such resolution shall state that the assessment roll,
as compiled from the final estimate of cost, does not exceed the preliminary
estimate of cost. The resolution shall also state that no protest
has been filed against the construction of the improvement, or that
such protest, if filed, was insufficient, or, in the case of sidewalks,
that such construction so ordered has not been performed by the property
owners concerned, as the case may be, and shall express the determination
of the Council to proceed with the improvement.
C.
Such resolution shall state that the improvement will
be constructed as nearly as practicable in accordance with the maps,
plans, profiles and specifications which are a part of the final estimate
of cost.
D.
Such resolution shall state that the Council of the
City shall proceed to cause the work to be done either by contract
for the work as a whole or by contract for, or open market purchase
of, the materials, and installation of same by direct labor of City
forces, whichever method, in the judgment of the Council, appears
to be of more benefit to owners of property concerned.
E.
Such resolution shall set forth any reasonable terms
and conditions that the Council shall deem proper to impose with reference
to the letting of any contract and the conditions thereof.
F.
Such resolution shall provide that any contractor
for labor and material in place shall execute to the City, or any
contractor for material alone may execute to the City, a good and
sufficient bond in an amount to be stated in the resolution, conditioned
for the full and faithful execution of the work and the performance
of the contract for the protection of the City and all property owners
interested against any loss or damage by reason of the negligence
of the contractor, the improper execution of any work contracted for,
or for the furnishing or use of inferior material.
G.
Such resolution may also require of any contractor
who contracts for completed work in place, or for material only, the
execution of a bond, in an amount to be stated in the resolution,
for the maintenance of the improvement, or any part thereof, in good
and serviceable condition for a period to be determined by the Council,
and extending from the time of the completion and acceptance of the
improvement for such period as the Council shall determine.
H.
Such resolution shall require of any contractor for
completed work in place a good and sufficient bond to the state conditioned
for the payment of all labor and material used in the construction
of such improvement in the full amount of the contract price thereof.
I.
Such resolution shall also direct the City Manager
to advertise for sealed proposals for furnishing materials or for
furnishing the materials and performing the work of construction,
or both, as the Council may direct, such materials alone or material
and labor together being the necessary concomitants required for the
completion of such improvements. The notice for such proposals shall
state generally the kind of improvements proposed and shall refer
to the maps, plans and specifications embraced in the final estimate
of cost, and shall state that all proposals submitted upon any particular
item or items must be uniform and submitted upon forms to be provided
by the City. Such forms shall agree, item by item, with such items
of the final estimate of cost as the Council intends to contract for.
Such notice shall also provide that, on all items bid upon which are
for completed work in place, the contractor shall show a price based
upon receiving payment therefor in cash, and a price based upon receiving
payment therefor in the improvement bonds of the district when such
are delivered to the contractor as hereinafter described.
J.
Such resolution shall direct the City Manager, or
other proper official of the City, to advertise for sealed proposals
for the purchase from the City of improvement bonds of the district.
The notice for such proposals shall state generally the kind of bonds
to be sold, the estimated amount thereof, which amount shall agree
with the extended payment cost of the assessment roll, and shall state
that such estimated amount may be diminished in the event that the
actual cost of the completed work is less than the final estimate
of cost and assessment roll, and may be further diminished by the
amount of cash received from property owners within the period allowed
for the payment of an entire assessment in cash. Such notice shall
also require that all proposals for bonds be accompanied by a negotiable
certified check in 10% of the amount bid, drawn payable to the City
and to be forfeited to and become the property of the City in the
event that the bidder fails to accept and pay for the bonds upon delivery,
such check to be deposited in escrow in a designated bank within the
City until such time as the bonds can be delivered to the purchaser,
and such check to draw interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the
time of the acceptance of the bid until the bonds are delivered. Such
notice shall also state the probable date of delivery of the bonds,
and that no bonds shall be sold for less than par.
K.
