Chapter 551 — Chapter 551

ORS 551.010 Use of “lands” in chapter; railroads subject to taxation; duties of surveyor and engineer. (1) When the term “lands” is used in this chapter in reference to taxation, it shall not be held to include improvements thereon; but the roadbed of railway lines within diking districts shall be subject to taxation for diking purposes

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ORS 551.020 Petition for formation of diking district; bond. One-half or more of the owners of lands which may be conveniently embraced in one diking district and which are subject to overflow by tidewaters or freshets, and who represent one-half or more of the area of the lands embraced within the proposed diking district, may present a petition to the county court of the county in which the lands are situated, reciting therein that it is desired to form a diking district for the purpose of improving by diking or damming the lands contained therein, which are subject to overflow by tidewater or by freshets, as the case may be, and further giving by legal subdivisions, or by metes and bounds, the description of such lands as are desired to be included in the district, and stating that the petitioners are the owners of one-half or more of the acreage to be embraced in the district. If, upon consideration of the petition, the county court finds the statements therein are substantially correct, the court shall require the petitioners to give a bond sufficient to cover the preliminary expenses of the proceedings

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ORS 551.030 Publication of petition; order to show cause; viewers to investigate proposed works. (1) The county court or board of county commissioners shall then have the petition published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the district is headquartered once each week for four consecutive weeks, together with an order citing all interested parties to appear before the court on a given date, after the time of publication of the notice has expired, and show cause why the petition should not be granted

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ORS 551.040 Duties of surveyors and viewers. The routine of procedure under this chapter shall be as far as practicable the same as prescribed by the road law of the state for survey, location and establishment of county roads. The surveyors and viewers appointed shall meet as prescribed by the county court. They shall trace upon the ground the line of the dikes and dams necessary, and shall keep an accurate record of the magnetic bearings and the distances upon the same. They shall designate the width of the right of way through which the dikes and dams shall pass, which right of way, if the petition is granted, shall be the property of the district in so far as is necessary for the purpose of building and maintaining the works. The surveyors and viewers shall also define the boundaries of the district, and make an accurate list, by legal subdivision, of the lands embraced therein, and the names of the owners thereof. They shall further make plans for, and estimate the cost of, the proposed dikes and dams, and shall file with the county clerk, at least one week before the day set for a hearing, a complete report of their works. Their report shall be open to public inspection

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ORS 551.050 Hearing; postponement; decision of court. At the time advertised for the hearing of interested parties, the court may postpone the hearing as may be necessary in order to allow the viewers more time in which to report, or for other good cause. If, upon the final hearing, the county court, from the report of the viewers and the testimony of interested persons, believes that the benefits to be derived from forming a diking district are not sufficiently great to justify the expenditure which will be incurred, the petition and report shall be dismissed at the cost of the petitioners. If the court believes that the proposed improvement will be for the general public good, and that the increase in the taxable value of the land will be greater than the cost, or that destruction of or damage to property equal to the cost will be prevented, the petition shall be granted and the district formed, a number given by which it shall be designated in future proceedings, the report of the viewers adopted and incorporated in the court records, and the cost of the preliminary work assessed upon the district

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ORS 551.060 Apportionment of cost of dikes and dams. After the petition has been granted and the proceedings had as specified in ORS 551.050, the court shall apportion the estimated cost of the dikes and dams among the landowners of the proposed district, in proportion to the valuation of the lands therein, according to the estimated value placed upon the respective tracts by the viewers. The cost thus apportioned shall be a tax upon the land and shall be placed upon the assessment roll of the county for the current year. Such taxes for diking purposes shall have the same legal effect and be collected in a like manner as other state and county taxes upon the assessment roll. [Amended by 2001 c.497 §1]

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ORS 551.070 Advertisement for bids; contracts; bond; personal subscriptions; modification of plan. When the tax has been collected or the application filed as provided in ORS 551.080, the county court shall advertise for bids on the proposed work, either as a whole or in parts, as may be deemed most economical. The advertisement for bids shall be published in the official county paper once each week for two successive weeks previous to letting the contracts. The contracts shall be drawn in such terms as will insure the district against loss, and a bond required of the contractor such as will insure the completion of the work in case of failure to comply with the agreement. No contract shall be awarded which calls for an expenditure of a sum of money greater than the tax levied for the purpose; provided, that the difference may be made up by personal subscriptions; and provided also, the court may modify the plan so as to bring the cost of work within the tax levy, if such modification can be made without material detriment to the improvements

