When the district board proposes to make any special assessment under this chapter, the board, prior to the hearing required under section 61-35-58 shall inspect any and all lots and parcels of land that may be subject to assessment and shall determine from the inspection the particular lots and parcels of lands which, in the opinion of the board, will be especially benefited by the construction of the work for which the assessment is made and shall assess the proportion of the total cost of acquiring right of way and constructing and maintaining such improvement in accordance with benefits received but not exceeding such benefits, against: 1. Any county, township, or city, in its corporate capacity, which may be directly or indirectly benefited by the improvement. 2. Any lot, piece, or parcel of land that is directly benefited by the improvement. In determining benefits, the board shall consider, among other factors, property values, degree of improvement of properties, and productivity. Property belonging to the United States is exempt from assessment unless the United States has provided for the payment of any assessment that may be levied against its property for benefits received. Benefited property belonging to the state, a county, a city, a school district, a park district, or a township is not exempt from assessment and political subdivisions that own assessed property shall provide for the payment of such assessments, including installments and interest, by the levy of taxes according to law. Any county, township, or city assessed in its corporate capacity for benefits received shall provide for the payment of those assessments, installments, and interest from its general fund or by levy of a general property tax against all the taxable property in the political subdivision in accordance with law. No tax limitation provided by any statute of this state applies to tax levies made by any political subdivision for paying any special assessments made under this chapter. There must be attached to the list of assessments a certificate signed by a majority of the members of the board certifying that it is a true and correct assessment of the benefit described to the best of their judgment and stating the several items of expense included in the assessment.
61-35-62. Assessment list to be published - Notice of hearing - Alteration of assessments - Confirmation of assessment list - Filing. After entering an order establishing the project, the district board shall cause the assessment list to be published once each week for two successive weeks in the newspapers of general circulation in the district and in the official county newspaper of each county in which the benefited lands are located. The publication must include a notice of the time and place the board will meet to hear objections to any assessment by any interested party, or an agent or attorney for that party. The date set for the hearing must be not less than twenty days after the first publication of the notice. At the hearing, the board may make such alterations in the assessments as in its opinion may be just and necessary to correct any error in the assessment
but must make the aggregate of all assessments equal to the total amount required to pay the entire cost of the work for which the assessments are made or the part of the cost to be paid by special assessment. An assessment may not exceed the benefit as determined by the board to the parcel of land or political subdivision assessed. The board shall then confirm the assessment list and the secretary shall attach to the list a certificate that it is correct as confirmed by the board. The secretary shall file the list in the office of the district secretary.