ORS 550.312: Annual charge payable by benefited lands for district works; apportionment; assessment and collection.

(1)(a) The board of directors of the urban flood safety and water quality district may impose an annual charge to pay the costs of operating and maintaining district works that directly benefit lands situated within the managed floodplain of the district. (b) If the board of directors elects to impose the charge, it shall determine the total amount of revenues required to pay the costs described in paragraph (a) of this subsection, including the estimated delinquencies on payment of the charge, for the succeeding year. (c) The total amount determined under paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be an assessment upon all the benefited lands and shall be apportioned by the board of directors in accordance with the method adopted under subsection (2) of this section. (d) For purposes of this section, benefited lands subject to assessment include: (A) Any portion of a parcel of lands that is so benefited; and (B) Notwithstanding ORS 307.090, lands owned by a public body. (e) Any parcel of benefited lands owned by any person that totals less than one acre shall be assessed as one acre. (2) The board of directors may adopt by ordinance: (a) A method for apportioning the assessments imposed under subsection (1) of this section; or (b) A method of apportionment that is based on the method for apportioning assessments adopted by an existing drainage district formed under ORS chapter 547 or incorporated under ORS chapter 554 that is operating within the managed floodplain as of June 6, 2024. (3)(a) The board of directors shall: (A) Prepare a list of the assessments imposed under subsection (1) of this section and the apportionments made under subsection (2) of this section, including a description of the ownership or holdings of each person whose benefited lands are assessed; and (B) Not later than July 15 of each year, file a written notice in the manner provided in ORS 310.060 with the county assessor of each county in which the benefited lands are situated certifying the assessments. (b) The county assessor shall place the assessments against the benefited lands on the assessment and tax roll in the same manner as other municipal taxes are placed on the roll. (4)(a) Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, the assessments shall be collected and enforced in the same manner as other taxes on property are collected and enforced. (b) The tax collector shall account for the assessments separately from taxes levied by the urban flood safety and water quality district for other purposes. (c) The county treasurer shall make returns and pay over all assessment moneys to the district in the same manner as for other taxing district taxes and charges. (5)(a) In lieu of the methods of assessment and collection provided in subsections (3) and (4) of this section, the board of directors may provide by resolution for the direct assessment and collection of the charges imposed under subsection (1) of this section against benefited lands that are owned by a public body or other person whose property is exempt from ad valorem property taxation. (b) The urban flood safety and water quality district shall cooperate with the county assessor to identify annually those benefited lands for which direct billing of the assessments is the most efficient and effective method of collection. [2024 c.49 §2]