Sec. 69. (a) After the county surveyor has filed the county surveyor’s report on the construction or reconstruction of an urban drain, the county surveyor shall consult with the board, and the board may adopt or modify the designations recommended by the surveyor. The board shall then prepare a schedule of benefits, assessments, and damages.

     (b) The board shall determine and compute benefits, assessments, damages, total estimated cost, and percentage allocations in the manner provided by section 50 or 62 of this chapter. However, in determining benefits and assessments for an urban drain, the board shall consider the following factors:

(1) The watershed, or entire land area drained or affected by the urban drain, shall be considered to be benefited and shall be assessed.

(2) If specific parts of urban land are to be served by new drainage arms, routings, special structures, or other similar new features that are part of the total cost of the urban drain, those specific parts of urban land may be considered to have extra benefits greater than the benefits to the other affected urban land.

(3) Except for urban land that has extra benefits, all urban land within the watershed shall be considered to be equally benefited, and the benefits shall be computed in proportion to the number of acres in each tract.

(4) If a tract of urban land has been platted or subdivided into lots, and the subdivision contains streets, parkways, parks, or similar common use areas, the board may determine the per lot benefits by:

(A) ascertaining the total approximate benefits in proportion to the area of the tract before the subdividing; and

(B) apportioning the total benefits in substantially equal amounts to each lot.

Additional assessments may not be imposed on a right-of-way apportioned to the lots under this subdivision.

(5) Rights-of-way of a public highway, railroad company, pipeline company, or public utility that lie within or adjoin urban land shall be considered to be benefited and shall be assessed in the same manner as urban land.

(6) Rural land affected by an urban drain is benefited only as rural land and shall be assessed on that basis. Whenever the board finds that a drain would have drained rural land without reconstruction, the board may reduce the assessment apportioned to rural land, subject to section 84(c) of this chapter.

     (c) The notice to landowners in the case of an urban drain must:

(1) state that the drain has been designated as an urban drain;

(2) describe the land of the owner to whom the notice is addressed; and

(3) state that the land described is shown by the schedule of assessments to be assessed as either rural land or urban land.

     (d) Before final adjournment of the hearing, the board shall find in writing that the drain is an urban drain or that it is a rural drain and is not an urban drain. If the board finds that the drain is not an urban drain, the board shall then request the county surveyor to deny all future connections to the drain, as provided in section 17 of this chapter, and the board shall make this request and finding public.

[Pre-Local Government Recodification Citations: 19-4-10-3; 19-4-10-4.]

As added by Acts 1981, P.L.309, SEC.101. Amended by P.L.127-2017, SEC.357.