a.Â
The Board of Commissioners shall have the power to
pass all such ordinances not contrary to the Constitution and laws
of the State of Maryland or this Charter as it may deem necessary
for the good government of the Town; for the protection and preservation
of the Town's property, rights, and privileges; for the preservation
of peace and good order; for securing persons and property from violence,
danger, or destruction, and for the protection and promotion of the
health, safety, comfort, convenience, welfare, and happiness of the
residents of the Town and visitors thereto and sojourners therein.
b.Â
The Board of Commissioners shall have, in addition,
the power to pass ordinances, not contrary to the Constitution and
laws of the State of Maryland, for the following specific purposes:
1.Â
Administrative. To create, change, or abolish offices
and departments and to assign additional functions to offices and
departments, but not including the power to create, change, abolish,
or discontinue any office or department or to transfer any function
of an office or department established by this Charter.
2.Â
Advertising. To provide for advertising for the purposes
of the Town, for printing and publishing statements as to the business
of the Town.
3.Â
Aisles. To regulate and prevent the obstruction of
aisles in public halls, churches, businesses, and places of amusement,
and to regulate the construction and operation of the doors and means
of egress therefrom.
4.Â
Amusements. To provide in the interest of the public
welfare for licensing, regulating, or restraining public amusements.
5.Â
Appropriations. To appropriate municipal monies for
any purpose within the powers of the Board of Commissioners.
6.Â
Billboards and Signs. To regulate, restrain, or prohibit
the erection or maintenance of billboards, the placing of signs, bills,
and posters of every kind and description on any building, fence,
post, billboard, pole, or other place within the Town.
7.Â
Borrowing: General Obligation Bonds, Bond Anticipation
Notes, Refunding Bonds, Tax Anticipation Notes, Any Other Evidence
of Indebtedness, Manner of Issuance and Sale of Bonds and the Issuance
of Any Other Issuance of Indebtedness, Debt Limitation, Referendum.
[Amended by Charter Res. No. 126-20, effective 6-9-2020]
a.Â
Authority to Borrow
In addition to any other borrowing power which
the Town may presently have, from whatever source derived, and notwithstanding
any other provision or limitation of public general or public local
law, the Board of Commissioners shall have the power to borrow money
and incur indebtedness, from time to time, for any public purpose
and to evidence such borrowing and indebtedness by the issuance and
sale of its general obligation bonds, bond anticipation notes, refunding
bonds, tax anticipation notes, and the issuance of any other evidence
of indebtedness as hereafter provided.
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b.Â
Debt Limitation
However, in issuing general obligation bonds,
bond anticipation notes, or refunding bonds, the Board of Town Commissioners
shall be further limited as follows:
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1.
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It shall issue no bonds, if, by the issuance
thereof, the total bonded indebtedness of the Town, less the amount
of sinking funds established for the retirement thereof, would exceed
six percent (6%) of the assessed value of all real and personal property
in said Town taxable for municipal purposes and,
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2.
|
Except as herein provided specifically, the
Board shall issue no bonds, no certificate of indebtedness, no tax
anticipation notes, no bond anticipation notes or any other evidence
of indebtedness, if by the issuance thereof, the total indebtedness
of the Town on bonds, certificates of indebtedness, tax anticipation
notes, bond anticipation notes, or any other instruments of indebtedness,
shall exceed the annual income of the Town less all sinking funds
and interest requirements on all indebtedness previously incurred,
whether bonded or otherwise.
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c.Â
Tax Anticipation Notes (Exception to Debt Limitation)
The Board of Commissioners may issue notes of
indebtedness, bearing interest not to exceed in amount the annual
revenue of the Town, less the amount of all sinking funds previously
provided for, said notes and interest to be paid only from such revenue
and within one year from the date of their issue; and such notes may
be issued in pursuance of a resolution duly adopted without submitting
the question to a vote of the taxpayers.
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d.Â
Other Evidence of Indebtedness
The Town of Bel Air may borrow from a financial
institution to obtain funds to purchase vehicles, other equipment,
furniture, and/or fixtures and may authorize the financial institution
making the loan to place a lien on any vehicle, other equipment, furniture
or fixture purchased from such funds to be used as collateral to secure
repayment of such loan.
