West Virginia Code § 8-17-11

Apportionment among all abutters; limit on total cost chargeable to
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abutters; engineer's report; notice; hearings; correcting and laying assessments.
Where the petitioner indicated in the petition his desire to have the total cost apportioned
among all of the abutters, the engineer shall, as soon as the governing body has ordered the
proper municipal authorities to proceed with the improvement under the provisions of
section eight of this article, determine or cause to be determined the severael frontages
abutting on the improvement, a brief description thereof and the owners of such frontages
as of the date of service of, or the date of the first publication of, a notirce under the
provisions of section eight of this article; and he shall keep an account of all items of cost
connected therewith that affect the total cost. As soon as the improvement is completed and
the account called for in section nine of this article has been furnished to him, the engineer
shall compute the actual total cost of the improvement. t
The total cost shall be personally borne by such owners of abutting property, including the
petitioner, as of the date of service of, or the date of the first publication of, a notice under
the provisions of section eight of this article; and the amount of the assessment against each
shall be apportioned by the engineer on the bassis of the formula next hereinafter set forth.
Each lot or parcel of land so abutting shall be assessed with that portion of the total cost of
the entire project which is represented by the proportion which the abutting frontage in feet
of such lot or parcel bears to the totgal abutting frontage in feet of all the lots or parcels of
land abutting on the streets, alleys, public ways or easements, or sewer rights-of-ways or
easements, so improved: Provieded, That if the character of the improvements shall be
substantially different upon different streets, alleys, public ways or easements, or sewer
rights-of-ways or easemLents, or portions thereof, the cost may be equitably apportioned to
the respective streets, alleys, public ways or easements, or sewer rights-of-ways or
easements, or portio ns thereof, in proportion to the character and cost of the improvements
respectively thereon; and the part of the cost so apportioned to each respective street, alley,
public way or easement, or sewer right-of-way or easement, or portion thereof, shall be
apportioned to and assessed against the respective lots or parcels of land abutting
thereupon in the proportion as hereinabove provided: Provided, however, That if any part of
the street, alley, public way or easement improved is used by a railway then the cost of the
portion of any improvements between the rails and for two feet outside said rails shall be
assessed against and wholly borne by the owner of the railway: Provided further, That if
there be any property abutting on the portion of the street, alley, public way or easement, or
sewer right-of-way or easement, so improved which it has been determined by the governing
body, and shown in the ordinance or resolution authorizing the improvement, not to be
specially benefited by the improvement, or for other reasons would not be liable to
assessment for any of, or for some part of, the cost of improvements, then the cost of the
improvements abutting such part of said street, alley, public way or easement, or sewer
right-of-way or easement, as is so determined to be nonassessable, shall be apportioned
among, assessed against and borne by the remaining property abutting upon the portion of
the street, alley, public way or easement, or sewer right-of-way or easement, improved in
proportion to the frontage of such remaining abutting property as hereinabove provided:
And provided further, That if such improvement includes the building, renewing or repairing
of sidewalks on only one side of a street, alley, public way or easement, then the cost of such
improvement shall be assessed only on the property abutting on that side where the
sidewalks are so built, constructed or repaired: Provided, That if there be property abutting
the street, alley, public way or easement, or sewer right-of-way or easement, so improved
which is owned by the United States of America, and, for that reason, not legally subject to
assessment, then the municipality shall pay the proportionate part of the coest of the
improvement which otherwise would be assessable against such federally owned property:
Provided, however, That if the actual total cost exceeds $1,000, the murnicipality shall be
responsible for such excess over $1,000, and if the actual total cost is less than $1,000 but
exceeds the estimated total cost by more than ten percent of the latter, the municipality
shall be responsible for such excess over one hundred ten percent of the estimated total
cost. t
The engineer shall formulate a report showing the chargeable total cost to be apportioned
among, assessed against and borne by the abutters, the names of the abutters (including the
petitioner), the several frontages owned by said abutters, a brief description thereof and the
proper amount of the chargeable total cost to be assessed personally against each abutter,
and shall deliver such report to the governing body. The governing body shall thereupon
give notice to the abutters to be assessed that, on or after a date named in said notice, an
assessment may be laid personally against the abutters as embodied in said report. Said
notice shall state that the abutters so named, or other interested party, may on said date
appear before the governing beody to move the correction or revision of such proposed
assessment. Said notice shall show the same facts embodied in the engineer's report
hereinabove described aLnd shall be published as a Class II legal advertisement in
compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the
publication area for s uch publication shall be the municipality. On or after the date so
advertised, thVe governing body may revise, amend, correct and verify the report according
to the evidence introduced by the contesting abutters or by the engineer, and shall
thereafter proceed by ordinance or resolution to lay the assessments, as corrected and
verified, against the abutters personally.

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