§ 5-518 Collection of special assessments. 1. Any provision of law to
the contrary notwithstanding, all special or local assessments levied
against real property shall be collected as in this section provided.

2. Whenever an expenditure is made or a contract awarded for a purpose
for which bonds cannot be issued and the amount of a local or special
assessment, inclusive of interest to maturity of obligations, if any,
issued to finance such expenditure, is finally fixed, determined and
confirmed, such assessment may be paid without penalty at any time
within a period of thirty days, computed from the date of such
confirmation.

3. If an expenditure is made or a contract awarded for a purpose for
which bonds may be issued pursuant to the local finance law, the board
of trustees may provide for the payment of special assessments by any
one of the following methods:

a. The board of trustees may adopt the procedure described in
subdivision two of this section.

b. The board of trustees may determine that such assessments may be
paid in annual installments. In such case, it may give a period of
thirty days from date of confirmation in which assessments may be paid
in full without penalty. Upon the expiration of such period, obligations
shall be issued pursuant to the local finance law for the total unpaid
assessments. The amount of the unpaid assessment against each parcel of
land shall be divided into such annual installments as shall be
necessary to completely amortize the principal amount of such
obligations as they shall mature. There shall be added to the amount of
each installment a sum sufficient to meet a pro rata share of the annual
interest payable on such obligations. The board of trustees shall
annually levy the amount of the annual installment, unless same shall
have been prepaid as provided in paragraph c of this subdivision, with
interest as aforesaid, on a special assessment roll and such amount
shall be extended on such roll against the real property benefited. The
board of trustees may determine that such annual installment shall be
due at the same time as real property taxes, in which event the amount
of such installment shall be extended in a separate column in the annual
tax roll. In the latter case, the same penalties for non-payment shall
attach as in the case of non-payment of the village tax, as provided in
the real property tax law and there shall be no relevy of the unpaid
installment as prescribed in subdivision five of this section, but such
unpaid installment shall be collected as provided in said real property
tax law.

c. Whenever an unpaid assessment has been divided into annual
installments pursuant to paragraph b of this subdivision the board of
trustees may, at the time of making such division, or at any time
thereafter, provide that all future annual installments may be prepaid
together with a sum sufficient to meet all future pro rata shares of the
annual interest payable on such obligations and which would otherwise
have been added to such future installments had same not been prepaid.
All sums received from such prepayments shall be deposited and retained
in a separate account in a depositary designated in the manner provided
by section ten of the general municipal law to be applied only to the
payment of the obligations issued pursuant to paragraph b of this
subdivision. Notwithstanding the foregoing, such sums so received may be
invested in the manner permitted in section eleven of the general
municipal law.

4. If any assessment or annual installment thereof be not paid within
the prescribed thirty day period, penalties shall be computed from the
expiration date of such thirty day period at the rate of one-half of one
per centum per month or portion thereof until the assessment is paid or
discharged. All penalties collected shall be credited to the general
fund.

5. At least thirty days before the end of the fiscal year, the officer
or official charged with the collection of such special or local
assessments shall transmit to the board of trustees a statement of all
delinquent special or local assessments, showing the amounts thereof
with penalties computed to the first day of the month following the
month in which the fiscal year commences, and thereafter he shall not
collect or receive payment of any such special assessment in default.
The board of trustees shall include the amounts shown on such statement
in the annual tax levy and such amounts shall be extended on the annual
tax roll against the real properties concerned in a separate column.
Such special assessments shall thereafter be deemed for the purposes of
collection to be a part of the annual village tax and the assessment
shall be deemed to have been cancelled as of the date of the tax levy.

6. Whenever any special assessment or installment thereof shall be
extended on the village tax roll, whether pursuant to subdivision three
or subdivision five of this section, the special assessment account
shall be credited with the amount of the special assessment or
installment, less penalties. The amounts so extended, including
penalties, when collected, shall be paid into the general fund.