Local Improvements

Wyo. Stat. Ann. tit. 15, ch. 6

in effect

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-101 Definitions.

(a) As used in this chapter: (i) "Conventional gutters" means curb and gutter or combined sidewalk, curb and gutter; (ii) "Drains" or "drainage" means all surface sewers, drains, cross street valley gutters and all kinds of draining other than sanitary sewers or conventional gutters; (iii) "Engineer" means the city engineer, town engineer or any engineer employed by a city or town for local improvement work; (iv) "Improvement" means any lawful local improvement of any kind, which the governing body finds to be of special benefit to the property proposed to be assessed for the cost thereof; (v) "Streets" means streets, highways, alleys, roads and public ways.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-102 General grant of authority; nonapplicability of other provisions; restriction; nonexclusivity.

(a) Any city or town may provide for the making and maintenance of local improvements and levy and collect special assessments on the property specially benefited to pay all or part of the cost of the improvement. This chapter, without reference to other statutes, unless otherwise expressly provided, constitutes the full authority for the exercise of powers herein granted. No other law relating to any city or town, with regard to like matters, that provides for a petition or an election, requires an approval, or in any way impedes or restricts the doing of things authorized to be done by this chapter, shall be construed as applying to any proceedings or acts done pursuant to this chapter. No one other than the governing body of the municipality may fix, prescribe, modify, supervise or regulate the levy or collection of special assessments or taxes authorized by this chapter, except as expressly provided or necessarily implied, nor supervise or regulate the establishment or modification of grades and the acquisition of any improvement authorized. (b) It is intended that this chapter provide a separate but not exclusive method of accomplishing its objectives, and it shall not be construed as repealing, amending or changing any other law.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-103 General powers and duties.

The governing body of any city or town, when considered expedient, may order any improvement or improvements, and determine its character, kind and extent. If the improvement is to be paving, it shall designate the kinds of pavement to be used. It shall provide for the maintenance of an improvement for a specified period not to exceed five (5) years and include the cost of that maintenance in the assessment for making the improvements. It shall levy and collect an assessment upon all lots, parts of lots and parcels of land specially benefited by the improvement to defray all or any part of the cost and expense and determine what lots, parts of lots and parcels of land are specially benefited by the improvements and the amount each is benefited.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-104 Powers incidental to streets.

(a) The governing body of any city or town may: (i) Design, establish, vacate, widen, extend and open streets or parts thereof; (ii) Appropriate private property for the purpose; (iii) Establish or alter the grade of any street, within the corporate limits; and (iv) Determine and provide everything necessary and convenient to the exercise of this authority.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-105 Finality of actions; construction of provisions.

(a) The action and decision of the governing body on any matters passed upon by it in relation to any subject covered in this chapter is final and conclusive in the absence of fraud. (b) This chapter shall be liberally construed for the purpose of carrying out the objects for which it is intended.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-201 Generally; ordinance or resolution required.

(a) If any city or town makes local improvements or establishes or alters the grade of any street at the cost and expense, in whole or in part, of property specially benefited thereby, the proceedings shall be as provided in this chapter. (b) Any such improvement may be ordered only by ordinance or resolution of the governing body.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-202 Initiative resolution; contents; acceptable bids; notice to be published and mailed; caption.

