§ 24-139. Frontage fees.

(a)

It shall be the duty of the city engineer, within thirty (30) days after the completion of any sewer or extension of sewer constructed by or under an order of the city council, to file with the city comptroller a report containing the names of the owners of property abutting on the street or part of street upon which such sewer or extension of sewer is located, with the number of front feet owned by each of such owners. The city comptroller shall charge the amounts upon the city ledger, and furnish the city collector a list of the names of such property owners with the amounts chargeable to each, and the collector shall collect such sewer lines and charges as fully and to the same extent as the collection of taxes and pay such collections to the treasurer daily. A monthly report of sewer collections shall be made to the city council at the first meeting in each month.

(b)

There shall be charged the sum of four dollars ($4.00) per lineal foot for any sewer laid less than one (1) block in length for the use and benefit of any property. It shall be the duty of the city engineer to collect such charges and turn the charges over to the city treasurer for the use and benefit of the city sewer department's current appropriation.

(c)

The city engineer may grant a tap or connection with any sewer without requiring the applicant to pay the frontage charge for such sewer at the time of granting such permit; provided that the sewer for which the tap application is made is one for which a lien has been or may be filed by the city council with the clerk of the circuit court for the county. If no lien for the construction of such sewer is of record or may be made of record in the office of the clerk of the circuit court for the county, then the city engineer shall not issue the permit for a tap or connection until the frontage fee is paid by the applicant.

(d)

The front feet of a lot shall be construed as the number of feet abutting upon the street upon which the lot is located. In case the lot is a corner lot, the frontage is to be estimated upon the more important of the two (2) streets upon which the lot bounds, except where one (1) or more houses front upon the less important street or public alley, in which case the longest side facing either street or alley shall be taken as the frontage.

(Code 1966, § 27-8)