2023 Indiana Code › Title 36. Local Government › Article 9. Transportation and Public Works › Chapter 27. Drainage Law › 36-9-27-93. Periodic Maintenance Assessments; Property Transfers; Reassessments; Procedure

Sec. 93. (a) Whenever:
(1) the board adopts a schedule of annual assessments for the periodic maintenance of a drain or a combination of drains established under section 41 of this chapter; and
(2) a transfer of a part of any tract that is assessed by the schedule is subsequently recorded with the county recorder;
the board shall reassess that part of the tract. The reassessment may be made at one (1) or more times each year and shall be made at not less than biennial intervals. However, the reassessment is not required in any year in which the annual assessment is omitted under section 43 of this chapter.
(b) The county auditor shall provide a listing of all tracts subject to reassessment and shall, from time to time or when requested by the board, file the listing with the board. The board shall determine and file a schedule of reassessments, set a date for hearing on the schedule, and prepare a written notice. The notice, which must describe the land to be reassessed, must state:
(1) the date, hour, and place of a hearing before the board on the schedule of reassessments;
(2) that the schedule of reassessments made by the board has been filed and is available for public inspection in the office of the county surveyor;
(3) that the land of the owner is shown by the schedule of reassessments to be annually assessed in the sum of _______ dollars for periodically maintaining the drain from which the land derives benefits; and
(4) that failure to file objections or evidence at or before the hearing constitutes a waiver of the right of the owner to object, on the grounds stated in subsection (d), to any final action of the board.
Not less than thirty (30) nor more than forty (40) days before the date of the hearing, the board shall mail a copy of the notice in a five-day return envelope to each owner named in the schedule of reassessments.
(c) The board shall have notice published in accordance with IC 5-3-1. The notice must:
(1) identify the drainage proceedings;
(2) be addressed to whom it may concern and to the addressee on each letter that was mailed under subsection (b) and was returned undelivered;
(3) state that the schedule of reassessments made by the board has been filed and is available for public inspection in the office of the county surveyor; and
(4) state that a hearing will be held before the board on the schedule of reassessments, giving the date, hour, and place of the hearing.
(d) In determining any reassessment, the board may consider only whether the reassessment is made in the manner required for justice to all affected land, taking into consideration section 84(c) of this chapter.
(e) At the hearing, the board shall consider all evidence and objections and may modify the proposed reassessment as justice to all affected land requires. Before final adjournment of the hearing, the board shall issue an order adopting the schedule of reassessments as originally filed or as modified, mark the order filed, and make public announcement of the order at the hearing. The board shall then have notice published in accordance with IC 5-3-1. The notice must identify the drainage proceedings and state that the findings and order of the board have been filed and are available for inspection in the office of the county surveyor.
(f) If judicial review of the findings and order of the board is not requested under section 106 of this chapter within twenty (20) days after the date of publication of the notice, the order becomes conclusive.
(g) When the findings and order become conclusive, the board shall certify the schedule of reassessments to the auditor of each county in which there is land assessed by the reassessment, and the auditor and the county treasurer shall promptly proceed upon any reassessment in the manner prescribed for proceeding upon an originally certified assessment.
[Pre-Local Government Recodification Citation: 19-4-7-23.]
As added by Acts 1981, P.L.309, SEC.101. Amended by Acts 1981, P.L.45, SEC.83.