Act No. 261

Public Acts of 2013

Approved by the Governor

December 21, 2013

Filed with the Secretary of State

December 30, 2013

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 30, 2013

STATE OF MICHIGAN

97TH LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2013

Introduced by Reps. Pscholka, Rendon and Johnson

ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 4622

AN ACT to amend 1956 PA 40, entitled “An act to codify the laws relating to the laying out of drainage districts, the consolidation of drainage districts, the construction and maintenance of drains, sewers, pumping equipment, bridges, culverts, fords, and the structures and mechanical devices to properly purify the flow of drains; to provide for flood control projects; to provide for water management, water management districts, and subdistricts, and for flood control and drainage projects within drainage districts; to provide for the assessment and collection of taxes; to provide for the investment of funds; to provide for the deposit of funds for future maintenance of drains; to authorize public corporations to impose taxes for the payment of assessments in anticipation of which bonds are issued; to provide for the issuance of bonds by drainage districts and for the pledge of the full faith and credit of counties for payment of the bonds; to authorize counties to impose taxes when necessary to pay principal and interest on bonds for which full faith and credit is pledged; to validate certain acts and bonds; and to prescribe penalties,” by amending section 197 (MCL 280.197).

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 197. (1) Upon receipt of a petition filed under this chapter, the drain commissioner or the drainage board may retain the services of a licensed professional surveyor or engineer to make a survey of the drain and may review the drainage district boundaries, or a portion of the drain or drainage district, or if necessary, lay out a revised drainage district including the land benefited, or make profiles, plans, or estimates of the work and file all data concerning the revisions, profiles, plans, or estimates with the drain commissioner or the chairperson of the drainage board.

(2) If, after a survey of the drain or a review of the drainage district boundaries under subsection (1) or after an inspection under section 196, it appears that the boundaries of the drainage district should be revised, the drain commissioner for a county drain, or the drainage board for an intercounty drain, shall either convene the board of determination pursuant to subsection (3) or hold a day of review of district boundaries pursuant to subsection (4) and, after notice and review as provided in this section, revise the boundaries of the drainage district to include all lands benefited by the drain as recommended by a licensed professional surveyor or engineer.

(3) If the drain commissioner or drainage board determines that the boundaries of the drainage district should be revised prior to the hearing of necessity for a petition, the drain commissioner for a county drain, or the chairperson of the drainage board for an intercounty drain, may request that the board of determination revise the drainage district boundaries during the hearing of necessity as provided in section 72 or 122. If the board of determination by a majority vote of members finds that the addition or deletion of lands will more accurately define the boundaries of the land benefited by the drain and it would be just and equitable, they shall describe the revised drainage district boundaries in the order of necessity for the drain.

(4) If the drain commissioner or drainage board determines to hold a day of review of drainage district boundaries, the lands comprising the drainage district revised in accordance with this section shall be subject to review for not less than 1 day from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. The review shall be conducted at a location designated by the drain commissioner or drainage board. At the review, the drain commissioner or drainage board or its designee shall hear the proofs and allegations and shall carefully reconsider and review the description of land comprised within the drainage district. If the drain commissioner or drainage board finds that the addition or deletion of lands will more accurately define the boundaries of the land benefited by the drain and it would be just and equitable, the drain commissioner or drainage board shall issue an order describing and establishing the revised drainage district boundaries supported by substantial material and competent evidence.

(5) A notice for review of revised drainage district boundaries under subsection (4) shall specify the date, time, and place at which the review shall take place and provide a general description of the lands proposed to be added or deleted in whole or in part from the drainage district. This notice shall be sent by first-class mail at least 10 days before the date of the review to each city, village, and township in the revised district, and each person whose name appears on the last city or township tax assessment roll as owning lands within the revised drainage district, at the address shown on the roll. If an address does not appear on the roll, then notice need not be mailed to that person. The drain commissioner or drainage board shall make an affidavit of the mailing and shall recite in the affidavit that the persons to whom the notice was mailed constitute all of the persons whose names and addresses appear on the tax rolls as owning lands within the revised drainage district. The affidavit shall be conclusive proof that notice was mailed to each person to whom notice is required to be mailed by this section. Failure to receive a notice by mail is not a jurisdictional defect invalidating a drain proceeding or assessment, if notice was sent by first-class mail as provided in this section. The drain commissioner or chairperson of the drainage board shall also cause the notice to be published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or counties in which the drainage district is located at least 10 days before the review. All expense of notification shall be paid by the drainage district.

(6) The owner of any land in the drainage district, the state transportation department, or any city, village, township, district, or county having control of any highway in the drainage district, that is aggrieved by a determination to revise, or not to revise, drainage district boundaries as provided for in this section may, within 10 days after the order to revise the drainage district boundaries has been entered, institute an action in the circuit court for the county in which the real property is located for a determination of whether the decision to add or delete property to or from the drainage district is supported by substantial, material, and competent evidence.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Secretary of the Senate

Approved

Governor