1818                            LAWS OF MARYLAND                      [CH. 825

or sewer, provided, said Commission shall classify said property and
determine a front foot charge to be paid by said property owner as
though his or her property abutted upon said water main or sewer;
and in the event of such connection being made, said property owner
and said property as to all charges, rates and benefits shall stand in
every respect in the same position as if the said property abutted
upon a water main or sewer. Said benefit charge shall be payable at
the office of the Commission immediately upon being levied, and
shall be overdue and in default after sixty (60) days from that day,
at which time the Commission may proceed to enforce payment
thereof; and the said benefit charge and any judgment or decree
obtained as a result of default in payment shall bear interest at the
rate of one-half of one percentum (½%) per month from and after
the time said benefit assessment or other charges are in default. The
annual benefit assessment or other charges as above specified shall
be a first lien upon the property against which they are assessed until
paid, any statute of limitations to the contrary notwithstanding, sub-
ject only to prior State and county taxes, and if any property be sold
for State and/or county taxes or both by the Treasurer of said county;
and if after sale there is a surplus after all costs and expenses in-
cident to such sale shall have been paid, then the said Commission
upon proper petition to the Circuit Court for said county shall be
allowed any balance from said surplus, and shall be preferred lienor
to the extent of its lien; and for the purpose of giving notice to the
general public as to existing liens and charges against any property
within any sanitary district abutting upon any water or sewer main,
the said Commission shall keep a public record of all names of owners
of property, locations of said property, lot numbers when of record,
and the amount of such benefit charges, water service charges or
such other charges that may become liens from time to time. Said
records shall be kept in the County Seat of government and among
the land records of St. Mary's County, and the Clerk of the Circuit
Court for said county shall furnish such space as may be necessary
to keep and preserve such records, which, when recorded in said pub-
lic record, shall be legal notice of all existing liens within any sanitary
district. If any liens, benefit assessments or other charges remain
unpaid for sixty (60) days after becoming [due], overdue they may
be collected by an action of assumpsit or by a bill in equity to enforce
such liens, and any judgment or decree obtained, where the defend-
ants have been served by subpoena, or in any other manner provided
by law, shall have the force and effect of a judgment in personam;
and the Commission may sue, or file a bill in equity to enforce said
liens against the owner of record at the time said levy was made, or
the owner of record at the time said suit is filed or any owner of
record between said dates, and publication thereon shall be notice
to all persons having any interest in said property.

Sec. 22. And be it further enacted, That Sections 344, 345, 347,
348 and 349 of Article 20 of the Code of Public Local Laws of Mary-
land (1930 Edition), title "Somerset County," subtitle "Revenue and
Taxes," be and they are hereby repealed and re-enacted, with amend-
ments, and all to read as follows:

344.

The County Commissioners shall make their annual levy for State
and county taxes [on or] before [the first Monday in] July 1 in each