Before an assessment hearing, notice must be published and mailed within specified time limits, with exceptions for some unknown or unlisted owners.
Sec. 313.047. NOTICE OF HEARING ON ASSESSMENT. (a) An assessment may be made against an abutting property or its owner or against a railway or its owner only after notice and opportunity for hearing as provided by this section and Section 313.048. (b) Notice of the hearing shall be published at least three times in a newspaper published in the municipality in which the assessment tax is to be imposed. If the municipality does not have a newspaper, the notice shall be published in the newspaper that is published nearest to the municipality and that is of general circulation in the county in which the municipality is located. (c) The first publication of the notice shall be made not later than the 21st day before the date of the hearing. (d) In addition to the notice required by Subsection (c), written notice of the hearing shall be given by mail, postage prepaid, deposited at least 14 days before the date of the hearing, and addressed to the owners of the properties abutting the part of the highway to be improved, as the names and addresses of the owners are shown on the rendered tax roll of the municipality. If the names of the respective owners do not appear on the rendered tax roll, the notice shall be addressed to the owners as their names and addresses are shown on the unrendered tax roll of the municipality. (e) If a special tax is proposed to be imposed against a railway that uses, occupies, or crosses a part of a highway to be improved, the additional notice shall be given by mail, postage prepaid, deposited at least 14 days before the date of the hearing, and addressed to the railway as shown on the rendered tax roll of the municipality. If the name of the railway does not appear on the rendered tax roll of the municipality, the notice shall be addressed to the railway as its name and address are shown on the unrendered tax roll of the municipality. (f) The notice is sufficient, valid, and binding on each person who owns or claims an interest in the property or the railway if the notice: (1) describes in general terms the nature of the improvement for which the proposed assessment is to be imposed; (2) states the part of the highway to be improved; (3) states the estimated amount per front foot proposed to be assessed against the owners of abutting property and the property on which the hearing is to be held; (4) states the estimated total cost of the improvement on each part of the highway; (5) states the amount proposed to be assessed for the improvements proposed to be constructed in part of the area between, under, and two feet outside of rails, tracks, double tracks, turnouts, or switches of a railway; and (6) states the time and place of the hearing. (g) The mailed notice may consist of a copy of the published notice. (h) If an owner of property abutting a part of a highway proposed to be improved is listed as "unknown" on the municipal tax roll or if the name of an owner is shown on the municipal tax roll but no address for the owner is shown, it is not necessary to mail a notice. If the owner is shown as an estate, the notice may be mailed to the address of the estate. Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.