Both of the notices referred to in Subsections I and J next above shall state the time when and the place where such sealed proposals shall be filed and when the same will be considered by the Council, which date for consideration shall be at least three days prior to the date set for hearing upon the assessment roll as described in this article. Such notice shall be published in 10 consecutive issues of a daily newspaper or two consecutive issues of a weekly newspaper published in and of general circulation in the City.
L.
Notification.
(1)
Such resolution shall contain notice by the Council
appointing a time and place for holding a session to hear any and
all complaints or objections that may be made concerning the assessments
as contained in the assessment roll submitted by the City Engineer,
and the City Clerk shall cause notice of such hearing to be published
in five consecutive issues of a daily newspaper or two consecutive
issues of a weekly newspaper published in and of general circulation
in the City. The time fixed for such hearing shall be not less than
five nor more than 10 days from the last publication. Not less than
10 days before the hearing, the Clerk shall notify each listed owner
of lots or tracts of land within the district, as shown by the current
year's tax rolls in the County Treasurer's office in the following
manner:
(a)
By mailing a postal card directly to the listed
owner at his last known address, as shown by the tax roll, notifying
the owner of the initiation of proceedings and advising him that his
property will be liable to assessment and referring him to the newspaper
and issues thereof in which the resolution is or will be published.
If several tracts appear to be owned by the same person, all may be
included in the same notification; or
(b)
In lieu of the mailing of such postal card,
the Clerk may mail to each of the listed owners a copy of the newspaper
publication, which mailing shall not be less than 10 days before the
first hearing.
(2)
Proof of the notification given shall be made by certificate
of the Clerk, which shall be filed in his office; provided, however,
that failure of any one or more of the listed owners to receive such
notification shall not invalidate any of the proceedings hereunder.
At the time and place specified in the notices for proposals given pursuant to § 217-9, the Council shall examine all bids received for the improvement bonds and shall award the sale of same to that bidder whose bid is the highest and best in the interests of the City and property owners concerned; provided that no such bonds shall be sold for less than their par value; and provided further that, if any premium is received for bonds issued for work to the cost of which a financing percentage has been added, such premium shall be deducted from such financing percentage before final adoption of the assessment roll. The Council shall thereupon examine all bids for completed work in place, and bids for material only, and may award the contract to the lowest and best bidder who will perform the work and furnish the materials which have been selected and perform all conditions imposed by the Council as prescribed in the resolution for the work and notice of proposals, or the Council may award a contract or contracts for material only, electing to do the installation thereof by direct labor of City forces; provided that no contract for the entire work in place shall exceed in aggregate amount the aggregate of the final estimate of cost submitted for the improvement, and in the event of any such excess in cost the same shall be void and no assessments for such excess levied; and provided further that, if contracts for material alone are let, the aggregate amount of such contracts shall not exceed the aggregate estimate of the cost thereof as shown by the engineer's supplemental estimate of cost of materials theretofor filed with the Council. The Council may award a contract for all or a portion of such improvement, and shall be guided therein by consultation with the City Manager and careful comparisons of all bids submitted for the improvement bonds, and all bids for work complete in place made upon a basis of receiving cash, or of receiving improvement bonds of the district for payment, and all bids for material only, and may reject any or all bids and advertise for other bids when any such bids are not satisfactory; provided that no letting shall be complete until the contract is duly executed and the surety bonds approved.
Immediately after any contract or contracts
for any work complete in place have been let, and before the date
set for the hearing upon the assessment roll, if it shall be apparent
to the City Engineer that the contract prices obtained will permit
a reduction in either the cash cost or the extended payment cost,
or both, as then shown upon the assessment roll, he shall make such
reduction forthwith, and such reduced figures shall be substituted
for the figures then appearing on such roll and pertaining to the
total cost, and the cost to be d to each separate tract, lot, part
of lot or parcel of land as listed thereon.
