804 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 330

advertisement shall state the basis upon which the assessment
shall be made, and advise those interested that a hearing will
be held by the Council at a time and place named in said
advertisement, at which hearing all interested persons will be
heard. The Council shall be prepared to exhibit at such hear-
ing a plan for said drainage district or part thereof, including
the length and size of pipes, the approximate cost, and a
general description of the area to be affected by any assess-
ment proposed to be levied for the construction of said system.
If, after such hearing, the Council shall determine that the
public health, welfare and safety requires the construction of
said system, it shall thereupon proceed with such construc-
tion, either by contract, publicly advertised, or by any other
means deemed desirable.

For the purpose of providing for the payment of the cost
of the construction of any drainage system undertaken by the
Council under the authority granted by this sub-section, there
shall be levied by the Council, by ordinance duly adopted, a
drainage benefit assessment against all of the real properties
within said drainage district served by said system, whether
immediately or remotely, which the Council determines to be
benefited by said system, and said assessments may, in the
discretion of the Council, be based either upon the then
assessed value or upon a square foot basis of all of the real
property belonging to any owner within said drainage dis-
trict so benefited, and said assessments so levied shall be
uniform throughout the said area or district.

The Council shall also provide in said ordinance the time
and terms upon which payment of said assessments shall be
made by said property owners, the rate of interest that shall
be charged upon deferred payments, and shall provide penal-
ties for failure to pay any deferred payment when due. Assess-
ments so levied as aforesaid shall be a lien upon the property
against which they are charged superior to all other liens
from the date of the approval of such assessments by the
Council, and all assessments so approved and levied shall be
collected in the manner set forth in Sub-section D hereof, and
each and every provision of said sub-section is hereby made
applicable to this sub-section.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That this Act is hereby
declared to be an emergency measure and necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public health and safety, and
having been passed by a yea and nay vote, supported by three-
fifths of all of the members elected to each "of the two Houses
of the General Assembly of Maryland, the same shall take
effect from the date of its passage.

Approved April 22, 1949.