The drainage district may create a special assessment area and, through its governing body, accept donated drainage facilities, give public notice, hold a hearing, and levy a maintenance tax on land in the area, subject to objection rules and a $400-per-acre cap.
§1674.15. St. Tammany Parish Drainage District No. 2; creation of assessment areas; maintenance tax assessment A. St. Tammany Parish Drainage District No. 2 heretofore created under the provisions of this Part shall have and is hereby vested with full power and authority, acting through its governing authority, to accept and approve any and all drainage facilities constructed at the expense of landowners within the assessment area and the donation thereof. The district may create a special assessment area to consist of the area served by the drainage facilities donated to the district as follows: (1) The governing body shall adopt a resolution giving notice of its intention to accept such donation and drainage project and shall describe the portion of the district, if less than the entire district, to be drained, benefited, and assessed which shall be referred to as the assessment area. (2) The resolution shall also give notice of the intention of the governing body to levy a special assessment for the maintenance and operation of the drainage facilities. (3) The resolution containing the notice of intention shall be published once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper published within the district, or, if there be none, in a newspaper published in St. Tammany Parish. (4) The governing body shall set forth therein the date, hour, and place of a hearing in which it will proceed in open session to hear any and all objections to the acceptance of the drainage improvements and the maintenance and operation expenses therefor; and after hearing and passing on such objections, proceed, if it is so determined, to accept such improvements. B. In order to operate and maintain any drainage facilities constructed at the expense of one or more landowners within the assessment area and donated as provided in Subsection A of this Section, or constructed in accordance with R.S. 38:1674.12, the governing body of St. Tammany Parish Drainage District No. 2 may impose annually an acreage tax in an amount not to exceed four hundred dollars on each acre of land in the assessment area except those lands subject to servitudes for drainage purposes in favor of the drainage district and except as provided by Subsection C of this Section. C. The board shall not proceed with the levying of the initial maintenance assessment if, at or prior to the public hearing, any written objection is filed to the proposed acceptance of the improvements and signed by the owner of any property included within the proposed assessment area, which ownership shall be determined by the conveyance records of the parish. The property of any landowner who objects shall be excluded from the proposed assessment area or the property of such landowner shall not be subject to the maintenance and operation assessment provided for in Subsection B of this Section. The board shall then proceed with the creation of the assessment area, the acceptance of the donation, and the levy of the maintenance and operation assessment. D. The tax shall be levied by the board of commissioners and shall be assessed by the assessor for the parish of St. Tammany against each acre of land in the assessment area subject to the tax who shall prepare an assessment roll in triplicate and shall provide one copy to the clerk of court, one copy to the tax collector of the parish, and one copy to the board of commissioners. The tax shall be collected in the manner set forth in R.S. 38:1635. E. The powers, rights, and authority granted in this Section shall be in addition to any powers now or hereafter conferred on drainage districts by the provisions of this Part and shall not be limited or restricted by any other provisions of said Part. Acts 1990, No. 651, §1, eff. July 19, 1990.