The Council, at the session appointed for the
hearing upon the assessment roll, or any adjournment thereof, shall
review and correct the apportionment of cost and assessment roll,
and may raise or lower any assessment as to any lot or tract of land
as it deems just, and shall, by resolution, confirm the same as revised
and corrected by it. At or prior to such session, any person may file
objections in writing against the validity or amount of any proposed
assessment, specifically setting forth the nature thereof, and shall
have full opportunity to be heard thereon; and the Council shall adjudicate
and determine such objections and shall make such order as may be
just and proper. Any objections to the regularity of the proceedings
with reference to the making of the improvement or the validity of
the amount of any assessment shall be deemed waived unless presented
at the time and in the manner herein specified.
A.
The manner of apportioning the benefits and determining
the amounts of assessments able to the different lots, tracts, pieces
or parcels of land benefited by any improvement to the surface of
a street, alley or other public place, including grading, curbing
and guttering, and surfacing or paving, and including surface drainage
when constructed with such improvement, and not including sidewalks,
shall be as prescribed in this section.
B.
The lots, tracts, pieces or parcels of land fronting
or abutting upon any such improvement shall be able with the cost
thereof to the center of the block where the abutting way is on the
exterior of the block, and each quarter-block shall be d with its
due proportion of the cost of so improving both the front and side
streets on which said block abuts, together with the areas formed
by street intersections and alley crossings (except such portions
of such street intersections and alley crossings as may be able, under
the provisions of Title 11, Article XXXVI, of the Oklahoma Statutes,
and 11 O.S. §§ 36-301, 36-302, 36-303, and 36-304,
as amended, to street or steam railways), and which cost shall be
apportioned among the lots and subdivisions of such quarter-block
according to the ownership thereof as same appears of record in the
county, and according to the benefits to be assessed to each lot or
parcel. For the purpose of determining such area of assessment, a
block shall be deemed the area bounded on all sides by streets or
avenues irrespective of the platted designation thereof. Each quarter-block
shall bear its due proportion of the cost of the improvement in the
ratio, as near as may be, that the area of such quarter-block bears
to the area of all such quarter-blocks benefited by such improvement.
Triangular or other irregular-shaped lots or tracts shall be assessed
according to benefits accruing. The final determination by the City
Council of the amount of benefits as herein provided shall be conclusive
upon the owners of the property assessed and shall not be subject
to review by any court.
C.
In case the improvement is made in an alley or other
public way in the interior of the block as herein defined, such assessment
shall be made upon the property abutting such alley to the exterior
of such block, and in case of an alley not in the center of a block,
or if more than one alley is improved in such block, then such assessment
shall be made against the property so fronting and abutting such alley
according to the area specially benefited by such improvement as the
engineer shall determine, and as confirmed by the City Council.
D.
If any of the property abutting upon such improvement
shall not be platted into blocks, the Council shall include such property
in proper quarter-block districts for the purpose of assessment and
apportionment, as provided herein, based upon the division of such
property into blocks 300 feet deep, measured from the outer boundary
of the abutting street; provided that if the property on the opposite
side of such street is so platted, such unplatted property shall be
platted for the purpose of such assessment to conform thereto as nearly
as practicable, and that if the property on the opposite side of the
street is not platted, such unplatted property shall be divided into
quarter-block districts for the purpose of such assessment based on
blocks which shall be uniform as nearly as practicable, with blocks
already platted, if any, on the same street. Record of such plat shall
be filed and remain with and be preserved in the assessment record
for the particular improvement. The entire cost of water and sewer
connections, when constructed with the improvement under the direction
of the City, shall be entered upon the assessment roll as a separate
and direct against the property served and benefited.
For streetlighting or sidewalk improvements,
the apportionment of benefits and assessment of costs shall be made
to the property fronting and abutting thereon in the proportion that
the linear feet frontage or abutment thereon of any lot, piece or
parcel of land bears to the total assessable frontage of the district
so improved. In the case of sidewalks, the approaches thereto at street
intersections shall be d to the abutting corner lot.
