(a) As used in this article:
(i) "Account" means the firemen's pension account established by W.S. 15-5-202;
(ii) "Board" means the retirement board established by W.S. 9-3-404 and includes all the powers and duties enumerated in W.S. 9-3-401 through 9-3-429;
(iii) "Compensation" means all salary or wages payable to a member for service including contributions required by W.S. 15-5-420. For purposes of computing benefits under this article, compensation shall include only compensation on which contributions have been paid pursuant to W.S. 15-5-420 and 15-5-421;
(iv) "Credited service" means for any member, service as an employee;
(v) "Dependent" means a dependent child or dependent parent;
(vi) "Dependent child" means a person who is unmarried and either:
(A) Has not attained age eighteen (18); or
(B) Has attained age eighteen (18) but not age twenty-three (23) and is attending school on a full-time basis; or
(C) Has attained age eighteen (18) and is permanently disabled as the result of a disability which began before he attained age eighteen (18).
(vii) "Disability" means a medically determined physical or mental impairment which renders the member unable to function as a paid firefighter and which is reasonably expected to last at least twelve (12) months;
(viii) "Employee" means any individual regularly employed and paid by any city, town, county or fire protection district for devoting his entire time of employment to the care, operation and requirements of a regularly constituted fire department;
(ix) "Employer" means any incorporated municipality, county or fire protection district offering fire protection or public safety services employing one (1) or more members;
(x) "Final average compensation" means one thirty-sixth (1/36) of the compensation paid to an employee during any period of thirty-six (36) consecutive months in his years of credited service in which his compensation was highest;
(xi) "Inactive member" means a member who:
(A) Has terminated service;
(B) Is not eligible to begin receiving a service or disability pension; and
(C) Has neither applied for nor received a refund of his contributions.
(xii) "Member" means an employee whose compensation is not subject to the federal old-age, survivors and disability insurance tax and who either is first hired on or after July 1, 1981 or who elects coverage under the provisions of W.S. 15-5-418;
(xiii) "Pension system" means the retirement and disability plans for employees covered under the provisions of this article or W.S. 15-5-201 through 15-5-209;
(xiv) "Primary survivor" means any person in the following order of priority, unless the priority is changed by the member on a form prescribed by the board and filed with the board at the time of the member's death:
(A) The surviving spouse; or
(B) If there is no eligible surviving spouse, a dependent child, or with the survivor's pension divided among them in equal shares, all such children, including any resulting from a pregnancy prior to the member's death.
(xv) "Retired member" means any member who has terminated service, other than an inactive member, who is eligible to receive a service or disability pension under this article;
(xvi) "Accumulated contributions" means:
(A) For a member who has a vested right to a service pension or a member initially employed before July 1, 2018, the member's contributions paid from any source;
(B) For a member who is neither eligible for a service nor disability pension nor has a vested right to a service pension and who is initially employed on or after July 1, 2018, only the member's contributions paid by a reduction in cash salary of the member.
(a) A member is eligible to receive a service pension after he has terminated employment beginning with the month when he has four (4) years of credited service and has attained age fifty (50).
(b) Repealed By Laws 1998, ch. 75, § 2.
(c) An inactive member with a vested right to a service pension is eligible to receive such pension, computed in accordance with the provisions of this article in effect when he ceased to be an employee, beginning with the first month after his attainment of age fifty (50).
(d) For purposes of this section, credited service includes any period during which a member is receiving a disability pension as provided by this article.
(a) A member who has four (4) years of credited service has a vested right to a service pension payable as provided in W.S. 15-5-403(c).
(b) If a member who has less than four (4) years of credited service ceases to be an employee, his service credits to the date of termination shall be cancelled unless:
(i) He again becomes an employee within four (4) months after his cessation of employment; or
(ii) He subsequently acquires four (4) years of credited service; and
(iii) If he has withdrawn his contributions he repays them with interest at a rate determined by the board and remains employed for not less than two (2) continuous years following the date or reemployment.
