980 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 506

connection is made, and when so made and for every con-
nection such land shall become liable to a front foot assess-
ment for such reasonable frontage, not exceeding three hun-
dred foot front, as may be determined by said Commission,
and shall be immediately assessed at the rate of assessment
determined upon by said Commission for agricultural land;
provided, further, that State, County and Municipal buildings
or property or public parks or playgrounds owned by a mu-
nicipality, and any building owned, by a regularly organized
volunteer fire department while so used, shall be exempt
from said front foot benefit charge, and from the service and
water consumption charge for water used exclusively for
public or fire department purposes.

Future front foot benefit charges for water supply and sewer
construction shall be uniform for each class of property through-
out the Sanitary District for any one year, except, however,
Gaithersburg and Washington Grove, against which a benefit
charge approximating the cost of the systems therein shall be
levied; provided, however, that whenever the Commission ac-
quires an existing system, other than a municipal system, the
construction cost of which has been added in whole or in part to
the purchase of land or lots abutting upon said system and which
contribution the Commission has determined to be a factor
in the cost to the Commission of such system, the Commission
may, in its discretion, levy a front foot assessment less than
the uniform front foot assessment levied in the remainder of
said Sanitary District. The amount of the charge per front foot
for each class of property for both water main and sewer
shall be determined from time to time by the Commission as
costs and conditions require, but no benefit charge once levied
by said Commission shall be increased.

Said benefit charge shall be paid annually beginning from
the time of the levy thereof 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, how-ever, that
any property owner may, at his option, within one year from
time said front foot benefit charge is levied, extinguish the
same by the payment in cash, in one sum, of the proportion of
the estimated cost of the project, considered as a part of the
whole system of which the construction abutting upon his
property is a part, represented by the number of front feet
which he is assessed, with interest at the rate of six per centum