Title 61, Waters

If the district defaults in the payment of the principal or interest on any of the bonds when due, whether at maturity or upon call for redemption, and the default continues for a period of thirty days, or if the district or the board, or officers, agents, or employees of the dis…

A receiver appointed under section 61-35-42, directly or by agents and attorneys, shall immediately enter into and upon and take possession of the entire project and may exclude from the project the district, its board, officers, agents, and employees, and all persons claiming un…

After payment of all that is due upon the bonds and any other obligations that are a charge, lien, or encumbrance on the revenues of the project under any of the terms of any covenants or agreements with bondholders, and after all defaults have been made good, the court, after no…

A receiver under this chapter acts under the direction and supervision of the appointing court and is subject to the orders of that court and may be removed by it. This chapter does not limit the jurisdiction of the court to enter orders it deems necessary for the receiver to exe…

Powers under this chapter are in addition and supplemental to and not in substitution for, and the limitations imposed by this chapter do not affect the powers conferred by, any other law. Bonds may be issued under this chapter without regard to any other laws of this state, exce…

Nothing in this chapter may be deemed in any way to: 1. Alter the terms of any agreements made with the holders of any outstanding notes, bonds, or other obligations of the district, before August 1, 1995; 2. Authorize the district to alter the terms of any such agreements, or to…

Upon complying with this chapter, a district may defray the expense of any or all of the improvements by special assessments, including the construction of all or part of a water supply system or a sewerage system, or both, or any improvement, extension, or replacement of such sy…

The provisions of this chapter relating to water mains and waterworks apply only to districts that own or contemplate owning a system of waterworks and water mains. In the purchase of a waterworks system or of a sewage treatment or disposal plant or of a system of sewers, either …

When it is necessary to conduct the sewage of a district or to acquire a supply of water beyond the district limits and to construct mains or aqueducts to conduct water or sewage to the district limits, the board by grant, purchase, or condemnation proceedings may acquire private…

When property required to make any improvement authorized by this chapter is to be taken by condemnation proceedings, the court, upon request by resolution of the board of the district making the improvement, shall call a special term of court for the trial of the proceedings and…

For an improvement project under section 61-35-48 and defraying the cost of the project by special assessments, a district may create water districts, sewer districts, and water and sewer districts, and may extend any such district when necessary. The appropriate special improvem…

Any improvement district created by a district may embrace two or more separate property areas. Each improvement district must be of such size and form as to include all properties which in the judgment of the board, after consultation with the engineer planning the improvement, …

After a special improvement district has been created, the board, if it deems it necessary to make any of the improvements set out in section 61-35-48 in the manner provided in this chapter, shall direct the engineer for the district, or some other competent engineer, to prepare …

After receiving the engineer's report required by section 61-35-54, the board may direct the engineer to prepare detailed plans and specifications for construction of the improvement. The plans and specifications must be approved by a resolution of the board.

The engineer acting for the district shall retain a copy of the plans, specifications, and estimates that have been prepared for any improvement. The engineer shall furnish copies at the request of any person at a reasonable cost.

The plans, specifications, and estimates prepared as directed under section 61-35-55 are the property of the district, must be filed in the district office, and must remain on file subject to inspection by any interested person.

Upon the filing of the engineer's report provided for in section 61-35-54, and after satisfying the requirements of section 61-35-55, the district board shall fix a date and place for public hearing on the proposed project. The place of hearing must be in the vicinity of the prop…

At the hearing, the affected landowners and any county, township, or city to be assessed must be informed when and where votes concerning the proposed project may be filed. Affected landowners and the governing body of any county, township, or city to be assessed have thirty days…

In order that there may be a fair relationship between the amount of liability for assessments and the power of objecting to the establishment of a proposed project, the voting rights of affected landowners on the question of establishing the project are as provided in this secti…

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 par…

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 b…

Within ten days after the hearing under section 61-35-62, affected landowners and any political subdivision subject to assessment, having not less than twenty-five percent of the possible votes as determined under section 61-35-60, who believe that the assessment has not been fai…

After the requirements of this chapter have been satisfied and a contract and bond for any work for which a special assessment is to be levied have been approved by the district board, the board may direct special assessments to be levied for the payment of appropriate costs and …

The district board may hold at any time or, upon petition of any affected landowner or political subdivision which has been assessed after a project has been in existence for at least one year, shall hold a hearing for the purpose of determining the benefits of the project to eac…

If mathematical errors or other mistakes occur in making any assessment resulting in a deficiency in that assessment, the district board shall cause additional assessments to be made in a manner substantially complying with chapter 40-26 as it relates to special assessments.