(c) For purposes of this section, credited service includes any period during which a member is receiving a disability pension under this article.
(d) The board shall adopt rules to allow service for any period of time, after commencement of participation under this article, which an employee spends in active military or other emergency service of the United States as required by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, 38 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.
(a) A member, not otherwise eligible for a service pension, who suffers a disability is eligible for a disability pension.
(b) The determination of disability shall be made by the board in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the board for this purpose. The board may require physician reports, medical examinations, psychological examinations, functional capacity evaluations, vocational examinations and other necessary reports and examinations in determining a disability under this subsection and in reviewing any disability under subsection (c) of this section. The cost of any functional capacity evaluation, vocational examination or other specialized test incurred pursuant to this section shall be paid from the account.
(c) The board may annually review the status of any member receiving a disability benefit under this article and may require any member receiving a disability benefit who is not eligible for normal retirement benefits under W.S. 15-5-403, to submit to any examination, test or evaluation by a physician or other appropriate professional designated or approved by the board, as necessary for conducting a review under this subsection. If a member refuses to submit to an examination, test or evaluation required under this subsection, benefit payments under this article shall be discontinued.
15-5-407. Payment of service or early retirement pensions.
Service or early retirement pensions shall be made to a retired member for each month beginning with the month in which he is eligible to receive such pension and ending with the month in which he dies, unless an optional form has been elected in accordance with W.S. 15-5-413.
(a) Disability pension payments shall be made to a member for each month beginning with the month in which he is eligible to receive such pension and ending with the month in which he ceases to be eligible or dies, unless an optional form has been elected in accordance with W.S. 15-5-413.
(b) If a member who is disabled recovers and is no longer totally or partially disabled, his disability pension shall be discontinued unless he has reached normal retirement age.
(a) The amount of the monthly service pension payable to a retired member is:
(i) Two and eight-tenths percent (2.8%) of his final average compensation multiplied by the number of years in his first twenty-five (25) years of his period of credited service.
(ii) Repealed By Laws 2000, Ch. 43, § 2.
(iii) Repealed By Laws 2008, Ch. 112, § 2.
(b) For purposes of this section, credited service shall be measured in years taken to the nearest twelfth (1/12) of a year.
(c) Benefits shall not be payable under the pension system to the extent that they exceed the limitations imposed by section 415(b) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(a) The disability pension shall be the greater of:
(i) Fifty percent (50%) of final average compensation; or
(ii) The service pension based on credited service accrued to the date of disability.
(a) The monthly survivor's pension payable to a member's eligible primary survivor or, if there is no eligible surviving spouse, then to his eligible surviving dependents, shall be equal to the greater of:
(i) Fifty percent (50%) of final average compensation; or
(ii) The service pension based on credited service accrued to the date of the member's death.
(b) If the primary survivor is the surviving spouse, that person shall have been married to the deceased member for at least one (1) year before the date of death, unless the death was the result of an accident.
(c) A survivor's pension shall begin with the month following the month in which the member dies. If the pension is payable to a surviving spouse who subsequently dies, it is then payable in the following month to the next primary survivor as defined in W.S. 15-5-402(a)(xiv) or ceases with that month in the absence of eligible dependents. If payable to a child who dies or fails to meet the conditions of eligibility in W.S. 15-5-402(a)(vi), the pension shall cease with that month.
(a) Any member eligible for a service or disability pension may elect to receive one (1) of the following optional forms, in lieu of the pension computed in W.S. 15-5-409 through 15-5-411, which shall be the actuarial equivalent of the benefit to which he would otherwise be entitled:
(i) A reduced pension payable to the retired member and upon his death all of the reduced pension to be paid to his surviving spouse;
(ii) A reduced pension payable to the retired member and upon his death one-half (1/2) of the reduced pension to be paid to his surviving spouse;
(iii) A benefit which provides reduced monthly service retirement payments with provision for the continuance of payments for ten (10) years certain and life thereafter. If the retired member dies within ten (10) years after retirement, the remaining guaranteed payments shall be made to his designated beneficiary. This beneficiary may be changed at any time by written notification to the board as provided in subsection (b) of this section;
(iv) The largest possible benefit for life with no lump sum refund or benefit for anyone else upon the retired member's death;
(v) Any other modified monthly service retirement benefit, including any other modified joint and survivor monthly service retirement benefit, actuarially determined, which the board approves.
