1276                             Laws of Maryland                       [Ch. 743

Section 539 of this sub-title, and shall be certified to, and collected
by, the County Treasurer, and by him remitted to the Commission
as collected, all in accordance with the procedure prescribed in said
Section 539. All receipts from assessments in aid of construction
shall be credited by the Commission to a special construction account
established on its books for the sewerage system with respect to
which said assessments are imposed, and said receipts shall be used
only for payments on account of the cost of the facilities above de-
scribed or to liquidate bonds or notes issued by the District for such
purpose, as hereinafter authorized. The District is hereby authorized
and empowered to borrow money by private negotiation, if necessary,
to pay the portion of the cost of the above described facilities charge-
able to such assessments in aid of construction, and to evidence such
borrowing by the issuance of its promissory notes, repayable, both
principal and interest, upon the date or dates specified therein, from
the proceeds or receipts of such assessments in aid of construction.
All sums so borrowed by the Commission shall likewise be credited
by the Commission to said construction account and the moneys in
said account may be used by the Commission to retire said notes, as
aforesaid. Whenever the total cost of any such facilities shall have
been fully paid from the combined proceeds of bonds issued by the
District and of said assessments in aid of construction, as herein
authorized, the District shall apply all further proceeds received from
said assessments in aid of construction to the payment or prior
redemption of any bonds of the District issued to pay the cost of
any part of said sewerage system, to the end that the special benefit
assessments and ad valorem taxes imposed and levied therefor pur-
suant to Sections 539 and 540 of this sub-title may be correspondingly
reduced, provided, however, that the imposition of any such assess-
ments in aid of construction may be terminated by the Commission
whenever, in its judgment, it shall determine that the burden of
paying a portion of the cost of the facilities above described has
been equitably distributed among the properties in the sub-district
connected with such sewerage system.

544. Water Service Charges.

(a)  The District is hereby authorized and empowered to fix and
collect, and from time to time revise, alter or amend, schedules of
rates or charges for water consumed in any sub-district by the
owners or occupants of all properties therein connected to a water
system owned or operated by the District and supplied water by or
through such system. Such schedule shall be applicable to all water
so consumed even though the District may delegate the collection of
such charges in accordance with such schedule to the owner or oper-
ator of a connected water system pursuant to Section 532 of this
sub-title.

(b)  Any such schedule, and any revisions, alterations or amend-
ments thereof, shall be adopted by resolution of the Commission and
shall be uniformly applicable throughout the sub-district for which
it is adopted. Any such schedule may, however, provide for graduated
rates based on the volume of water consumed on any property during
any billing period, as measured by meters installed on the water con-
nection by, and at the expense of, the Commission, and also for flat
rates which may vary depending on the number of occupants of a
premises, the type of use of any such premises, the number of