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e.Â
Manner of Issuance and Sale of Bonds and Other Indebtedness
The Board of Commissioners may issue and sell
such general obligation bonds, bond anticipation notes, refunding
bonds, tax anticipation notes and other evidence of indebtedness of
the Town of Bel Air as may be authorized by this Charter or the laws
of Maryland now or hereafter enacted, or both, in any commercially
reasonable manner, either by public or private sale, in accordance
with such terms as the Board of Commissioners shall, in its discretion,
determine by resolution.
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f.Â
Referendum
The Board of Commissioners may, in their general
discretion, submit the question of the issuance of general obligation
bonds to a referendum of the registered voters of the Town at either
the next regular Town election or at a special election duly called
and held for the purpose pursuant to the authority and in the manner
prescribed by this Charter. However, the Board of Commissioners shall
be required to submit any bond issue to referendum if, within ten
(10) days after the first publication of a resolution authorizing
any bond issue the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners shall be
served with notice signed by not fewer than one hundred (100) of the
registered voters of Bel Air advising that a petition for a referendum
on such bond issue is being circulated by one or more of the persons
signing said notice, and if, within thirty (30) days after the first
publication of a fair summary of the resolution, there shall be filed
with the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners a petition or petitions
requesting such a referendum signed by not fewer than twenty per cent
(20%) of the registered voters of the Town. Upon the filing of such
notice or petition, the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners shall
promptly submit the same to the Board of Election Judges for the purpose
of determining whether said notice or petition has been properly signed
as herein provided.
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8.Â
Buildings.
a.Â
To make reasonable regulation in regard to buildings
and signs to be erected, constructed, or reconstructed in the Town,
and to grant building permits for the same; to formulate or adopt
codes which may include, but are not limited to, building, plumbing,
fire, safety, electrical, and such other codes as may be necessary
to promote, protect, and preserve the public health, safety, and welfare
of the citizens of Bel Air.
b.Â
To appoint building, plumbing, fire, safety, electrical,
and other such inspectors as may be necessary to promote, protect
and preserve the public health, safety and welfare.
c.Â
To require reasonable charges for permits and inspections;
to authorize and require the inspection of all buildings and structures;
and to authorize the condemnation thereof in whole or in part when
dangerous or insecure, and to require that such buildings and structures
be made safe or be taken down.
9.Â
Codification. To provide for the codification of all
ordinances which have been or may hereafter be passed.
10.Â
Cooperative Activities. To make arrangements with
other municipalities, counties, districts, bureaus, commissions, and
governmental authorities for the joint performance or for cooperation
in the performance of any governmental functions.
11.Â
Community Services. To provide, maintain, and operate
community and social services for the preservation and promotion of
the health, recreation, welfare and enlightenment of the inhabitants
of the Town.
12.Â
Dangerous Improvements. To compel persons about to
undertake dangerous improvements to execute bonds with sufficient
sureties so conditioned that the owner or contractor will pay all
damages resulting from such work which may be sustained by any persons
or property.
13.Â
Explosives. To regulate or prevent the storage of
gunpowder, oil, or any other explosive or combustible matter or nuclear
materials or devices; to regulate or prevent the use of firearms,
fireworks, bonfires, explosives, or any other similar things which
may endanger persons or property.
14.Â
Filth. To compel the owner or occupant of any real
property or building situated in the Town, when the same has become
filthy or unwholesome, to abate or cleanse the condition; and after
reasonable notice to the owners or occupants to authorize such work
to be done by the proper officers and to assess the expense thereof
against such property, making it collectible by taxes or against the
occupant or occupants.
15.Â
Finances. To levy, assess, and collect ad valorem
property taxes; to expend municipal funds for any public purposes;
to have general management and control of the finances of the Town;
to appropriate municipal monies for any purpose within the powers
of the Board of Commissioners; to borrow money in accordance with
the provisions of this Charter.
16.Â
Fire. To suppress fires and prevent the dangers thereof
and to establish and maintain a fire department and fire protection
and fire prevention system; to contribute funds to volunteer fire
companies serving the Town; to inspect buildings for the purpose of
reducing fire hazards, to issue regulations concerning fire hazards,
and to forbid and prohibit the use of fire-hazardous buildings and
structures permanently or until the conditions of Town fire-hazard
regulations are met; to install and maintain fire plugs where and
as necessary, and to regulate their use; and to take all other measures
necessary to control and prevent fires in the Town.
17.Â
Food. To inspect food products and to require their
condemnation, if unwholesome, and to regulate their sale.