(b) An election of an optional benefit shall be in writing and filed with the board prior to the first benefit payment. After an election of any of the options provided in subsection
(a) of this section has been made and the member has cashed his first pension check, or sixty (60) days from the date of issuance of the check have elapsed, the election is irrevocable unless a beneficiary dies prior to the occurrence of either such event, in which case the election is void and the member may, by written notice to the board, designate a new beneficiary and may select a different option. As provided in paragraph (a)(iii) of this section, upon written notice to the board, a member may change a beneficiary at any time within the ten (10) year period.
(c) The retirement benefits payable under optional forms available under this section shall be the actuarial equivalent of the normal benefit form under W.S. 15-5-409.
Except as may otherwise be provided in any of the options under W.S. 15-5-413, upon the death of a member, inactive member, retired member or individual receiving a survivor's pension, there shall be paid to the designated beneficiary or beneficiaries or, in the absence of a designated beneficiary, to the estate of the member, inactive member, retired member or survivor, a lump sum equal to the excess, if any, of the member's contributions paid from any source without interest over the aggregate of all pension payments made.
(a) The accumulated contributions without interest of a member who is neither eligible for a service nor disability pension, nor has a vested right to a service pension, shall be refunded upon his withdrawal from service. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that a former member who fails to apply for a withdrawal benefit within five (5) years after the date of withdrawal has waived his right to such benefit.
(b) If a member has a vested right to a service pension and withdraws from service and is not immediately eligible for a service or disability benefit, he may request a refund of his accumulated contributions without interest. Refund of such contributions extinguishes all rights to any benefits under this article.
(a) A service pension, disability pension, survivor's pension, death benefit or withdrawal benefit shall be paid only upon the filing of an application in a form prescribed by the board. A monthly benefit shall not be payable for any month earlier than the second month preceding the date on which the application for such benefit is filed.
(b) The board may require any member, inactive member, retired member or eligible survivor to furnish any information as may be required for the determination of benefits under this article, if the determination of the pension is dependent upon that information. The board may withhold payment of any benefit, if the determination of the benefit is dependent upon the information and the member, inactive member, retired member or eligible survivor does not cooperate in the furnishing or procuring thereof.
(a) A "paid fireman" as defined in W.S. 15-5-201(a)(xi) may elect to become a member, as defined in this article by filing an election with the board not later than December 31, 1981, or within thirty (30) days of return to service, if later, for any paid fireman who leaves service prior to July 1, 1981.
(b) Commencing January 1, 1982, or thirty (30) days after return to service, if later, an electing member is covered by the provisions of this article, and all rights to a pension under W.S. 15-5-201 through 15-5-209 are extinguished. The member shall receive credited service for all prior service, not to exceed ten (10) years, which was recognized under W.S. 15-5-201 through 15-5-209. However, that credit may be reinstated only by payment of any contributions previously refunded with interest at the rate of eight percent (8%) per annum from the date of refund.
(a) Any employee hired before July 1, 1981 is covered by the pension system specified in W.S. 15-5-201 through 15-5-209 unless he elects to become a member pursuant to W.S. 15-5-418. Any employee hired on or subsequent to July 1, 1981 is covered by the pension system specified in this article. No employee may be covered by the pension systems of both W.S. 15-5-201 through 15-5-209 and this article.
(b) No paid employee shall participate as a member of the firemen's pension system established under this article and as a member of the volunteer firefighter, EMT and search and rescue pension account established under W.S. 35-9-616 through 35-9-628 if participation is based upon covered service with the same fire department.
