MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 3409

1922, ch. 216, sec. 6.

391. The Mayor and Council shall assess benefits for such part of the
cost of construction of said water supply and sewerage systems as they
may deem proper, and for this purpose shall divide all properties bind-
ing upon a street, lane, alley or right-of-way, in which a water pipe or
sewer is to be laid, into four classes, namely: Sub-division, industrial or
business, small acreage and agricultural. Immediately upon the commence-
ment of the water supply or the sewerage project, the Mayor and Council
are empowered and directed to fix and levy an assessment upon all prop-
erty abutting upon said water main or sewer in accordance with the classi-
fication, and shall in writing notify all owners of said properties into
which class their respective properties fall and the assessment determined
upon, naming also in said notice a time and place when and at which
said owners will be heard. Such notice may be mailed to the last known
address of the owner, or served in person upon any adult occupying the
premises, or in the case of vacant or unimproved property posted upon
the premises. The classification of and assessment against any property
as made by the Mayor and Council shall be final, subject only to revision
at said hearing. The Mayor and Council may change the classification of
properties from time to time, as said properties change in the uses to
which they are put. Said assessments shall be levied for both water
supply and sewerage construction and shall be based for each class of
property upon the number of front feet abutting upon the street, lane,
alley or right-of-way in which the water pipe or sewer is placed; provided,
however, that no lot in a sub-division property shall be assessed on more
than one side, that corner lots in this class shall be assessed on that front-
age towards which the building should naturally face, and that all lots
in this class shall be assessed for their full frontage even though a water
main or sewer may not extend along the full length of any boundary;
that in the case of irregular shaped lots, and shallow lots fronting on more
than one street in which a water main or sewer is placed, the Mayor and
Council may assess such length of frontage as they deem reasonable and
fair; and provided, further, that in the case of small acreage and agricul-
tural property, where a water main or sewer does not extend along the
whole frontage, the Mayor and Council may assess such length of frontage
as they deem reasonable and fair. Front foot assessments for water sup-
ply and sewerage construction shall be uniform for each class of property
throughout the town. The amount of the assessment per front foot for
each class of property for water mains and sewers shall be determined
annually by the Mayor and Council as costs and conditions require. Said
assessments shall be paid annually beginning in the year such construction
is begun, by all properties located as above specified, for a period of years
co-extensive with the period of maturity of the bonds out of the proceeds
of which such construction was done; provided, however, that any owner
of property may, at his option, within one year from the time said front
foot assessment or benefit charge is levied extinguish the same by the
payment in cash, in one sum, of the proportion of the estimated cost of