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48-597. List of unpaid assessments; issuance of bonds; denominations; due date

A. After the return of the warrant, and after recording the return, the superintendent shall make and certify to the clerk a complete list of all assessments unpaid, which amount to twenty-five dollars or over, upon any assessment.

B. If any person before certification of the list to the clerk presents to the superintendent an affidavit that the person owns a lot in the list, accompanied by the certificate of a searcher of records that the person is the owner of record, and notifies the superintendent in writing that the person desires no bond to be issued for the assessment upon the lot, then the assessment shall not be included in the list, and shall remain collectible as provided by this article. Omission to file the notice shall bar any defense against the bonds except the defense that the governing body did not have authority to issue the bonds.

C. The clerk shall present the list to the governing body at its next meeting after the return has been recorded. At any time after awarding a contract for construction or acquisition, the governing body may, by resolution, direct improvement bonds to be issued in an amount which shall not exceed the amount of unpaid assessments exceeding twenty-five dollars as may be shown on the certified list. The resolution shall prescribe the maximum number and denomination of the bonds, and the times when payable, which shall be so fixed that an approximately equal amount of principal shall be paid each year or any approximately equal aggregate amount of principal and interest shall be paid each year until the whole amount is paid. The bonds shall mature in a period which shall not exceed twenty-five years and three months from the date of the bonds. The denominations of the bonds shall be fixed by the governing body. The governing body may provide in the form of bond for redemption prior to maturity upon the giving of such notice as the governing body determines to be reasonable and for the payment of a premium at redemption if the governing body determines the premium to be advisable. The resolution shall also fix the place, if any, other than the office of the treasurer, at which the bonds and the interest shall be payable.

D. The bonds shall be issued as of the date determined by the governing body, and shall bear interest from such date at the rates specified in the resolution, payable semiannually beginning on January 1 or July 1, as the case may be, occurring no earlier than ninety days after the later of the date of the bond or the expected completion of the work, and shall be for the interest accrued at that time.

E. The due date of all bonds shall be January 1 in the years in which they respectively become due.

F. The city shall have the option to sell the bonds at public or private sale or by an on-line bidding process, at a price not below par and accrued interest to the date of payment, and at an interest rate not in excess of the maximum rate set in the resolution of intention. In the event the bonds are not sold by the city they shall be delivered to the contractor for the amount of the assessments remaining unpaid and the bonds shall bear interest at the maximum interest rate set forth in the resolution or ordinance of intention.

G. If the bonds are sold before the work or acquisition is completed, the proceeds from the sale of the bonds shall be placed in a special fund to be held by the treasurer and to be used for payment of incidental expenses and payments for construction or acquisition. Proceeds from the sale of the bonds shall be used for the acquisition mentioned in the resolution of intention or to make semimonthly or monthly payments to the contractor upon a basis of ninety per cent of the value of the work actually performed as estimated by the superintendent or engineer employed for such purposes to and including the fifteenth or last day of each calendar month. The balance shall be paid after the governing body has approved the assessment after the hearing. Pending use of the bond proceeds, the treasurer may invest the proceeds in any investments for which sinking funds of this state may be invested. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if bond anticipation notes have been issued, the bond proceeds, or so much as is necessary, shall be used to redeem such notes.

H. The city and the county treasurer for the county in which the city is located may enter into an agreement for the county treasurer to collect the assessments in the manner and by the officers provided by law for the collection and enforcement of general taxes. The city and the county treasurer may provide by agreement for the payment of the county treasurer's collection expenses that are directly related to the levy of the assessment and, if so provided, the levy of the assessment may include an amount for compensation of the county treasurer's expenses directly related to the collection of the assessment. Section 11-496 applies to the compensation received by the county treasurer pursuant to the agreement.