(a) Each employer shall deduct monthly from the compensation of each member participating in the account a sum equal to nine and seven hundred forty-five thousandths percent (9.745%) for the period from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020, ten and two hundred forty-five thousandths percent (10.245%) for the period from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021, ten and seven hundred forty-five thousandths percent (10.745%) for the period from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022 and thereafter eleven and two hundred forty-five thousandths percent (11.245%) of his compensation, and that amount shall be paid by the employer to the account.
(b) The contributions required by subsection (a) of this section shall be paid by the employer for employees covered under this article in order to be treated as employer contributions for the sole purpose of determining tax treatment under the United States internal revenue code.
(c) The contributions under subsection (b) of this section shall be paid from the source of funds which is used in paying salary to the employee. The employer may pay these contributions by a reduction in cash salary of the employee or by an offset against a future salary increase, or by a combination of a reduction in salary and an offset against a future salary increase, provided:
(i) No such salary reduction or offset, or combination thereof, shall exceed the percentage amount actually being deducted from an employee's salary for contributions to the account as of July 1, 1983; and
(ii) Any employer may pay any amount of an employee's share of retirement contributions without a salary reduction or offset, or combination thereof.
Each employer shall make monthly contributions to the account in an amount equal to the percentage contribution rate multiplied by the salaries paid to members of the account. The contribution rate, expressed as a percentage, shall be based on the results of actuarial valuations made at least every three (3) years. The city's contribution rate shall be comprised of the normal cost plus the payment required to amortize the actuarial liability over a period of thirty (30) years calculated on the basis of an amortization policy approved by the board.
15-5-422. Payments; when and how made; protections; nonassignability; qualified domestic relations order.
(a) Payments made under this article shall be made to the beneficiaries on or before the fifth day of each month. Payments shall be made by voucher drawn against the firemen's pension account and paid by the state auditor out of the account or using an appropriate alternative method approved by the state auditor. No payments made under this article are subject to judgment, attachment, execution, garnishment or other legal process and are not assignable nor shall the board recognize any assignment nor pay over any sum assigned.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, payments under this article may be made in accordance with qualified domestic relations orders pursuant to W.S. 9-3-426.
(a) As used in this chapter:
(i) "Conventional gutters" means curb and gutter or combined sidewalk, curb and gutter;
(ii) "Drains" or "drainage" means all surface sewers, drains, cross street valley gutters and all kinds of draining other than sanitary sewers or conventional gutters;
(iii) "Engineer" means the city engineer, town engineer or any engineer employed by a city or town for local improvement work;
(iv) "Improvement" means any lawful local improvement of any kind, which the governing body finds to be of special benefit to the property proposed to be assessed for the cost thereof;
(v) "Streets" means streets, highways, alleys, roads and public ways.
15-6-102. General grant of authority; nonapplicability of other provisions; restriction; nonexclusivity.
(a) Any city or town may provide for the making and maintenance of local improvements and levy and collect special assessments on the property specially benefited to pay all or part of the cost of the improvement. This chapter, without reference to other statutes, unless otherwise expressly provided, constitutes the full authority for the exercise of powers herein granted. No other law relating to any city or town, with regard to like matters, that provides for a petition or an election, requires an approval, or in any way impedes or restricts the doing of things authorized to be done by this chapter, shall be construed as applying to any proceedings or acts done pursuant to this chapter. No one other than the governing body of the municipality may fix, prescribe, modify, supervise or regulate the levy or collection of special assessments or taxes authorized by this chapter, except as expressly provided or necessarily implied, nor supervise or regulate the establishment or modification of grades and the acquisition of any improvement authorized.
(b) It is intended that this chapter provide a separate but not exclusive method of accomplishing its objectives, and it shall not be construed as repealing, amending or changing any other law.
