Sec. 40. (a) The board shall fix a date, time, and place for a hearing on the maintenance report of the county surveyor and on the schedule of assessments, and shall prepare a written notice for each owner of land proposed to be assessed. The notice, which must describe the land to be assessed, must state:

(1) the name and identifying number by which the drainage proceedings are known;

(2) that the maintenance report of the county surveyor and the schedule of assessments made by the board have been filed and are available for public inspection in the office of the surveyor;

(3) that the county surveyor has estimated that the annual cost of periodically maintaining the drain is in the sum of __________ dollars;

(4) that the land of the owner is shown by the schedule of assessments to be annually assessed __________ percent of the total cost of periodically maintaining the drain;

(5) that the land of the owner is shown by the schedule of assessments to be annually assessed in the sum of __________ dollars for periodically maintaining the drain; and

(6) the date, hour, and place of the hearing before the board on the county surveyor’s maintenance report and on the schedule of assessments.

     (b) 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 (5) day return envelope to each owner named in the schedule of assessments.

     (c) The board shall publish a notice 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; and

(3) state that:

(A) the maintenance report of the county surveyor and the schedule of assessments made by the board have been filed and are available for public inspection in the office of the county surveyor; and

(B) a hearing will be held before the board on the schedule of assessments, specifying the time and place of the hearing.

     (d) Not less than five (5) days before the hearing, any owner of land named in the schedule of assessments may file with the board a written objection alleging that the objector is the owner of land assessed as benefited and the benefits assessed against the objector’s land are excessive. Each objector may file written evidence in support of the objector’s objection. The failure of an owner to file an objection constitutes a waiver of the owner’s right to subsequently object, on the ground stated in this subsection, to any final action of the board.

     (e) On or before the day of the hearing, the county surveyor shall, and any owner of land named in the schedule of assessments may, cause written evidence to be filed in support of or in rebuttal to any objection filed under subsection (d).

     (f) The board shall consider the objections and evidence filed, may adjourn the hearing from day to day or to a day certain, and may issue an order permitting additional written evidence to be filed in support of or in rebuttal to the objections and evidence previously filed.

     (g) After considering all objections and evidence, the board may amend the schedule of assessments as justice may require. Before final adjournment of the hearing, the board shall issue an order adopting the schedule of assessments as originally filed or as amended, mark the order filed, and publicly announce the order at the hearing. Immediately after that, the board shall publish a notice 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.

     (h) 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.

     (i) The notice required by subsections (a) and (b) for each owner of land proposed to be assessed is not required for a joint board that includes three (3) or more counties in a drainage basin that exceeds eighty thousand (80,000) acres, except that when the proposed assessment affects land owned by a public utility or railroad the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) shall be met as to the public utility or railroad.

[Pre-Local Government Recodification Citations: 19-4-4-3; 19-4-4-4; 19-4-4-5.]

As added by Acts 1981, P.L.309, SEC.101. Amended by Acts 1981, P.L.45, SEC.76; P.L.370-1983, SEC.1; P.L.239-1996, SEC.1; P.L.127-2017, SEC.336.