5-518 - Collection of special assessments.
§ 5-518 Collection of special assessments. 1. Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, all special or local assessments levied against real property shall be collected as in this section provided. 2. Whenever an expenditure is made or a contract awarded for a purpose for which bonds cannot be issued and the amount of a local or special assessment, inclusive of interest to maturity of obligations, if any, issued to finance such expenditure, is finally fixed, determined and confirmed, such assessment may be paid without penalty at any time within a period of thirty days, computed from the date of such confirmation. 3. If an expenditure is made or a contract awarded for a purpose for which bonds may be issued pursuant to the local finance law, the board of trustees may provide for the payment of special assessments by any one of the following methods: a. The board of trustees may adopt the procedure described in subdivision two of this section. b. The board of trustees may determine that such assessments may be paid in annual installments. In such case, it may give a period of thirty days from date of confirmation in which assessments may be paid in full without penalty. Upon the expiration of such period, obligations shall be issued pursuant to the local finance law for the total unpaid assessments. The amount of the unpaid assessment against each parcel of land shall be divided into such annual installments as shall be necessary to completely amortize the principal amount of such obligations as they shall mature. There shall be added to the amount of each installment a sum sufficient to meet a pro rata share of the annual interest payable on such obligations. The board of trustees shall annually levy the amount of the annual installment, unless same shall have been prepaid as provided in paragraph c of this subdivision, with interest as aforesaid, on a special assessment roll and such amount shall be extended on such roll against the real property benefited. The board of trustees may determine that such annual installment shall be due at the same time as real property taxes, in which event the amount of such installment shall be extended in a separate column in the annual tax roll. In the latter case, the same penalties for non-payment shall attach as in the case of non-payment of the village tax, as provided in the real property tax law and there shall be no relevy of the unpaid installment as prescribed in subdivision five of this section, but such unpaid installment shall be collected as provided in said real property tax law. c. Whenever an unpaid assessment has been divided into annual installments pursuant to paragraph b of this subdivision the board of trustees may, at the time of making such division, or at any time thereafter, provide that all future annual installments may be prepaid together with a sum sufficient to meet all future pro rata shares of the annual interest payable on such obligations and which would otherwise have been added to such future installments had same not been prepaid. All sums received from such prepayments shall be deposited and retained in a separate account in a depositary designated in the manner provided by section ten of the general municipal law to be applied only to the payment of the obligations issued pursuant to paragraph b of this subdivision. Notwithstanding the foregoing, such sums so received may be invested in the manner permitted in section eleven of the general municipal law. 4. If any assessment or annual installment thereof be not paid within the prescribed thirty day period, penalties shall be computed from the expiration date of such thirty day period at the rate of one-half of one per centum per month or portion thereof until the assessment is paid ordischarged. All penalties collected shall be credited to the general fund. 5. At least thirty days before the end of the fiscal year, the officer or official charged with the collection of such special or local assessments shall transmit to the board of trustees a statement of all delinquent special or local assessments, showing the amounts thereof with penalties computed to the first day of the month following the month in which the fiscal year commences, and thereafter he shall not collect or receive payment of any such special assessment in default. The board of trustees shall include the amounts shown on such statement in the annual tax levy and such amounts shall be extended on the annual tax roll against the real properties concerned in a separate column. Such special assessments shall thereafter be deemed for the purposes of collection to be a part of the annual village tax and the assessment shall be deemed to have been cancelled as of the date of the tax levy. 6. Whenever any special assessment or installment thereof shall be extended on the village tax roll, whether pursuant to subdivision three or subdivision five of this section, the special assessment account shall be credited with the amount of the special assessment or installment, less penalties. The amounts so extended, including penalties, when collected, shall be paid into the general fund.