18.Â
Franchises. To grant and regulate franchises to water
companies, electric light companies, gas companies, telegraph, cable
television, telephone companies, transit companies, taxicab companies,
and any others which may be deemed advantageous and beneficial to
the Town, subject, however, to the limitations and provisions of the
Laws of Maryland. No franchise shall be granted for a longer period
than fifty (50) years.
19.Â
Gambling. To restrain and prohibit gambling.
20.Â
Garbage. To prevent the deposit of any unwholesome
substance either on private or public property, and to compel its
removal to designated points; to require slops, garbage, ashes, and
other waste or other unwholesome materials to be removed to designated
points, or to require the occupants of the premises to place them
conveniently for removal.
21.Â
Grants-in-Aid. To accept gifts and grants of funds
from the Federal, State or county governments, or any agency thereof,
and to expend the same for any lawful public purpose, agreeably to
the conditions under which the gifts or grants were made.
22.Â
Hawkers. To license, tax, regulate, suppress, and
prohibit hawkers and itinerant dealers, peddlers, pawnbrokers, and
all other persons selling any articles on the streets of the Town,
and to revoke such licenses for cause.
23.Â
Health. To protect and preserve the health of the
Town and its inhabitants; to appoint a public health officer, and
to define and regulate his powers and duties; to prevent the introduction
of contagious diseases into the Town; to establish quarantine regulations,
and to authorize the removal and confinement of persons having contagious
or infectious diseases; to prevent and remove all nuisances; to inspect,
regulate, and abate any buildings, structures or places which cause
or may cause unsanitary conditions or conditions detrimental to health;
that nothing herein shall be construed to affect in any manner any
of the powers and duties of the State Board of Health and Mental Hygiene
and the Health Officer of Harford County, or any public, general,
or local law relating to the subject of health.
24.Â
House Numbers. To regulate the numbering of houses
and lots and to compel owners to renumber the same to be visible from
the street or public way or in default thereof to authorize and require
the same to be done by the Town at the owner's expense, such expense
to constitute a lien upon the property collectible as tax monies.
25.Â
Jail. To establish and regulate a station house or
lock-up for temporary confinement of violators of the laws and ordinances
of the Town or to use the County Jail for such purposes.
26.Â
Licenses. Subject to any restrictions imposed by the
public general laws of the State, to license and regulate all persons
beginning or conducting transient or permanent business in the Town
for the sale of any goods, wares, merchandise, or services, to license
and regulate any business, occupation, trade, calling, or place of
amusement or business; to establish and collect fees and charges for
all licenses and permits issued under the authority of this Charter.
27.Â
Liens. To provide that any valid charges, taxes, or
assessments of the Town, made against any real property within the
Town shall be liens upon such property, to be collected as municipal
taxes are collected.
28.Â
Lights. To provide for the lighting of the Town.
29.Â
Livestock. To regulate and prohibit the running at
large of cattle, horses, swine, fowl, sheep, goats, dogs, or other
animals; to authorize the impounding, keeping, sale, and redemption
of such animals when found in violation of the ordinance in such cases
provided.
30.Â
Markets. To obtain by lease or rent, own, construct,
purchase, operate, and maintain public markets within the Town.
31.Â
Minor Privileges. To regulate or prevent the use of
public ways, sidewalks, and public places for signs, awnings, posts,
steps, railings, entrances, racks, posting handbills and advertisements,
and display of goods, wares, and merchandise.
32.Â
Noise. To regulate or prohibit unreasonable ringing
of bells, crying of goods, sounding of whistles and horns, or other
disruptive or disturbing sounds.
33.Â
Nuisances. To prevent or abate by appropriate ordinances
all nuisances in the Town which are so defined at common law, by this
Charter, or by the laws of the State of Maryland, whether the same
be herein specifically named or not; to regulate, to prohibit, to
control the location of, or to require the removal from the Town,
of all trading in, handling of or manufacture of any commodity which
is or may become offensive, obnoxious or injurious to the public comfort
or health. In this connection, the Town may regulate, prohibit, control
the location of or require the removal from the Town of such things
as stockyards, slaughterhouses, cattle or hog pens, tanneries and
renderies. This listing is by way of enumeration, not limitation.
34.Â
Obstructions. To remove all nuisances and obstructions
from the streets, lanes and alleys and from any lots adjoining thereto,
or any other places within the limits of the Town.
35.Â
Parking Facilities. To license and regulate and to
establish, obtain by purchase, by lease or by rent, own, construct,
operate and maintain parking lots and other facilities for off-street
parking.