For storm sewers constructed separately, for
water distributing facilities and for sanitary sewers, the apportionment
of benefits and assessment of costs shall be made to any lot, tract
or parcel of land in the proportion that the area of such lot, tract
or parcel of land bears to the area of all the land, exclusive of
streets, alleys or other public ways, served and benefited by such
improvement.
The Council shall, by ordinance, levy assessments
provided for in this chapter against the several lots and tracts of
land liable therefor.
As soon as an assessing ordinance is adopted
under this chapter, the City Clerk shall prepare a book or series
of books which shall be known as the "Improvement Assessment Record,"
and each series of books shall bear the name of the different kinds
of improvements mentioned in this chapter to which it refers, and
in which the City Clerk shall enter the names of each person owning
the land to be assessed as ascertained from the record of the county,
or in case the name of the owner is not known, a statement to that
effect, and description of the lot, tract, piece or parcel of land,
with a blank space for entering the amount of the assessments under
both cash and extended payment methods of payment, with suitable columns
for entering the payments which may be made from time to time on account
of such assessment. In case a reassessment is made for any district,
such original assessment shall be promptly and plainly nullified and
voided, and such nullification shall state that a reassessment has
been substituted therefor, and such reassessment shall be entered
in the same book or series of books.
A.
Assessments to pay the cost of any improvement mentioned
in this chapter shall be payable in either of two ways: by the cash
plan or by the extended annual payment plan.
B.
Under the cash plan, assessments shall be payable
in cash, without interest, and at the price specified in the assessment
roll as the cash cost, provided that such payment is made within a
thirty-day period next succeeding the date of the publication of the
assessing ordinance.
C.
Under the extended annual payment plan, assessments
shall be payable in equal annual installments, with interest on deferred
payments, and at the price specified in the assessment roll as the
extended payment cost. Under this plan, the assessments shall be payable
in not less than three nor more than 10 equal annual installments,
the number of such annual installments to be determined by the Council
and to be based upon the average amount d against the greatest number
of lots, tracts or parcels of land of the same size, and such installments
shall bear a rate of annual interest which is 1% in excess of the
rate borne by the improvement bonds which they will retire, and which
interest shall run until the due date of its respective installment,
and shall be payable in each year at such times as the several installments
are made payable.
D.
Either plan of payment mentioned herein may be adopted
by the owner of the property liable for such assessment, and when
the extended annual payment plan is adopted, the first installment
of the assessment, together with the interest upon the whole assessment
from the date of the passage of the assessing ordinance to the first
of the next September, shall be due and payable on or before the first
day of September next succeeding the passage of the ordinance; provided,
however, that if such assessment ordinance is not passed prior to
the first day of August in any year, the first installment of such
assessment shall be due and payable with interest on the entire assessment
from the date of the passage of such assessing ordinance to the first
day of September of the following year. Subsequent installments, together
with interest on the entire amount of the assessment remaining unpaid,
shall be due and payable successively on the first day of September
of the following year until all are paid. In case any installment
or interest is not paid when due, the installment so matured and unpaid
interest shall draw interest at the rate of 12% per annum, from maturity
until paid, except as hereinafter otherwise provided. All assessments
and interest, whether collected by the City or the County Treasurer,
shall be paid to the City Treasurer who shall keep the same in a separate
special fund for the purpose of paying the bonds and interest coupons
thereon, issued against such assessments, and after the payment of
all bonds of a district and interest thereon, any surplus remaining
in said special fund shall be appropriated and paid into the special
improvement guarantee fund of the City.
E.
The assessments provided for and levied under the
provisions of this chapter shall be payable as the several installments
become due, together with the interest thereon, to the City Clerk,
who shall give proper receipts for such payments, and credit the same
upon the assessment record for the improvement concerned. It shall
be the duty of the City Clerk to keep an accurate account of all such
collections made by him, and to pay to the City Treasurer daily the
amounts of such assessments collected by him, and the amounts so collected
and paid to the City Treasurer shall constitute a separate special
fund to be used and applied to the payment of the improvement bonds
and the interest thereon. It shall be the duty of the City Clerk,
not less than 30 days and not more than 40 days before the maturity
of any installment of such assessments, to publish, in two successive
issues of a daily newspaper, or in one issue of a weekly newspaper,
published in and of general circulation in this City, a notice advising
the owner of the land affected by such assessment of the date when
such installment and interest will be due, and designating the improvement
for which such assessments have been levied, and that unless the same
shall be promptly paid such installment and interest shall bear interest
at the rate of 12% per annum thereafter until paid, and proceedings
taken according to this chapter to collect such installment and interest.
