1632                            Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 627

Section 427 thereof, to empower political subdivisions of this State
owning or operating water or sewerage systems to impose, levy
and collect benefit assessments, rates and other charges to provide
funds for maintaining, repairing and operating such water or
sewerage systems and to pay interest on and principal of indebted-
ness incurred to finance such systems; providing the procedure
for the establishment and modification of such rates, charges or
assessments; generally relating to the establishment, modification,
imposition, levy and collection of rates, charges or assessments to
finance the construction, acquisition, maintenance, repair and op-
eration of water and sewerage systems; and providing that the
authority so granted is additional and supplemental to any other
authority now provided by law.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That new Section 427A be and it is hereby added to Article 43 of
the Annotated Code of Maryland (1971 Replacement Volume), title
"Health," subtitle "Water, Ice and Sewerage," to follow immedi-
ately after Section 427 thereof, and to read as follows:

427A.

(a)    The term "political subdivision," as used in this Section,
means any county, commission, district, municipal corporation or
other public body in the State of Maryland, whether existing or oper-
ating pursuant to public general or public local law, which owns or
operates any water or sewerage system (including, without limita-
tion, the definitions of "water system" and "sewerage system" as
set forth in the subtitle "Sanitary Districts" of this article).

(b)    For the purpose of providing funds for the payment of the
interest on and principal of indebtedness incurred to finance its
water or sewerage systems, a political subdivision is empowered to
establish a proper and reasonable charge payable to the political
subdivision, not less than the actual cost thereof, for connection
with the water or sewerage system, and to fix an annual assessment,
payable to the political subdivision on all properties improved or
unimproved, binding upon a street, road, lane, alley or right-of-way
in which a water main or sewer has been built. The annual assess-
ment shall be made in the manner provided in Section 657 of this
Article 43 in regard to sanitary districts formed under the subtitle
"Sanitary Districts" of this Article, and the provisions of Section
657 (except special provisions applicable only in certain political
subdivisions) shall govern in all respects the imposition of assess-
ments under this subsection (b).

(c)    For the purpose of providing funds for maintaining, re-
pairing and operating its water or sewerage system, and for the
payment of the interest on and principal of indebtedness incurred
to finance the water or sewerage system, a political subdivision is
empowered (subject, in the case of a chartered county or municipal
corporation, to any provisions of the charter of that political sub-
division) to impose rates for water service, a charge for the upkeep
of sewers and a sewer service charge, all of these charges being
chargeable against all properties having a connection with any water
pipe or sewer pipe under its supervision or owned by it. The rates
for water service, charge for the upkeep on sewers and charge for
sewer service shall be uniform throughout a water or sewerage dis-