36.Â
Parking Meters. To install parking meters on the streets
and public places of the Town in such places as they shall by ordinance
determine, and by ordinance prescribe rates and provisions for the
use thereof, except that the installation of parking meters on any
street or road maintained by the State Highway Administration of Maryland
must first be approved by them.
37.Â
Parks and Recreation. To establish and maintain public
parks, bicycle paths, gardens, playgrounds and other recreational
facilities and programs to promote the health, welfare and enjoyment
of the inhabitants of the Town.
38.Â
Police Force. To establish, operate and maintain a
police force. All regular, sworn police officers shall, within the
municipality, have the powers and authority of "Law Enforcement" officers
as defined in the Annotated Code of Maryland. In addition, the Chief
of Police has the authority to assign and discipline members of the
police force.
39.Â
Police Powers.
a.Â
Sworn Officers.
To prohibit, suppress and punish within the
Town all vice, gambling and games of chance; prostitution and solicitation
thereof; common nuisances; all disorders, disturbances, annoyances,
disorderly conduct, obscenity, public profanity and drunkenness.
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b.Â
Auxiliary Police and Non-Sworn Members of the Police
Department.
The Chief of Police has the authority to designate
non-sworn and auxiliary police officers as "special enforcement officers."
The Chief of Police may assign "special enforcement" duties to the
auxiliary police and the non-sworn members of the Police Department,
which may include, but are not limited to:
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1.
|
Issuance of municipal infractions and parking
violations.
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2.
|
Traffic control and crowd control at public
events and at intersections within the Town limits.
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3.
|
Rendering emergency services during natural
disasters, floods, snowstorms and searches for missing persons.
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4.
|
Assisting in the performance of administrative
duties, such as collecting fines and dispatching police response.
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c.Â
The Chief of Police may assign special enforcement
duties to volunteers, such as Explorer Post members and parade marshals,
which may include, but are not limited to:
1.
|
Traffic control and crowd control at public
events and at intersections within the Town limits.
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2.
|
Rendering emergency services during natural
disasters, floods, snowstorms and searches for missing persons.
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3.
|
Assisting in the performance of administrative
duties, such as collecting fines and dispatching police response.
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40.Â
Town Property.
a.Â
Acquisition, Possession and Disposal
The Board of Commissioners may acquire real,
personal or mixed property within the corporate limits of the Town
for any public purpose by purchase, gift, bequest, devise, lease,
condemnation or otherwise and may sell, lease or otherwise dispose
of any property belonging to the Town. All municipal property, funds
and franchises of every kind belonging to or in the possession of
the Town (by whatever prior name known) at the time this Charter becomes
effective are vested in the Town, subject to the terms and conditions
thereof.
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b.Â
Condemnation
The Board of Commissioners shall have the power
to condemn property of any kind, or interest therein, or franchise
connected therewith, in fee or as in easement within the corporate
limits of the Town for a public purpose. Any activity, project or
improvement authorized by the provisions of this Charter or any other
State law applicable to the Town shall be deemed to be public purpose.
The manner of procedure in case of any condemnation proceedings shall
be that established by the laws of Maryland.
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c.Â
Town Buildings
The Board of Commissioners shall have the power
to acquire, to obtain by lease or rent, to purchase, construct, operate
and maintain all buildings and structures it deems necessary for the
operation of the Town Government.
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d.Â
Protection of Town Property
The Board of Commissioners shall have the power
to do whatever may be necessary to protect Town property and to keep
all Town property in good condition.
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41.Â
Public Utilities. To construct or provide for the
construction and maintenance of public utilities if necessary, but
not limited to, water, sewer, gas and electrical services for the
citizens of Bel Air and to exercise those powers with regard to water
and sewer systems and services granted to the Town by laws of Maryland.
42.Â
Quarantine. To establish quarantine regulations to
the interests of the public health.
43.Â
Refuse and Recyclables Collection. To acquire, regulate
or provide for the collection, removal and disposal of refuse, garbage,
rubbish, filth, recyclable products or any other matter or thing that
is or may become injurious to the health or comfort of the inhabitants
of the Town. Whenever such requirements shall not be met, the Town
shall arrange for the necessary work to be done and any expenses incident
thereto shall become a lien upon the property.
44.Â
Regulations. To adopt by ordinance and enforce within
the corporate limits police, health, sanitary, fire, building, plumbing,
traffic, speed, parking, land use and other similar regulations not
in conflict with the laws of the State of Maryland or with this Charter.
