Marvin Mandel, Governor                         901

amended by Chapter 198 of the Acts of 1967; authorizing the
County Commissioners of Carroll County to abate weeds, refuse
or stagnant water from improved as well as unimproved lots or
vacant premises; to provide for the assessment and recovery of
the costs of such action to the County, and generally relating
to the removal and abatement of certain menaces to public health
or safety in Carroll County.

Section 1. Be it enacted, by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 30 of the Code of Public Local Laws of Carroll County
(1965 Edition, being Article 7 of the Code of Public Local Laws of
Maryland), title "Carroll County," subtitle "County Commissioners,"
as amended by Chapter 198 of the Acts of 1967, be and it is hereby
repealed and re-enacted, with amendments, to read as follows:

30.

(a)    The board of county commissioners shall have power, when-
ever the owner or person in charge of any improved or unimproved
lot or vacant premises shall fail, after written notice, to remove any
menace to the public health or safety arising from the growth of
weeds, the accumulation of refuse, the presence of stagnant water
or of combustible material, to enter upon the premises by its officers
and agents and cause such menace to be abated. Notice of the
reasonable costs incurred in abating such menace shall be delivered
or mailed to the person in charge of the property and to the person
in whose name the property is assessed for taxation. If the cost shall
not be paid within sixty days from the giving of such notice the
county commissioners may recover the costs by civil action, or may
fix a date for hearing to determine whether the costs should be
assessed against the property as a special tax. Notice of such hearing
shall be posted on the property and sent by registered mail to the
last known address of the person in whose name the property is
assessed for taxation.

(b)    If the name of the owner of the property be unknown, or
the owner be a nonresident of the county, notice of the proposed
assessment and of the date and place of the hearing shall be published
once a week for three consecutive weeks in some newspaper having
general circulation in the county. At the hearing, unless good cause
to the contrary be shown, the county commissioners shall have
authority to levy the reasonable costs incurred by the [town] county,
together with the expense of advertising, as a special tax against the
property. The assessment shall be [certified by the clerk for the
county commissioners to the county treasurer, to be] added to the
annual tax bill against the property to be collected in the same
manner as ordinary taxes are collected and subject to the same
interest and penalty for nonpayment, as provided by law for the
nonpayment of county taxes. Such special tax shall constitute a
lien against the property from the date of the assessment until paid.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1972.

Approved May 5, 1972.