The governing body of any city or town, when considered expedient, may order any improvement or improvements, and determine its character, kind and extent. If the improvement is to be paving, it shall designate the kinds of pavement to be used. It shall provide for the maintenance of an improvement for a specified period not to exceed five (5) years and include the cost of that maintenance in the assessment for making the improvements. It shall levy and collect an assessment upon all lots, parts of lots and parcels of land specially benefited by the improvement to defray all or any part of the cost and expense and determine what lots, parts of lots and parcels of land are specially benefited by the improvements and the amount each is benefited.
(a) The governing body of any city or town may:
(i) Design, establish, vacate, widen, extend and open streets or parts thereof;
(ii) Appropriate private property for the purpose;
(iii) Establish or alter the grade of any street, within the corporate limits; and
(iv) Determine and provide everything necessary and convenient to the exercise of this authority.
15-6-105. Finality of actions; construction of provisions.
(a) The action and decision of the governing body on any matters passed upon by it in relation to any subject covered in this chapter is final and conclusive in the absence of fraud.
(b) This chapter shall be liberally construed for the purpose of carrying out the objects for which it is intended.
15-6-201. Generally; ordinance or resolution required.
(a) If any city or town makes local improvements or establishes or alters the grade of any street at the cost and expense, in whole or in part, of property specially benefited thereby, the proceedings shall be as provided in this chapter.
(b) Any such improvement may be ordered only by ordinance or resolution of the governing body.
15-6-202. Initiative resolution; contents; acceptable bids; notice to be published and mailed; caption.
(a) Any improvement may be initiated directly by the governing body by resolution declaring its intention to make improvements. The resolution shall specify with convenient certainty the streets or part thereof proposed to be improved, if the improvements are street improvements, the boundaries of the proposed assessment district, the character, kind and extent of the improvements and if paving is involved, the kinds of paving to be used. The resolution shall specify an estimate of the cost of the total improvement project and of each proposed assessment unit, if any, and also an estimate of the contract price of the total improvement project. The governing body shall not accept any bids or combination of bids which exceed by more than ten percent (10%) the estimates of the contract price, unless the legal owners of record of all property in the district waive this limitation.
(b) If an improvement will result in a change in existing street elevations or grades, it is sufficient if the resolution of intention so states without a description, directly or by reference, of the extent or location of the change.
(c) If any part of an improvement is to be paid out of the general fund or road fund of the city or town, or out of funds available to the city or town from any other source, the resolution shall so state. If the improvement is to be maintained by the contractor for a specified period, not to exceed five (5) years, the resolution shall contain a statement to that effect and that the charge for maintenance is to be included in the assessment for the improvement.
(d) The resolution shall fix the time and place, when and where the governing body will meet to consider any remonstrances and objections to the proposed improvements, and the time within which remonstrances and objections must be filed with the city or town recorder. It shall direct the recorder to give a fifteen (15) day notice to all legal owners of record of the property liable to assessment for the proposed improvements by publishing the resolution in one (1) issue of some newspaper published in the city or town once a week or more often. If no newspaper is published within the city or town, notice may be published in any newspaper of general circulation in the county once a week or more often. In addition to the publication, a copy of the resolution of intention shall be mailed, postage prepaid, at least fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing, to each legal owner of record of the property within the proposed district.
(e) The resolution when published and mailed as a notice shall have the following caption: "Notice to all persons liable to assessment for the improvement of (state names of streets or if improvement is not to be located in the streets, identify by general character and general location). The governing body of the city (city or town) on the .... day of .... passed the following resolution of intention." The resolution shall be set forth in full immediately after the caption of the notice.
15-6-203. Protest petitions; requirements for abandonment; initiative petitions.
At any time within fifteen (15) days from the publication of the resolution of intention, the owners of property situated within the proposed assessment district may file with the city clerk their written objections to the proposed improvement. If protests against the making of the improvements are filed by the legal owners of record of more than one-half (1/2) of the area of the property subject to assessment therefor, within an assessment district, the proposed improvements within that district shall be abandoned. No protest will be considered unless filed within fifteen (15) days after the publication of resolution of intention. If any petition is filed signed by the owners of fifty percent (50%) of the property proposed in the petition to be assessed for any local improvement, the governing body shall proceed with the type of improvement set forth in the petition, following the same procedure as though initiated by resolution.