45.Â
Revenue Bonds. The Board of Commissioners shall have
the power to issue and sell revenue bonds for any proper public purpose
prescribed by and pursuant to the Laws of Maryland whether now existing
or hereafter enacted in any manner prescribed by and pursuant to such
laws.
46.Â
Sidewalks: Powers. The Board of Commissioners shall
have the Power:
a.Â
To establish, regulate and change from time to time
the grade lines, width and construction materials of any sidewalk
or part thereof on Town property along any public way or part thereof.
b.Â
To grade, lay out, construct, reconstruct, pave, repave,
repair, extend or otherwise alter sidewalks on Town property along
any public way or part thereof.
c.Â
To require that the owners of any property abutting
on a sidewalk keep the sidewalk clear of all ice, snow and other obstructions.
d.Â
To require and order the owner of any property abutting
on any public way in the Town to perform any projects authorized by
this Section at the owner's expense according to reasonable plans
and specifications. If, after due notice, the owner fails to comply
with the order within a reasonable time, the Board of Commissioners
may cause the work to be done and the expense shall be a lien on the
property and shall be collectible in the same manner as are Town taxes
or by suit at law.
47.Â
Streets: Public Ways.
a.Â
Control of Public Ways
The Board of Commissioners shall have control
of all public ways in the Town including streets, avenues, roads,
highways, public thoroughfares, lanes and alleys, except such as may
be under the jurisdiction of the Maryland State Highway Administration.
Subject to the laws of the State of Maryland and this Charter, the
Town may do whatever it deems necessary to establish, operate and
maintain in good condition the public ways of the Town.
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b.Â
Public Ways: Powers
[Amended by Charter Res. No. 129-20, effective 11-10-2020]
The Board of Commissioners shall have the power:
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1.
|
To establish, regulate and change from time
to time the grade lines, width and construction materials of any Town
public way or part thereof, bridge curbs and gutters.
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2.
|
To grade, layout, construct, open, extend and
make new Town public ways.
| |
3.
|
To grade, straighten, widen, alter, improve
or close up any existing Town public way or part thereof.
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4.
|
To pave, surface, repave or resurface any Town
public way or part thereof.
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5.
|
To install, construct, reconstruct, repair and
maintain curbs or gutters along any Town public way or part thereof.
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6.
|
To construct, reconstruct, maintain and repair
bridges.
| |
7.
|
To name Town public ways.
| |
8.
|
To have surveys, plans, specifications and estimates
made for any of the above activities or projects or parts thereof.
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9.
|
To erect traffic control devices within the public right of
way to maintain the safe and efficient flow of motor vehicles, bicycles,
and pedestrians.
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c.Â
Public Ways: Damages, Benefits
Whenever the Board of Commissioners shall deem
it necessary that any street, alley, road or sidewalk within the limits
of the said Town shall be opened, widened, narrowed, straightened,
drained, paved, repaired, extended or closed, in whole or in part,
the full value of all private property required and taken for such
use, together with the damage to the remaining property of the respective
owners, shall be assessed by the Board of Commissioners, on a day
named in the ordinance authorizing said improvements, of which the
five (5) days' notice, either by personal service or registered letter;
the said Board of Commissioners, at the time it accesses the aforementioned
values and damages, shall also ascertain and determine what amount
of special benefits, if any, will accrue to the remaining property
of the owners of the land so taken adjacent to where said improvements
are to be made, but in no case shall said benefits exceed the value
of the land so taken; after determining the value of the land of the
respective property owners so taken and the special benefits, if any,
to accrue, as aforesaid, which decision as to the values and the amount
offered shall be recorded among the records of the Town of Bel Air
by the Clerk. If the owner or owners of any land so taken shall be
aggrieved by such action of the Board of Commissioners, such owner
or owners shall be entitled to an appeal at any time within ten (10)
days after the decision of the Board of Commissioners shall be recorded
as aforesaid, and a copy thereof served upon such property owner or
owners either by personal service or by registered letter; such appeal
shall be to the Circuit Court for Harford County.
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48.Â
Special Assessments.
a.Â
Power: Special Assessments
The Board of Commissioners shall have the power
to levy and collect taxes in the form of special assessments upon
property in a limited and determinable area for special benefits conferred
upon such property by the installation or construction, of water mains,
water storage or treatment facilities, sanitary and/or storm sewers,
bridges, curbs and gutters and by the construction and paving of public
ways and sidewalks or parts thereof, and to provide for the payment
of all or any part of the above projects out of the proceeds of such
special assessment. The cost of any project to be paid in whole or
in part by special assessments may include the direct cost thereof,
the cost of any land acquired for the project, the interest on bonds,
notes or other evidences of indebtedness issued in anticipation of
the collection of special assessments, a reasonable charge for the
services of the administrative staff of the Town, and any other item
of cost which may reasonably be attributed to the project.