It shall be the duty of the City Clerk, promptly after the date of
maturity of any such installment and interest and on or before the
15th day of September in each year, to certify the installment and
interest then due to the County Treasurer, which installment and interest
shall be, by the County Treasurer, placed upon the November delinquent
tax list of the same year prepared by such Treasurer and collected
as other delinquent taxes are collected. It shall be the duty of the
County Treasurer to collect such installments of assessments, together
with interest and penalty, so certified to him by the City Clerk,
as herein provided, and such County Treasurer shall not receive the
general ad valorem taxes or other special assessments levied against
the property against which such assessments and interest remain unpaid
unless such special assessments are likewise paid thereon; and within
30 days from the receipt of such delinquent assessments, interest
and penalty, so collected by the County Treasurer, the same shall
be paid by the County Treasurer to the City Treasurer for disbursement
in accordance with the provisions of this chapter; all such duties
and procedure of the County Treasurer to be as in other cases by the
laws of this state made and provided. The failure of the City Clerk
to publish notice of the maturity of any installment and interest
shall in no wise affect the validity of the proceedings to collect
the same under the provisions of this section. All payments to the
City Treasurer on account of such assessments shall be by him certified
to the City Clerk to be credited on the improvement assessment record.
Special assessments levied under this chapter,
and each installment thereof and the interest thereon, are hereby
declared to be a lien against the lots and tracts of land so assessed
from the date of the passage of the ordinance levying the same, coequal
with the lien of other taxes and special assessments, and prior and
superior to all other liens against such lots or tracts of land, and
such liens shall continue as to all unpaid installments of assessments
and interest until such assessments and interest thereon shall have
been paid, but unmatured installments shall not be deemed to be within
the terms of any general covenant or warranty.
As by the laws of this state in other causes
made and provided, any holder of any improvement bond issued under
the provisions of this chapter, or the City itself, shall have the
right to institute, in the name of the City, an action in the District
Court of Canadian County to foreclose the lien of such assessment
whenever such assessment is delinquent at least 12 months, stating
in the petition generally the ownership of such bond, describing the
property assessed, the nature of the improvement, the amount of the
unpaid delinquent assessment and the penalty thereof at the rate of
12% per annum, and praying for the foreclosure of such lien. Summons
shall be issued on such petition as in other civil actions and the
cause tried by the District Court. Judgment may be entered thereon
for the amount of such unpaid assessment, together with interest thereon
at the rate of 12% per annum from the date the assessment was due
and payable up to the time of the institution of such action and for
the sum of six-percent interest on the judgment from the time of the
institution of such action until the judgment is paid. In the event
the judgment, together with interest and costs, is not paid within
six months after the date of the rendition thereof, an order of sale
shall issue by the clerk of the court, directed to the sheriff of
the county, to sell such real estate in manner and form as in the
case of sale of real estate under execution. Such judgment shall carry
the costs of such action, together with the costs of such sale; and
upon the payment of such judgment, the amount thereof, exclusive of
such costs, shall be paid to the City Treasurer and become a part
of the separate special fund to pay such outstanding bonds and interest
thereon. Such judgment shall provide for the sale of the real estate
subject to existing general or ad valorem taxes and special assessments.
All owners or encumbrancers shall be made parties defendant in such
suit. Upon the institution of an action to collect delinquent and
unpaid assessments in any improvement district against property liable
therefor, no other or further action shall be instituted and maintained
to collect such delinquent assessment against said property for said
year.
A.