15-6-204. Authority to act and assess; deletions or modifications.
(a) Upon passage and publication of the resolution of intention the governing body has jurisdiction and the right to pass any and all ordinances and resolutions, to do any and all acts necessary to prosecute the improvement to completion and to make and levy an assessment to pay for the improvement.
(b) If no remonstrances are made and filed or if all remonstrances filed are overruled by the governing body, it shall delete or modify the improvements and delete any property to be assessed as it considers proper and shall cause the improvements to be begun and prosecuted with reasonable diligence until completed.
If the improvement proposed is to a street, either by grading or regrading, paving or repaving, macadamizing or remacadamizing, graveling or regraveling, constructing crosswalks, gutters, curbs or providing for surface drainage, and not more than two (2) blocks remain unimproved in the street between improvements either already made or proposed to be made, the governing body on its own motion may cause the intervening or unimproved part to be improved. The improvement of that part shall not be stayed, defeated or prevented by any remonstrance or other objection, unless the governing body considers the remonstrance or objection proper to stay or prevent the improvement.
(a) Upon the hearing of the resolution of intention, if the governing body decides to proceed with the improvement, it shall pass an ordinance, which shall recite:
(i) The passage of the resolution of intention;
(ii) The date of the hearing; and
(iii) Whether or not remonstrances were filed and if any were filed, the action of the governing body thereon.
(b) The ordinance shall also:
(i) Order the improvements;
(ii) Describe the improvements proposed to be made;
(iii) Direct the city engineer to prepare plans and specifications therefor; and
(iv) Fix the boundaries of the assessment district, which shall include all property to be assessed for the improvements.
15-6-301. General requirements; cooperation with federal government.
(a) Immediately upon the passage of the ordinance, the city engineer shall prepare and file with the city clerk, plans and specifications which shall show in detail the work to be done, the quantities of material to be handled and the estimated cost of the improvements. The governing body shall approve the plans and specifications by motion or resolution.
(b) The improvements may be made under contracts, or as a part of a contract, publicly let by the state or any agency thereof, or by the city or town in the manner provided in this section and W.S. 15-6-302, or the city or town may make the improvements with its own equipment, labor and materials, without contract, or any combination of methods may be followed. If the improvements are to be made by municipal contracts, the city clerk shall call for bids by publishing a notice in at least one (1) issue of some newspaper published within the city or town or within the county in which the city or town is located and in such other papers as the governing body may provide in the ordinance.
(c) The improvements may be made with the cooperation and assistance of the United States government or any agency or subdivision thereof, and the city or town may take advantage of any offer from any source to complete the improvements on a division of expense or responsibility.
15-6-302. Call for bids; contents; procedure for awarding and executing contracts.
(a) The notice and call for bids as provided in W.S. 15-6-301 shall contain in substance the following:
(i) The streets or parts thereof to be improved if the improvements are to be street improvements;
(ii) The general kind of improvement proposed to be made and whether it is to be maintained by the contractor for a specified period, but in no event for more than five (5) years;
(iii) The time within which bids will be received and the place where they shall be filed;
(iv) That a certified or cashier's check or bid bond in the sum of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid must be filed with the bid, to be forfeited to the city or town as liquidated damages if the bidder is awarded the contract and fails to enter into a contract with the city or town within five (5) days from the date of his notification;
(v) The successful bidder shall perform the work and furnish a bond guaranteeing the faithful performance of the work and a maintenance bond, if required by the governing body, which shall be furnished at the time of signing the contract. The guarantee and maintenance bond may be a single instrument.
(b) The bids shall be opened by the governing body and the contract or contracts shall be awarded to the bidder or bidders who in its opinion are the lowest and best responsible bidders. The governing body may reject any and all bids.
