Iowa Code 384.38 – Certain costs assessed to private property
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1. A city may assess to private property within the city the cost of construction and repair of public improvements within the city, and main sewers, sewage pumping stations, disposal and treatment plants, waterworks, water mains, extensions, and drainage conduits extending outside the city.
Terms Used In Iowa Code 384.38
- and: includes the disjunctive "or" and the use of the disjunctive "or" includes the conjunctive "and" unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. See Iowa Code 384.23
- Construction: includes materials, labor, acts, operations and services necessary to complete a public improvement. See Iowa Code 384.37
- Council: means the governing body of a city. See Iowa Code 362.2
- District: means the lots or parts of lots within boundaries established by the council for the purpose of the assessment of the cost of a public improvement. See Iowa Code 384.37
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Governing body: means the public body which by law is charged with the management and control of a city utility, combined utility system, city enterprise, or combined city enterprise. See Iowa Code 384.80
- Lot: means a parcel of land under one ownership, including improvements, against which a separate assessment is made. See Iowa Code 384.37
- Ordinance: means a city law of a general and permanent nature. See Iowa Code 362.2
- Person: means an individual, firm, partnership, domestic or foreign corporation, company, association or joint stock association, trust, or other legal entity, and includes a trustee, receiver, assignee, or similar representative thereof, but does not include a governmental body. See Iowa Code 362.2
- Private property: means all property within the district except streets. See Iowa Code 384.37
- property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
- property owner: means the contract purchaser if there is one of record, otherwise the record holder of legal title. See Iowa Code 364.12
- Repair: includes materials, labor, acts, operations and services necessary for the repair, reconstruction, reconstruction by widening or resurfacing of a public improvement. See Iowa Code 384.37
- Sewer: means structures designed, constructed and used for the purpose of controlling or carrying off streams, surface waters, waste or sanitary sewage. See Iowa Code 384.37
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
2. Upon petition as provided in section 384.41, subsection 1, a city may assess to private property affected by public improvements within three miles of the city’s boundaries the cost of construction and repair of public improvements within that area. The right-of-way of a railway company shall not be assessed unless the company joins as a petitioner for said improvements. In the petition the property owners shall waive the limitation provided in section 384.62 that an assessment shall not exceed twenty-five percent of the value of the lot. The petition shall contain a statement that the owners agree to pay the city an amount equal to five percent of the cost of the improvements, to cover administrative expenses incurred by the city. This amount may be added to the cost of the improvements. Before the council may adopt the resolution of necessity, the preliminary resolution, preliminary plans and specifications, plat, schedule, and estimate of cost must be submitted to, and receive written approval from, the board of supervisors of any county which contains part of the property, and the city development board established in section 368.9.
3. a. A city may establish, by ordinance or by resolution adopted as an ordinance after twenty days’ notice published in accordance with section 362.3, and a public hearing, one or more districts and schedules of fees for the connection of property to the city sewer or water utility. If the governing body directs that notice be made by mail, the notice shall be as required in section 384.50. Each person whose property will be served by connecting to the city sewer or water utility shall pay a connection fee to the city. The ordinance shall be certified by the city and recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county in which a district is located. The connection fees are due and payable when a utility connection application is filed with the city. A connection fee may include the equitable cost of extending the utility to the properties, including reasonable interest from the date of construction to the date of payment. All fees collected under this subsection shall be paid to the city treasurer. The moneys collected as fees shall only be used for the purposes of operating the utility, or to pay debt service on obligations issued to finance improvements or extensions to the utility.
b. This subsection shall not apply when a city annexation plan includes annexation of an area adjoining the city and a petition has not been presented as provided in section 384.41 for a city sewer or water utility connection. Until annexation takes place, or the annexation plan is abandoned, the state mandate contained in section 455B.172, subsections 3, 4, and 5, shall not apply unless the individual property owner voluntarily pays the connection fee and requests to be connected to the city sewer or water utility.