The Council shall provide, by resolution, for the
issuance of negotiable coupon bonds in the aggregate amount of all
assessments under this chapter that remain unpaid after the expiration
of the thirty-day period within which the whole of any assessment
may be paid without interest, which bond shall bear a date 30 days
subsequent to the date of the ordinance levying the assessments, and
which bonds shall in no event become a liability of the City; provided
that, in case the work has been done by direct labor of City forces,
such bonds shall not be issued until after completion of the work,
compilation of the engineer's statement of actual cost, and publication
of notice and completion of the reassessment roll, if any such there
be. Such bonds shall be of such denominations as the Council shall
determine.
B.
The bonds herein provided for shall recite that they
are negotiable under the laws of the State of Oklahoma, and are payable
on or before October 1 next succeeding the September 1 on which the
last installment of assessments shall mature, shall bear interest
in any amount up to but not more than 6% per annum, as the Council
shall determine, such interest payable October 1 next succeeding the
due date of the first installment of assessments, and semiannually
thereafter, until maturity, and 10% per annum after maturity. Such
bonds shall be designated as improvement bonds, and shall recite the
particular improvement for which they have been issued, and that they
are issued under and by virtue of the Charter and ordinances of the
City. They shall further recite that they are payable from the assessments
which have been levied upon the lots, tracts and parcels of land benefited
by such improvement and able with the cost thereof.
C.
Bonds issued under this section shall further recite
that the owners of the land able with such assessments are assessed
an additional 1% above the interest drawn by the bonds, on all deferred
installments of assessments to provide a fund to guarantee the prompt
payment of the bonds when due, in case any assessment becomes delinquent.
They shall further state that the City maintains a special improvement
guarantee fund for the same purpose, and each issue of bonds hereunder
shall state the amount of this fund which has been appropriated and
set aside to guarantee the prompt redemption thereof in case any special
assessment should become delinquent.
D.
Such bonds shall be signed by the Mayor of the City
and be attested by the City Clerk, and shall have an impression of
the corporate seal of the City thereon, and shall have interest coupons
attached thereto bearing a facsimile of the signatures of the Mayor
and City Clerk. Such bonds and interest coupons shall be payable at
such place, either within or without the State of Oklahoma, as shall
be designated therein. Such bonds shall be issued in series, and the
bonds of each series shall be numbered consecutively beginning with
number one, and the bonds of each series shall be payable in their
numerical order. Such bonds shall be registered by the Clerk and Treasurer
of the City in a book to be provided for that purpose, and each bond
shall bear a certificate of registration, and upon the books of such
Treasurer shall be noted the name of the holder thereof and his address,
and any subsequent holder may cause the same to be registered in his
name, upon submission of proper proof of ownership.
E.
The City shall call in and pay bonds issued under
this section, or any number thereof, in the following manner: Whenever
there shall be sufficient funds in the hands of the City Treasurer,
after the payment of all interest due and to become due within the
next six months, such Treasurer shall, on September 1 of any year,
give notice by registered mail addressed to the last registered holder
of the bonds called, at the address appearing upon his registry, that
there have accumulated funds sufficient to pay the designated bonds
and interest thereon to a date 30 days hence from the date of such
notice, and directing the presentation of such bond or bonds for payment
and cancellation, and such bond or bonds will cease to bear interest
after the expiration of 30 days. Upon the payment and cancellation
of such bond or bonds, proper entry thereof shall be made upon the
books of the Clerk and Treasurer, and it is hereby made the duty of
the Treasurer, upon the accumulation of sufficient funds as herein
provided to pay one or more of such bonds, to so call and pay such
bond or bonds, and in the event of failure so to do, he shall be liable
for all such damages as may result therefrom and the provisions hereof
may be enforced by appropriate proceeding in mandamus against the
Treasurer.
