Special assessment installments have set due dates, interest rules, delinquency dates, and prepayment options, and the county treasurer must accept, credit, and remit payments.
1. The first installment of each assessment, or the total amount if five hundred dollars or less, is due and payable on July 1 next succeeding the date of the levy, unless the assessment is filed with the county treasurer after May 31 in any year. The first installment shall bear interest on the whole unpaid assessment from the date of acceptance of the work by the council to the first day of December following the due date. 2. The succeeding annual installments, with interest on the whole unpaid amount, to the first day of December following the due date, are respectively due on July 1 annually, and must be paid at the same time and in the same manner as the September semiannual payment of ordinary taxes. 3. All future installments of an assessment may be paid on any date by payment of the then outstanding balance, plus interest to the next December 1, or additional annual installments may be paid after the current installment has been paid before December 1 without interest. A payment must be for the full amount of the next installment. If installments remain to be paid, the next annual installment with interest added to December 1 will be due as provided in subsection 2. 4. a. Each installment of an assessment with interest on the unpaid balance is delinquent from October 1 after its due date and bears the same delinquent interest as ordinary taxes. However, when the last day of September is a Saturday or Sunday, the unpaid balance of the installment is delinquent from the second business day of October after its due date. When collected, the interest must be credited to the same fund as the special assessment. b. To avoid interest on delinquent special assessment installments, a payment of the full installment amount must be received by the treasurer on or before the last business day of the month preceding the delinquent date, or mailed with appropriate postage and applicable fees paid, and a United States postal service postmark affixed to the payment envelope, with the postmark bearing a date preceding the delinquent date. Items returned to the sender by the United States postal service for insufficient postage or applicable fees shall be assessed interest, unless the appropriate postage and fees are paid and the items are postmarked again before the delinquent date. However, if the last calendar day of a month falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a holiday, that amount becomes delinquent on the second business day of the following month. c. To avoid interest on current or delinquent special assessment installments, for payments made through a county treasurer’s authorized internet site only, if the last day of the month falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a holiday, the electronic payment must be entered by midnight on the first business day of the next month. All other electronic payments must be entered by midnight on the last day of the month preceding the delinquent date. 5. From the date of filing of a certified copy of the resolution of necessity, the plat, and the schedule of assessments as provided in section 384.51, all special assessments with all interest become and remain a lien on the benefited properties until paid, and have equal precedence with ordinary taxes, and are not divested by any judicial sale. 6. After December 1, if a special assessment is not delinquent, a property owner may pay one-half or all of the next annual installment of principal and interest of a special assessment prior to the delinquency date of the installment. When the next installment has been paid in full, successive principal installments may be prepaid. The county treasurer shall accept the payments of the special assessment, and shall credit the next annual installment or future installments of the special assessment to the extent of the payment or payments, and shall remit the payments to the city. If a property owner elects to pay one or more principal installments in advance, the pay schedule shall be advanced by the number of principal installments prepaid. 7. Each installment of an assessment shall be equal to the amount of the unpaid assessment as computed on the thirty-first day after the certification of the assessment divided by the number of annual installments into which the assessment may be divided as adopted by the council pursuant to section 384.60. 8. Each installment of a special assessment shall be calculated to the nearest whole dollar. Interest on unpaid installments and interest added for delinquencies shall also be calculated to the nearest whole dollar. The minimum interest amount is one dollar. [R60, §1068; C73, §478, 481; C97, §816, 825, 827, 974, 975; S13, §791-b, -c, 792-f, 816, 825, 840-a, 975; SS15, §840-r, 974; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §5965, 5966, 6008, 6033, 6906 – 6908; C46, §389.33 – 389.35, 391.35, 391.60, 420.258 – 420.260; C50, §389.33 – 389.35, 391.35, 391.60, 391A.27, 420.258 – 420.260; C54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, §389.33 – 389.35, 391.35, 391.60, 391A.30, 420.258 – 420.260; C75, 77, 79, 81, §384.65] 83 Acts, ch 90, §25; 83 Acts, ch 148, §2; 86 Acts, ch 1215, §1; 88 Acts, ch 1104, §1; 92 Acts, ch 1016, §10; 95 Acts, ch 57, §8; 98 Acts, ch 1107, §14; 99 Acts, ch 83, §6; 2005 Acts, ch 34, §10, 26; 2010 Acts, ch 1061, §180; 2012 Acts, ch 1138, §102; 2013 Acts, ch 90, §257; 2017 Acts, ch 92, §2 Referred to in §311.17, 331.384, 331.559, 357E.11A, 358.16, 358C.17, 364.13B, 384.41, 384.60