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b.Â
Procedure
The procedure for special assessment, wherever
authorized in this Charter, shall be as follows:
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1.
|
The cost of the project being charged for shall
be assessed according to the front foot rule or apportionment or some
other equitable basis determined by the Board of Commissioners.
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2.
|
The amount assessed against any property for
any project or improvement shall not exceed the value of the benefits
accruing to the property therefrom, nor shall any special assessment
be levied which shall cause the total amount of special assessments
levied by the Town and outstanding against any property at any time,
exclusive of delinquent installments, to exceed twenty-five percent
(25%) of the assessed value of the property after giving effect to
the benefit accruing thereto from the project or improvement for which
assessed.
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3.
|
When desirable, the affected property may be
divided into different classes to be charged different rates, but,
except for this, any rate shall be uniform.
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4.
|
All special assessment charges shall be levied
by the Board of Commissioners by ordinance. Before levying any special
assessment charges, the Board of Commissioners shall hold a public
hearing. The Treasurer shall cause notice to be given stating the
nature and extent of the proposed project, the kind of materials to
be used, the estimated cost of the project, the portion of the cost
to be assessed, the number of installments in which the assessment
may be paid, the method to be used in apportioning the cost, and the
limits of the proposed area of assessment. The notice shall also state
the time and place at which all persons interested, or their agents
or attorneys, may appear before the Board of Commissioners and be
heard concerning the proposed project and special assessment. Such
notice shall be given by sending a copy thereof by mail to the owner
of record of each parcel of property proposed to be assessed and to
the person in whose name the property is assessed for taxation and
by publication of a copy of the notice at least once in a newspaper
of general circulation in the Town. The Treasurer shall present at
the hearing a certificate that shall be deemed proof of notice, but
failure of any owner to receive the mailed copy shall not invalidate
the proceedings. The date of hearing shall be set at least ten and
nor more than thirty (30) days after the Treasurer shall have completed
publication and service of notice as provided in this section. Following
the hearing, the Board of Commissioners, in their discretion, may
vote to proceed with the project and may levy the special assessment.
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5.
|
Any interested person feeling aggrieved by the
levying of any special assessment under the provisions of this section
shall have the right to appeal to the Circuit Court for Harford County
within ten (10) days after the levying of any assessment by the Board
of Commissioners.
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6.
|
Special assessments may be made payable in annual
or more frequent installments over such period of time, not to exceed
ten (10) years, and in such manner as the Board of Commissioners may
determine. The Board of Commissioners shall determine on what date
installments shall be due and payable. Interest may be charged on
installments at the rate to be determined by the Board of Commissioners.
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7.
|
All special assessment installments shall be
overdue six (6) months after the date on which they became due and
payable. All special assessments shall be liens on the property and
all overdue special assessments shall be collected in the same manner
as Town taxes or by suit at law.
| |
8.
|
All special assessments shall be billed and
collected by the Treasurer.
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49.Â
Sweepings. To regulate or prevent the throwing or
depositing of sweepings, dust, ashes, offal, garbage, paper, leaves,
grass, and handbills, dirty liquids or other unwholesome materials
into any public way or onto any public or private property in the
Town.
50.Â
Taxicabs. To license, tax and regulate public hackmen,
taxicab men, draymen, drivers, cabmen, porters and expressmen and
all other persons pursuing like occupations.
51.Â
Voting Machines. To purchase, lease, borrow, install
and maintain voting machines for use in Town elections.
52.Â
Zoning. To exercise the powers as to planning and
zoning, conferred upon municipal corporations generally in Article
66B of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended from time to time
subject, however, to the limitations and provisions of said Article.
53.Â
Saving Clause. The enumeration of powers in this Section
is not to be construed as limiting the powers of the Town to the several
subjects mentioned.
54.Â
Exercise of Powers. For the purpose of carrying out
the powers granted in this subtitle or elsewhere in this Charter,
the Board of Commissioners may pass all necessary ordinances. All
the powers of the Town shall be exercised in the manner prescribed
by this Charter, or if the manner be not prescribed by Charter, then
in such manner as may be prescribed by ordinance.