An Act To Allow Road Associations To Determine Assessments According to Majority Vote Cast at a Duly Held Meeting
Sec. 1. 23 MRSA §3101, as amended by PL 2007, c. 162, §1, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:
§ 3101. Call of meetings; maintenance; repairs
Sec. 2. 23 MRSA §3102, as amended by PL 1999, c. 552, §2, is further amended to read:
§ 3102. Board's duties; neglect of owners to pay
The commissioner board chosen under section 3101, with respect to the public easement, private way or bridge, has the powers of a road commissioner. If any owner, on requirement of the commissioner board, neglects to furnish that owner's proportion of labor, materials or money, the same may be furnished by the other owners and recovered of the owner neglecting to pay in a civil action, together with costs of suit and reasonable attorney's fees. The commissioner's board's apportioning of the cost of repairs to the road undertaken pursuant to the provisions of section 3101 may not exceed 1% of an individual owner's property valuation in any calendar year.
Sec. 3. 23 MRSA §3103, as amended by PL 2005, c. 479, §1, is further amended to read:
§ 3103. Contracts for repair; assessments
The owners, at a meeting held under section 3101, may by a majority vote authorize a contract to be made for making repairs to and keeping maintaining the public easement, private way or bridge in repair by the year or for a lesser time and may raise money for that purpose and choose assessors to assess it on the owners in proportion to each owner's interest pursuant to section 3101, subsection 4. An owner's interest is based on the assessed valuation for property tax on the owner's parcel that is benefited by the private way or bridge. The assessors shall deliver their assessment with a warrant for its collection to the commissioner. The warrant must be in substance such as is prescribed for collection of town taxes. The commissioner board shall collect the same money as town taxes are collected, and be liable for neglect of duty as town collectors are for similar neglects.
Sec. 4. 23 MRSA §3104, as amended by PL 1997, c. 682, §2, is further amended to read:
§ 3104. Penalties and process
Money recovered under sections 3102 and 3103 is for the use of such the owners. In any process for its recovery, a description of the owners in general terms as owners of parcels of land benefited by the public easement, private way or bridge, clearly describing the public easement, private way or bridge, is sufficient. Such process is not abated by the death of any owner or by the transfer of any owner's interest.
summary
This bill amends the laws pertaining to road associations formed under the private ways laws by allowing them to make assessments using any method they choose that is endorsed by a majority vote at a duly held meeting. The bill establishes guidelines for notifying lot owners of any meeting scheduled to deal with maintenance and repair of the public easement, private way or bridge. The bill establishes a quorum that is necessary to hold a meeting and to vote on issues at the meeting. The bill establishes a board to run the meetings. The bill adds maintenance of a road to the laws pertaining to road repairs. The bill also adds public easements to the private ways laws.