(a) Any improvement may be initiated directly by the governing body by resolution declaring its intention to make improvements. The resolution shall specify with convenient certainty the streets or part thereof proposed to be improved, if the improvements are street improvements, the boundaries of the proposed assessment district, the character, kind and extent of the improvements and if paving is involved, the kinds of paving to be used. The resolution shall specify an estimate of the cost of the total improvement project and of each proposed assessment unit, if any, and also an estimate of the contract price of the total improvement project. The governing body shall not accept any bids or combination of bids which exceed by more than ten percent (10%) the estimates of the contract price, unless the legal owners of record of all property in the district waive this limitation. (b) If an improvement will result in a change in existing street elevations or grades, it is sufficient if the resolution of intention so states without a description, directly or by reference, of the extent or location of the change. (c) If any part of an improvement is to be paid out of the general fund or road fund of the city or town, or out of funds available to the city or town from any other source, the resolution shall so state. If the improvement is to be maintained by the contractor for a specified period, not to exceed five (5) years, the resolution shall contain a statement to that effect and that the charge for maintenance is to be included in the assessment for the improvement. (d) The resolution shall fix the time and place, when and where the governing body will meet to consider any remonstrances and objections to the proposed improvements, and the time within which remonstrances and objections must be filed with the city or town recorder. It shall direct the recorder to give a fifteen (15) day notice to all legal owners of record of the property liable to assessment for the proposed improvements by publishing the resolution in one (1) issue of some newspaper published in the city or town once a week or more often. If no newspaper is published within the city or town, notice may be published in any newspaper of general circulation in the county once a week or more often. In addition to the publication, a copy of the resolution of intention shall be mailed, postage prepaid, at least fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing, to each legal owner of record of the property within the proposed district. (e) The resolution when published and mailed as a notice shall have the following caption: "Notice to all persons liable to assessment for the improvement of (state names of streets or if improvement is not to be located in the streets, identify by general character and general location). The governing body of the city (city or town) on the .... day of .... passed the following resolution of intention." The resolution shall be set forth in full immediately after the caption of the notice.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-203 Protest petitions; requirements for abandonment; initiative petitions.

At any time within fifteen (15) days from the publication of the resolution of intention, the owners of property situated within the proposed assessment district may file with the city clerk their written objections to the proposed improvement. If protests against the making of the improvements are filed by the legal owners of record of more than one-half (1/2) of the area of the property subject to assessment therefor, within an assessment district, the proposed improvements within that district shall be abandoned. No protest will be considered unless filed within fifteen (15) days after the publication of resolution of intention. If any petition is filed signed by the owners of fifty percent (50%) of the property proposed in the petition to be assessed for any local improvement, the governing body shall proceed with the type of improvement set forth in the petition, following the same procedure as though initiated by resolution.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-204 Authority to act and assess; deletions or modifications.

(a) Upon passage and publication of the resolution of intention the governing body has jurisdiction and the right to pass any and all ordinances and resolutions, to do any and all acts necessary to prosecute the improvement to completion and to make and levy an assessment to pay for the improvement. (b) If no remonstrances are made and filed or if all remonstrances filed are overruled by the governing body, it shall delete or modify the improvements and delete any property to be assessed as it considers proper and shall cause the improvements to be begun and prosecuted with reasonable diligence until completed.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-205 Streets; improving intervening parts; objection thereto.

If the improvement proposed is to a street, either by grading or regrading, paving or repaving, macadamizing or remacadamizing, graveling or regraveling, constructing crosswalks, gutters, curbs or providing for surface drainage, and not more than two (2) blocks remain unimproved in the street between improvements either already made or proposed to be made, the governing body on its own motion may cause the intervening or unimproved part to be improved. The improvement of that part shall not be stayed, defeated or prevented by any remonstrance or other objection, unless the governing body considers the remonstrance or objection proper to stay or prevent the improvement.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-206 Ordinance ordering improvement; contents.

(a) Upon the hearing of the resolution of intention, if the governing body decides to proceed with the improvement, it shall pass an ordinance, which shall recite: (i) The passage of the resolution of intention; (ii) The date of the hearing; and (iii) Whether or not remonstrances were filed and if any were filed, the action of the governing body thereon. (b) The ordinance shall also: (i) Order the improvements; (ii) Describe the improvements proposed to be made; (iii) Direct the city engineer to prepare plans and specifications therefor; and (iv) Fix the boundaries of the assessment district, which shall include all property to be assessed for the improvements.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-301 General requirements; cooperation with federal government.