(c) Upon the letting of the contract or contracts to the successful bidders, the governing body, by motion or resolution, shall order the mayor or clerk, or some other officer of the city or town, to execute a written contract or contracts on behalf of the city or town with the successful bidders. The refusal of any official or officer of the city or town to execute the written contract or contracts does not affect the validity of the contract or contracts and the governing body may order some other city or town official or officer or one (1) of its members to execute the written agreement or agreements in place of the official or officer refusing to do so.
(d) All bids and contracts for capital construction projects shall be in accord with the Wyoming contractor preference laws of title 16, chapter 6.
15-6-401. How grades established or altered; cost.
If the notice provided for in W.S. 15-6-202, is in whole or in part to establish or alter a grade, the governing body, after the expiration of giving the notice as provided in W.S. 15-6-202, may establish it by ordinance or resolution. The cost of establishing or altering the grade of any streets, highway, avenue, road or alley may be paid out of the general funds of the city or town or may be specially assessed.
15-6-402. Assessments; when levied; what to be included generally.
If the contract or contracts for any improvements have been awarded, or the city or town has determined to construct the improvements by the use of its own equipment, labor and materials, or any of them, or avail itself of any state or federal program contributing to the cost of the improvement, the city engineer, either immediately, or at the council's discretion upon the completion of the improvements, shall levy an assessment upon the property included in the district. The assessment shall include as a part of the cost the contract price, or the estimated costs of construction, together with the expense of engineering, inspection, advertising, levying and collecting assessments and all other charges which the city or town may have incurred or expects to incur in making and financing the improvements, or the portion of the costs designated by the governing body to be defrayed by special assessments.
(a) If any authorized local improvement is ordered, there shall be included in the cost and expense thereof to be assessed against the property specially benefited and included in the district created to pay all or any part thereof, the cost of:
(i) That portion of the improvement included within the limits of any street intersection space or spaces;
(ii) Inspection, tests, materials or work and of all engineering and surveying necessary for the improvement done under the direction of the city or town engineer;
(iii) Ascertaining the ownership of the lots or parcels of land included in the assessment district;
(iv) Advertising, mailing and publishing all notices; and
(v) All accounting and clerical labor, books and blanks expended or used by the city or town comptroller and the city or town treasurer in connection with the improvements.
15-6-404. Assessments; property included in district;
methods of computation; combining improvements; ordinances and resolutions.
(a) The assessment district shall include all the property benefited by the improvement or improvements as determined by the governing body, including municipal and other public property, except that of the United States government or any agency, instrumentality or corporation thereof in the absence of the consent of congress. If the improvement district includes unplatted or undivided land, the distance back from the improvement for computing assessments and fixing the assessment lien shall be the same as the distance back in the immediately adjoining platted area.
(b) Assessments shall be computed by one (1) or more of the following methods:
(i) Each one-half (1/2) block or fraction thereof within the district contiguous to each street, alley, avenue, boulevard or parkway in or along which the improvement or improvements are to be made shall be divided, irrespective of number and location of lots, into three (3) equal subdivisions parallel to the street, alley, avenue, boulevard or parkway to be improved. The subdivisions shall be numbered one (1), two (2) and three (3) respectively, beginning next to the street, alley, avenue, boulevard or parkway. The total assessment for each one-half (1/2) block or fraction thereof abutting on either side of each street, alley, avenue, boulevard or parkway to be improved, as fixed by the governing body, shall be apportioned as follows:
(A) Subdivision number one (1), sixty percent (60%);
(B) Subdivision number two (2), thirty percent (30%);
(C) Subdivision number three (3), ten percent (10%).
