June 12, 2018, Introduced by Reps. Johnson and Reilly and referred to the Committee on Local Government.
A bill to amend 1956 PA 40, entitled
"The drain code of 1956,"
by amending section 154 (MCL 280.154), as amended by 2010 PA 339.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 154. (1) The commissioner shall give notice as described
in subsection (3) for the receiving of bids for the construction of
the drain and for the holding of a public meeting to review the
apportionment of benefits. The meeting shall be not less than 5 nor
more than 30 days after the date set for receiving bids.
(2) The notice under subsection (1) shall be given by
publication of at least 2 insertions in a newspaper published and
of general circulation in the county. The first publication shall
be at least 10 days before the date set for receiving bids.
(3) The drain commissioner shall also send the notice under
subsection
(1) by first-class mail at least 10 30 days before the
date
of the meeting to review of
the apportionment of benefits , to
each person whose name appears upon the last city or township tax
assessment roll as owning land within the special assessment
district,
at the address shown on the roll. If an address does not
appear
on the roll, then notice Notice
need not be mailed to the a
person whose address does not appear on the roll. The drain
commissioner shall make an affidavit of the mailing and shall
recite
in the affidavit that the persons to whom the notice was
mailed
constitute to all of the persons whose names and addresses
appear
upon the tax rolls as owning land within the particular
special assessment district. The affidavit is conclusive proof that
notice was mailed to each person to whom notice is required to be
mailed. If notice has been sent by first-class mail as provided in
this
section, subsection, the failure to receive notice by mail
does not constitute a jurisdictional defect invalidating a drain
proceeding
or tax. assessment. If the board of determination
determines that the drain is necessary for the protection of the
public health and that the whole cost of the drain, except that
part which may be apportioned for benefits to highways, shall be
apportioned to municipalities, then mailing of individual notices
to persons owning land within the special assessment district as
provided in this subsection is not required.
(4)
The At least 30 days
before the date of the review of the
apportionment, the drain commissioner shall serve the notice under
subsection
(1) shall be personally served or by certified mail on
the county clerk and on 1 or more members of the road commission of
a
county or road district, the supervisor clerk of
a township, the
mayor
clerk of a city, and the president clerk of
a village to be
assessed at large.
(5) The notice under subsection (1) shall contain all of the
following:
(a) The date, time, and place of receiving bids.
(b) The date, time, and place of the meeting to review the
apportionment of benefits.
(c) A statement that, at the meeting to review the
apportionment of benefits, the drain commissioner will have
available to review the tentative apportionments against parcels
and municipalities within the drainage district.
(d) A statement that drain assessments against land will be
collected in the same manner as property taxes.
(e) A statement that if drain assessments against land are
collected by installment, the land owner may pay the assessments in
full with any interest to date at any time and thereby avoid
further interest charges.
(f) The name of each county, township, city, or village to be
assessed at large.
(g) A description of the land constituting the special
assessment district for the drain. The description may be stated by
designating the boundaries of the special assessment district by
streets, highways, parcels, or tracts of land or by describing the
tracts
or parcels of land constituting the district. A tract or
parcel
need not be subdivided beyond the point where the whole of
the
tract or parcel is within the drainage district. If a parcel or
tract is partially located within the district, for the purposes of
the notice description only, the drain commissioner may consider
the entire parcel or tract to be located in the district.
(h) The name or number of the drain.
(i) The number and length of sections, the average depth and
width of each section, and if the drain will be a closed drain, the
amount and specifications of all tile or pipe required.
(j) The location, number, type, and size of all culverts and
bridges.
(k) The conditions upon which the contract will be awarded.
(6) The notice under subsection (1) need not contain minutes
of survey or a table of cuttings. These shall be kept on file in
the office of the drain commissioner.
(7) Bids shall be received and the total cost of the drain
shall
be computed before the time set for review of the
apportionment. The computation shall be open to inspection. If the
computation
is not completed before the day of review of the
apportionment, the drain
commissioner shall adjourn the review may
be
adjourned from time to time, not
more than 20 days in all, for
the
completion of the computation, or shall
call a new hearing may
be
called with similar notice, by publication and service at least
10
days before the hearing. meeting
to review the apportionment of
benefits and give notice as provided in subsections (2) to (5). If
the contracts on which the computation was based are not executed
and new contracts are let at a higher price, the computation shall
be
corrected and a new review held with a similar notice as
provided in subsections (2) to (5).
(8) At the date, time, and place fixed specified in the
notice, or at another date, time, and place to which the county
drain
commissioner may adjourn the hearing, meeting, the
apportionment of benefits and the lands constituting the special
assessment district shall be subject to review for at least 1 day.
The review shall be held open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. At the
review, the county clerk or the county road commission may appear
on
behalf of the county, or a road district; the supervisor of a
township
may appear on behalf of a township,
; the mayor or an
officer
of the city designated by the mayor may appear for on
behalf
of a city, ; and the
president may appear on behalf of a
village.
At the review the county drain commissioner shall hear do
all of the following:
(a)
Hear the proofs and allegations. ,
shall carefully
(b) Carefully reconsider and review the description of land
comprised
within the special assessment
district , the several
descriptions
and the apportionment of benefits. ,
and shall define
(c) Define and equalize the land as is just and equitable.
(9) (8)
If an apportionment of benefits is
made against a
state trunk line highway, unless the director of the state
transportation department consents in writing to the apportionment,
the
drain commissioner , at least 20 days before the review on the
highway,
shall notify by registered certified mail the director of
the state transportation department of the percentage apportioned
against
the highway and the date, time, and place fixed for a
review of apportionment of benefits by the drain commissioner under
subsection (1). The notice shall be mailed at least 20 days before
the review of the apportionment. If the director of the state
transportation department instead desires to have the apportionment
of benefits reviewed by the director of the department of
agriculture and rural development, the director of the state
transportation department, within 10 days from the receipt of the
notice, shall file with the drain commissioner an objection to the
apportionment. The drain commissioner shall notify the director of
the department of agriculture and rural development of the date,
time, and place fixed for the review of apportionments, and at the
meeting the director of the department of agriculture and rural
development, or a deputy of the director, shall review the
apportionment made against the state trunk line highway and listen
to the proofs and allegations of the parties, and may view the
highway
benefited. The action and written
decision on the
apportionment
under this subsection , when reduced to writing, is
final.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.