When any contract has been let under this chapter
with the condition that the contractor therefor is to be paid directly
in the improvement bonds of the district, such bonds, in the amount
that may be necessary for such purpose, shall be turned over and delivered
to the contractor in parcels, from time to time, on completion and
approval of the work, or any part thereof, to an amount equal to the
improvement so completed and accepted; provided that, on all items
of cost such as engineering, advertising and such other items of expense
as are included in the final estimate of cost and assessment roll,
and are not included in the contract, the contractor shall accept
from the Council the improvement bonds of the district at their par
value in an amount equal to the total appearing on the assessment
roll as the extended payment price for such item or items and return
to the Council, in exchange therefor, the total amount of cash as
appears on the assessment roll as the cash price for such item or
items and retain the difference as the just and equitable cost of
financing thereof, and the Council shall disburse such cash in payment
for such item or items.
Upon the completion of an improvement under
this chapter, the Council shall determine whether or not such work
of improvement has been completed in accordance with the plans, profiles,
specifications and contract therefor, if there is a contract, and
if found to be in compliance therewith, shall accept the same, and
when so accepted such action shall be conclusively binding upon all
persons interested and upon the courts. Whenever such improvement
shall have been constructed by direct labor of City forces, the City
Engineer of the City shall immediately compile a statement of actual
cost of improvement which shall be by each item of the work and follow
generally the final estimate of cost, and include any extra work that
may have been done, and if on completion of same such statement of
actual cost is lower by more than 2% than the final estimate of cost
and assessment roll as theretofore adopted by the Council of the City,
the City Engineer shall immediately compile a reassessment roll showing
the actual cost thereon and file the same with the Council. The Council
shall examine same and, if found satisfactory, adopt same in the place
of the assessment roll theretofore adopted for such improvement, and
publish proper notice of the adoption of such reassessment roll in
like manner as the notice for the assessment roll was published, and
such notice shall state that all assessments for such improvement
are reduced thereby. If any property owner appearing on such assessment
roll has paid cash during the thirty-day period allowed for such payment,
the Council shall order the City Clerk of the City, or other proper
authority, to draw a warrant on the fund set up for such improvement
for the amount of the overpayment as shown by the difference between
the assessment roll and the reassessment roll, and make refund of
such overpayment to the property owner. Whenever such statement of
actual cost is lower than such final estimate of cost and assessment
roll by less than 2%, such balance remaining shall be transferred
into the special improvement guarantee fund of this City; provided
that, in the event any special assessment shall be found to be invalid
or insufficient, in whole or in part, for any reason whatever, the
Council may at any time, in such manner provided for levying an original
assessment, proceed to cause a reassessment to be made and levied
which shall have like force and effect as an original assessment.
As by the laws of this state in similar cases made and provided, no suit shall be sustained to set aside any assessment or to enjoin the City Council from levying or collecting any such assessment, or installment thereof, or interest or penalty thereon, or issuing the bonds, or providing for their payment or contesting the validity thereof on any ground, or for any reason other than for the failure of the Council to adopt and publish the resolution declaring the necessity for such improvement and the publication thereof as provided in § 217-4, and to give notice of the hearing upon the assessment roll, unless such suit shall be commenced not more than 15 days after the publication of the ordinances levying assessments, and no suit shall be sustained after the work has been completed and accepted by the City except for failure to give such notice of the necessity resolution or the failure to give the notice of the hearing on the assessment roll.
Any property which shall be owned by the City,
or county, or any board of education or school district shall be treated
and considered the same as the property of other owners, and such
City, county, school board or board of education within an improvement
district to be assessed shall annually provide, by the levy of taxes,
a sufficient sum to pay the maturing assessments and interest thereon,
as by the laws of this state in other cases made and provided.
Railways owning property within any improvement
district organized under this chapter, or having a right-of-way along
or upon any street included in any such improvement district, shall
be required to do all things now required by Title 11, Article XXXVI,
of the Oklahoma Statutes, and 11 O.S. §§ 36-301, 36-302,
36-303, and 36-304, as amended, in connection with such improvement,
and the City shall have the same recourse in enforcing the terms of
this chapter against such railways as now provided in such statute
for enforcing the same.