(ii) Each one-half (1/2) block contiguous to each street, alley, avenue, boulevard or parkway in or along which the improvement or improvements are to be made shall be assessed on an area basis, so that the assessment against each piece of property assessed shall be in the proportion that the square footage of that piece of property bears to the total square footage of the assessable property within the one-half (1/2) block;
(iii) Each piece of property abutting on the street, alley, avenue, boulevard or parkway in or along which the improvement or improvements are to be made shall be assessed on a lineal foot basis so that the total assessment against each piece of a property shall be in the proportion that the abutting lineal footage of that piece of property bears to the total abutting lineal footage of the property to be assessed for the same improvement or improvements;
(iv) Each piece of property which the governing body reasonably determines to be benefited by the proposed improvement, regardless of whether the improvement is located in and along a street, alley, avenue, boulevard or parkway, and regardless of whether the property lies within the one-half (1/2) block abutting the improvement, shall be assessed on an area basis, or lineal foot basis, or any other uniform basis so that property similarly benefited will be similarly assessed. Regardless of the method or methods of computation selected by the governing body, and notwithstanding the provisions made for computation to the center of the block or within the one-half (1/2) block, the assessment may be levied and the assessment lien thereby made to attach, upon all of a piece of benefited property so as to avoid the imposition of a lien upon a part of a subdivided lot or parcel under common ownership and use. In the case of any irregular-shaped or nonuniform block or lot, tract, parcel of land or other unit of property to be assessed, an appropriate adjustment may be made, so that the assessment there against is in proportion to the benefits derived.
(c) More than one (1) improvement may be combined in a single local improvement district when the governing body determines that the combination is both efficient and economical. If the combination of improvements are separate and distinct by reason of substantial difference in their character or location, or otherwise, the estimated costs of each improvement shall be segregated for the levy of assessments and an equitable share of the incidental costs allocated to each improvement. In the absence of arbitrary or unreasonable abuse of discretion, its determination of the portion of the project constituting a separate improvement for purposes of segregation is conclusive.
(d) Each city and town may adopt all ordinances and resolutions necessary to levy and collect the special assessment and providing for the manner of sale, redemption and conveyance of lands sold for nonpayment of special assessments.
15-6-405. Assessments; roll; preparation and filing;
hearing; notice; action by governing body; objections; amendments; certification.
(a) When an assessment roll for local improvements has been prepared, it shall be filed with the clerk of the city or town. The governing body shall then fix a date for hearing upon the roll before it and direct the clerk to give notice of the time and place of the hearing. Any person may object to the roll in writing and file the objections with the clerk on or before the date of the hearing. At the time and place fixed and at such other times to which the hearing may be continued, the governing body shall sit as a board of equalization to consider the roll. At the hearing or hearings, the governing body will consider the objections or any part thereof, and correct, revise, raise, lower, change or modify the roll or any part thereof, or set it aside and order that the roll assessments be made de novo, in a manner appearing just and equitable, and then proceed to confirm the roll by ordinance. The notice of the hearing shall be published at least twice, by two (2) weekly publications in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or town. However, at least fifteen (15) days must elapse between the date of the first publication and the date fixed for the hearing.
(b) The notice shall also be given by the clerk, or his deputy by deposit of the notice, at least fifteen (15) days prior to the date fixed for hearing, in the United States mails, postage prepaid, as first class mail, addressed to the last known owner or owners of each tract being assessed at their last known addresses. In the absence of fraud the failure to mail any notice does not invalidate any assessment or any proceedings under this chapter. Any list of names or addresses pertaining to any district may be revised from time to time, but it need not be revised more frequently than at twelve (12) month intervals. Any mailing of notice prescribed by this chapter shall be verified by the affidavit or certificate of the person mailing the notice, and the verification shall be retained in the records of the city or town at least until all assessments and bonds pertaining thereto have been paid in full.
(c) All objections to the roll shall state clearly the grounds of objections and unless made within the time and in the manner prescribed are conclusively presumed to have been waived. If any roll is amended so as to raise any assessments or to include omitted property, a new time and place for hearing and a new notice of hearing on the amended roll shall be fixed and given as in the case of an original hearing. However, if any property has been entered originally upon the roll and the assessment upon the property has not been raised, no objections thereto may be considered by the governing body or by any court on appeal, unless they were made in writing at or before the date fixed for the original hearing. When an assessment roll is confirmed, it shall be certified to by the city clerk and transmitted to the city treasurer for collection.