(a) Immediately upon the passage of the ordinance, the city engineer shall prepare and file with the city clerk, plans and specifications which shall show in detail the work to be done, the quantities of material to be handled and the estimated cost of the improvements. The governing body shall approve the plans and specifications by motion or resolution. (b) The improvements may be made under contracts, or as a part of a contract, publicly let by the state or any agency thereof, or by the city or town in the manner provided in this section and W.S. 15-6-302, or the city or town may make the improvements with its own equipment, labor and materials, without contract, or any combination of methods may be followed. If the improvements are to be made by municipal contracts, the city clerk shall call for bids by publishing a notice in at least one (1) issue of some newspaper published within the city or town or within the county in which the city or town is located and in such other papers as the governing body may provide in the ordinance. (c) The improvements may be made with the cooperation and assistance of the United States government or any agency or subdivision thereof, and the city or town may take advantage of any offer from any source to complete the improvements on a division of expense or responsibility.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-302 Call for bids; contents; procedure for awarding and executing contracts.

(a) The notice and call for bids as provided in W.S. 15-6-301 shall contain in substance the following: (i) The streets or parts thereof to be improved if the improvements are to be street improvements; (ii) The general kind of improvement proposed to be made and whether it is to be maintained by the contractor for a specified period, but in no event for more than five (5) years; (iii) The time within which bids will be received and the place where they shall be filed; (iv) That a certified or cashier's check or bid bond in the sum of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid must be filed with the bid, to be forfeited to the city or town as liquidated damages if the bidder is awarded the contract and fails to enter into a contract with the city or town within five (5) days from the date of his notification; (v) The successful bidder shall perform the work and furnish a bond guaranteeing the faithful performance of the work and a maintenance bond, if required by the governing body, which shall be furnished at the time of signing the contract. The guarantee and maintenance bond may be a single instrument. (b) The bids shall be opened by the governing body and the contract or contracts shall be awarded to the bidder or bidders who in its opinion are the lowest and best responsible bidders. The governing body may reject any and all bids. (c) Upon the letting of the contract or contracts to the successful bidders, the governing body, by motion or resolution, shall order the mayor or clerk, or some other officer of the city or town, to execute a written contract or contracts on behalf of the city or town with the successful bidders. The refusal of any official or officer of the city or town to execute the written contract or contracts does not affect the validity of the contract or contracts and the governing body may order some other city or town official or officer or one (1) of its members to execute the written agreement or agreements in place of the official or officer refusing to do so. (d) All bids and contracts for capital construction projects shall be in accord with the Wyoming contractor preference laws of title 16, chapter 6.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-401 How grades established or altered; cost.

If the notice provided for in W.S. 15-6-202, is in whole or in part to establish or alter a grade, the governing body, after the expiration of giving the notice as provided in W.S. 15-6-202, may establish it by ordinance or resolution. The cost of establishing or altering the grade of any streets, highway, avenue, road or alley may be paid out of the general funds of the city or town or may be specially assessed.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-402 Assessments; when levied; what to be included generally.

If the contract or contracts for any improvements have been awarded, or the city or town has determined to construct the improvements by the use of its own equipment, labor and materials, or any of them, or avail itself of any state or federal program contributing to the cost of the improvement, the city engineer, either immediately, or at the council's discretion upon the completion of the improvements, shall levy an assessment upon the property included in the district. The assessment shall include as a part of the cost the contract price, or the estimated costs of construction, together with the expense of engineering, inspection, advertising, levying and collecting assessments and all other charges which the city or town may have incurred or expects to incur in making and financing the improvements, or the portion of the costs designated by the governing body to be defrayed by special assessments.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-403 Assessments; included costs.

(a) If any authorized local improvement is ordered, there shall be included in the cost and expense thereof to be assessed against the property specially benefited and included in the district created to pay all or any part thereof, the cost of: (i) That portion of the improvement included within the limits of any street intersection space or spaces; (ii) Inspection, tests, materials or work and of all engineering and surveying necessary for the improvement done under the direction of the city or town engineer; (iii) Ascertaining the ownership of the lots or parcels of land included in the assessment district; (iv) Advertising, mailing and publishing all notices; and (v) All accounting and clerical labor, books and blanks expended or used by the city or town comptroller and the city or town treasurer in connection with the improvements.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-404 Assessments; property included in district; methods of computation; combining improvements; ordinances and resolutions.