A special assessment imposed by a district, with accrued interest and penalties, is a lien upon the property on which the assessment is levied from the time the assessment list is approved by the district board until the assessment is fully paid. The liens have precedence over al…

A district constructing a sewer or water improvement under the special assessment method may resolve in the resolution or ordinance required by section 61-35-52, that a portion of the cost of the improvement must be raised by service charges for the use of the improvement and of …

In all proceedings for the levy and collection of special assessments, abbreviations, letters, and figures may be used to denote all or parts of additions, lots, lands, blocks, sections, townships, ranges, years, days of the month, and amounts of money.

The district office shall keep a complete record of all the proceedings taken in the matter of making any improvements under this chapter. The record must include all reports and confirmations, all petitions, orders, notices and proofs of publication, and resolutions of the board…

Defects and irregularities in any proceedings had or to be had under this chapter relating to district improvements by the special assessment method, if the proceedings are for a lawful purpose and are unaffected by fraud and do not violate any constitutional limitation or restri…

All special assessments levied under this title may be paid without interest within ten days after they have been approved by the board and thereafter bear interest at an annual rate not exceeding one and one-half percentage points above the average net annual interest rate on an…

As between a vendor and vendee of real property, unless the purchase contract otherwise provides, the installments of all special assessments for local improvements which are required to be certified and returned to the county auditor in each year become a lien upon the real prop…

Special assessments for the payment of the cost of constructing any sewer are payable in equal annual amounts, or in such annual amounts as will permit the annual increase in payment of principal to approximate the annual decrease in the interest on amounts remaining unpaid, exte…

Special assessments for the payment of the cost of constructing or laying any water mains or constructing any waterworks are payable in equal annual amounts, or in such annual amounts as will permit the annual increase in payment of principal to approximate the annual decrease in…

The owner of any property against which an assessment has been made under this title for the cost of any improvement may pay in full or in part the amount remaining unpaid and the unpaid accumulated interest. The payment in full discharges the lien of the assessment upon that pro…

When a district board, by resolution, has caused special assessments to be levied to cover the cost of constructing a project, the board shall determine the rate of interest unpaid special assessments are to bear, which rate may not exceed one and one-half percent above the bond …

The district treasurer shall notify the county auditor not later than August twentieth in each year of any special assessments that were made in the district in addition to those reported in the previous year. The county auditor shall make and deliver to the district treasurer on…

The county auditor shall extend the special assessments upon the tax lists of the district for the current year and the assessments with interest and penalties must be collected as general taxes are collected and paid over to the district treasurer and shall be placed by the dist…

The county auditor shall keep a special assessment record. When any district causes the installments of special assessments for a period of more than one year to be certified, the county auditor shall cause the certified special assessments to be recorded for the respective years…

Special assessments of any kind certified to the county auditor by the district treasurer must be paid to the county treasurer and included in the receipt required by section 57-20-08. If the county treasurer receives less than the full amount of taxes and special assessments due…

The county treasurer shall add to all special assessments the same interest and penalties that are added in the case of general taxes and at the same time. The county treasurer shall collect the interest and penalties with the special assessments and shall pay all such interest a…

All special assessments and taxes levied and other revenues pledged under the provisions of this chapter to pay the cost of an improvement constitute a fund for the payment of that cost, including all principal of and interest on bonds and other obligations issued by the district…

At any time after entering into a contract for a project to be financed in whole or in part by special assessments, a district may issue temporary and definitive bonds on the project fund, created for that purpose, in the manner and subject to the limitations prescribed in sectio…

Improvement bonds may be used in making payments on contracts for construction of the project for which the special assessment fund was created, or may be sold for cash at not less than ninety-eight percent of par and accrued interest, and the proceeds, less accrued interest, mus…

Any district having outstanding special assessment bonds, payable in whole or in part out of collections from special assessments, which are past due or which are redeemable, either at the option of the district or with the consent of the bondholders, may issue refunding special …

Special assessments imposed under this chapter become due and delinquent and are subject to penalties for nonpayment at the same date and rates as first installments of real estate taxes at the same time and in the same manner as provided in title 57. If there is no delinquent ge…

Proposals for the work of making improvements provided for in this chapter that exceed the amount provided for construction of a public improvement under section 48-01.2-02 must be advertised for by the board in the official newspaper of the county where the district office is lo…

Each bid for any work to be done under this chapter must be accompanied by a separate envelope containing a bidder's bond in the amount of five percent of the amount of the bid, executed as provided in this chapter and running to the district that the bidder will enter into a con…

The bidder's bond must be executed by the bidder as principal and may be provided by a surety company authorized to do business in this state as surety or by a bank letter of credit, a cash bond, or a certified check.

A bidder's bond must be made payable to the district and conditioned that if the principal's bid is accepted and the contract for the work of improvement awarded to the bidder, the bidder, within ten days after the acceptance of the bid, or within such further time as the board g…