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ORS 551.080 Application for payment of assessments in installments. After the assessments have been made, the owner of any property assessed for such improvement in a sum not less than $50 may, at any time within 10 days after the cost of such diking district has been apportioned, file with the clerk of the county court a written application to pay the assessment in installments. The application shall state that the applicant waives all irregularities or defects, jurisdictional or otherwise, in the proceedings to create the diking district, and in the assessment and apportionment of costs. The application shall contain a provision that the applicant agrees to pay the assessment in five annual installments with interest at the rate of six percent per annum. But no such application shall be received and accepted where the assessment exceeds the assessed valuation of the property on the tax roll of the county. The installments shall be paid annually from the time of the apportionment of the costs. In case of default in the payment of any installment for 20 days after it becomes payable, the whole of the remaining unpaid sum shall be collected as a tax against the property assessed for the same

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ORS 551.090 Meetings of landowners; procedure; selection of advisory board and superintendent. (1) Within 10 days after the petition has been granted, the petitioners shall call a meeting of the landowners of the district, to be held in the district at a time and place by them designated, for the purpose of choosing three landowners as an advisory board and nominating one landowner for superintendent of the district. Notice of the meeting shall be signed by at least three of the petitioners and posted in three public places in the district five days before the date of the meeting

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ORS 551.100 Superintendent; compensation; powers and duties; estimate of maintenance costs as basis for annual tax levy. (1) The superintendent

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ORS 551.110 Deposit of district funds; payment of claims. Moneys of a district may be deposited in accordance with ORS 295.001 to 295.108 and as designated by the superintendent of the district in consultation with the advisory board. Moneys deposited may be withdrawn or paid out only upon a proper order and warrant or upon a check signed by the superintendent. The order shall

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ORS 551.120 Damages; recovery by landowner. If, in locating and establishing the dikes and dams provided for in this chapter, an owner of land through which they pass is aggrieved on the score of right of way or other causes, the owner shall have proper damage. In such cases claims for damages shall be filed and the amount thereof determined in accordance with the general road law in like cases. The damages allowed shall be assessed against the lands of the district in the same manner as the tax for construction, and paid to the aggrieved parties in the same manner in which other claims are paid

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ORS 551.130 Organization of repair and maintenance district for land already diked; levy in proportion to benefits; credit for original cost. Owners of land already diked may organize districts for the repair and maintenance of the dikes and dams thereof by complying with the procedure prescribed in this chapter, except that the petition need not be signed by more persons than the owners of more than one-half of the acreage embraced in the limits of the proposed district. The board of viewers shall provide for placing the dikes and dams in thorough repair and up to a uniform standard, and shall levy the cost of such repairs in the first instance, not upon the assessed valuation of the lands, but in proportion to the benefits conferred. The value of the dikes and dams as they stand shall be estimated and due credit given to the lands which have borne the original cost of construction; provided, such credit shall entitle the land to no consideration greater than release from the cost of repairs in the first instance

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ORS 551.140 Realignment of dikes by landowner. Any person through whose lands a dike has been constructed under this chapter may be allowed to construct a dike upon new lines between any two points on the original line. In such case the owner shall file application with the county court, giving a plat of the proposed change, and indorsed by the superintendent of the district. If the court is satisfied that the change is not detrimental to the district, the application shall be granted. The applicant shall construct the new dike at the expense of the applicant, and up to the standard of the original, of which fact the superintendent shall be the judge. The dike thus constructed shall become the property of the district in the same manner as the original, and subject to the same regulation, and the right of way of the original dike shall thereupon become vacated

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ORS 551.150 Vacation of right of way; reversion to original owner. The county court may vacate the right of way through which the dikes and dams pass, in the same manner in which county roads are vacated, and the right of way shall thereupon revert to the original owner

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ORS 551.160 County authority as to dikes and dams. The governing body of any county shall have the powers provided for it in this chapter to regulate the building and maintenance of dikes and dams for the purpose of reclaiming and improving submersible lands as defined in ORS 274.005, or lands subject to overflow by freshets, and for the purpose of protecting lands from overflow where great damage is liable to be caused thereby. [Amended by 1969 c.594 §60]

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ORS 551.170 Appeals from county court. Appeals may be taken from the action of the county court in carrying out the provisions of this chapter in like manner as appeals are provided for under the road law. Any judgment resulting therefrom shall be an expense upon the district, and not upon the county, and shall be provided for in the tax levy upon the district

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ORS 551.180 Dissolution conditions and procedure. (1) A diking district may be dissolved in accordance with ORS 198.920 to 198.955 if

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