12-1808.   Repairs by owner or city; notice; special assessments;payment from general fund or general improvement fund, when.It shall be the duty of the owner of the abutting property to keep thesidewalk in repair, but in cities of the third class no formality shall berequired for the repairing of a sidewalk by the city and such repairs maybe made without notice to the abutting property owner; and in cities of thefirst and second class the city engineer, or city clerk, may, after givingfive days' notice to the owner or his or her agent, if known, of thenecessity therefor, and without notice if the lot or piece of land isunoccupied, make all necessary repairs at any time. Repairs may be made byforce account or by contract and an account of the cost thereof shall bekept and reported to the governing body.

      The city shall by ordinance levy a special assessment against the lot orpiece of land abutting on the sidewalk so repaired for the cost of repairs,and if the abutting property owner does not pay the assessment withinthirty days, upon the city clerk mailing to the owner or his or her agent,if known, a printed or written notice of the amount of such repairs, thefull amount shall be certified by the city clerk to the county clerk to beput on the tax rolls for collection like other taxes. The temporaryfinancing of repairs may be borne by the city out of the fund formaintaining streets or out of the general fund or general improvement fund.In cities of the first class having a population of more than sixtythousand and less than ninety thousand, the cost of repairing sidewalksmay, in the discretion of the governing body, be paid from the generalimprovement fund of the city when the costs of such repairs do not exceedthree thousand dollars in any one calendar year, and no assessment shall belevied.

      History:   L. 1941, ch. 103, § 8; June 30.