A.  In any parish adjoining Lake Maurepas or Lake Pontchartrain, upon the award of the contract as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 38:1674.12 the treasurer of the board of commissioners shall prepare a report showing the total cost of the improvements, including a reasonable amount for engineering fees, legal fees, contingencies and all other expenses incidental to the cost, which report shall also show the amount chargeable to each assessable lot or parcel of real estate in the assessment area of the district in accordance with the provisions of the resolution of intention required by La. Rev. Stat. 38:1674.12.  

B.  Thereafter, there shall be introduced at a regular meeting or at a special meeting of the board an ordinance levying a local or special assessment on each assessable lot or parcel of real estate in the assessment area of the district in the amount chargeable to it.  No action shall be taken on final adoption of such ordinance during the three weeks immediately after its introduction.  Such ordinance shall be introduced substantially in the form in which it is finally passed, and shall remain on file with the secretary of the board for public inspection at least two weeks prior to the final adoption thereof.  Notice of the time at which the board proposes to take final action thereon shall be published once in a newspaper published within the district; or, if there be none, in some newspaper published in the parish wherein the district is located, at least one week prior to the final adoption thereof.  

C.  Written notice of the introduction of such resolution shall be given to each owner of each assessable lot or parcel of real estate in the assessment area of the district, which notice shall contain a general description of the project or improvement, the amount of the assessment, and the terms of paying therefor.  The notice shall be given by depositing the written notice in the United States mail, postage prepaid, and addressed to the owners of each assessable lot or parcel of real estate at the address as it appears on the last approved tax roll on the property to be assessed, and said notice shall be mailed at least ten days prior to the date on which the board proposes to take final action thereon.  The certificate of the secretary of the board certifying that the requirements as to notice have been fulfilled shall establish a conclusive legal presumption that the notice requirements of this Section have been legally satisfied.  

D.  On the date designated for final adoption, the board shall then adopt the ordinance levying a local or special assessment on each assessable lot or parcel of real estate in the amount chargeable to it, and the total of all such special assessments shall represent the total cost of said improvements as set forth in the treasurer’s report, less that part of the total cost, if any, to be provided from any other source; however, such assessments shall be levied only on the real estate which the board determines is to be improved or benefited by the construction of said improvements.  

E.  The amounts assessed in said ordinance shall be due and collectible immediately on its passage, and if not paid within thirty days from the date of the adoption of said ordinance, it shall be conclusively presumed that any property owner whose property is affected thereby exercises the right and option, which is hereby authorized, to pay the amount due in equal annual installments, bearing interest at a rate or rates not exceeding the maximum rate provided for conventional interest by law and extending over a period not to exceed twenty years, all within the discretion of the board, and as provided for in the ordinance levying such local or special assessments.  The first installment shall become due on December 31st of the current year, and annually thereafter.  The failure to pay any installment or the interest thereon when due shall ipso facto cause all other installments and interest thereon to become due and payable and the district shall, within thirty days from the date of such default, proceed against the property for the collection of the total amount due thereon, including interest, plus ten percent additional on the unpaid principal and interest as attorneys’ fees.  

F.  A certified copy of the ordinance levying the local or special assessments shall be filed with the clerk of court in the parish in which the drainage district is situated.  The ordinance shall be recorded in the mortgage records of the parish, and shall operate as a lien and privilege against the assessed property, and shall prime all other claims except ad valorem taxes.  The payments made in cash shall be expended for no purpose other than for the payment of the cost of said improvements.  

G.  In order to operate and maintain any drainage facilities financed, in whole or in part, by the levy of local or special assessments as herein provided, the board of commissioners may impose annually an acreage tax in an amount not to exceed one hundred dollars on each acre of land in the district and assessment area except that the high lands shall pay an amount equal to twenty percent of such annual acreage tax as levied against each acre or square foot of the undrained lands in the assessment area.  The tax shall be imposed in compliance with the provisions of La. Const. Art. XV, § 1 of the State of Louisiana for the year 1921, as amended, which is continued as a statute¹ by Article XIV, Section 16(A) 11 of thethe Louisiana Constitution of 1974, and shall be collected in the manner set forth in La. Rev. Stat. 38:1633.  

H.  The provisions of this Section shall apply only to contracts awarded under the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 38:1674.12, and shall not apply to contracts awarded under any other provisions of this Part which apply to parishes adjoining Lake Maurepas or Lake Pontchartrain.  

Added by Acts 1979, No. 712, §2, eff. July 20, 1979.

¹La. Rev. Stat. 38:1619.