(a) The assessment district shall include all the property benefited by the improvement or improvements as determined by the governing body, including municipal and other public property, except that of the United States government or any agency, instrumentality or corporation thereof in the absence of the consent of congress. If the improvement district includes unplatted or undivided land, the distance back from the improvement for computing assessments and fixing the assessment lien shall be the same as the distance back in the immediately adjoining platted area. (b) Assessments shall be computed by one (1) or more of the following methods: (i) Each one-half (1/2) block or fraction thereof within the district contiguous to each street, alley, avenue, boulevard or parkway in or along which the improvement or improvements are to be made shall be divided, irrespective of number and location of lots, into three (3) equal subdivisions parallel to the street, alley, avenue, boulevard or parkway to be improved. The subdivisions shall be numbered one (1), two (2) and three (3) respectively, beginning next to the street, alley, avenue, boulevard or parkway. The total assessment for each one-half (1/2) block or fraction thereof abutting on either side of each street, alley, avenue, boulevard or parkway to be improved, as fixed by the governing body, shall be apportioned as follows: (A) Subdivision number one (1), sixty percent (60%); (B) Subdivision number two (2), thirty percent (30%); (C) Subdivision number three (3), ten percent (10%). (ii) Each one-half (1/2) block contiguous to each street, alley, avenue, boulevard or parkway in or along which the improvement or improvements are to be made shall be assessed on an area basis, so that the assessment against each piece of property assessed shall be in the proportion that the square footage of that piece of property bears to the total square footage of the assessable property within the one-half (1/2) block; (iii) Each piece of property abutting on the street, alley, avenue, boulevard or parkway in or along which the improvement or improvements are to be made shall be assessed on a lineal foot basis so that the total assessment against each piece of a property shall be in the proportion that the abutting lineal footage of that piece of property bears to the total abutting lineal footage of the property to be assessed for the same improvement or improvements; (iv) Each piece of property which the governing body reasonably determines to be benefited by the proposed improvement, regardless of whether the improvement is located in and along a street, alley, avenue, boulevard or parkway, and regardless of whether the property lies within the one-half (1/2) block abutting the improvement, shall be assessed on an area basis, or lineal foot basis, or any other uniform basis so that property similarly benefited will be similarly assessed. Regardless of the method or methods of computation selected by the governing body, and notwithstanding the provisions made for computation to the center of the block or within the one-half (1/2) block, the assessment may be levied and the assessment lien thereby made to attach, upon all of a piece of benefited property so as to avoid the imposition of a lien upon a part of a subdivided lot or parcel under common ownership and use. In the case of any irregular-shaped or nonuniform block or lot, tract, parcel of land or other unit of property to be assessed, an appropriate adjustment may be made, so that the assessment there against is in proportion to the benefits derived. (c) More than one (1) improvement may be combined in a single local improvement district when the governing body determines that the combination is both efficient and economical. If the combination of improvements are separate and distinct by reason of substantial difference in their character or location, or otherwise, the estimated costs of each improvement shall be segregated for the levy of assessments and an equitable share of the incidental costs allocated to each improvement. In the absence of arbitrary or unreasonable abuse of discretion, its determination of the portion of the project constituting a separate improvement for purposes of segregation is conclusive. (d) Each city and town may adopt all ordinances and resolutions necessary to levy and collect the special assessment and providing for the manner of sale, redemption and conveyance of lands sold for nonpayment of special assessments.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-405 Assessments; roll; preparation and filing; hearing; notice; action by governing body; objections; amendments; certification.

(a) When an assessment roll for local improvements has been prepared, it shall be filed with the clerk of the city or town. The governing body shall then fix a date for hearing upon the roll before it and direct the clerk to give notice of the time and place of the hearing. Any person may object to the roll in writing and file the objections with the clerk on or before the date of the hearing. At the time and place fixed and at such other times to which the hearing may be continued, the governing body shall sit as a board of equalization to consider the roll. At the hearing or hearings, the governing body will consider the objections or any part thereof, and correct, revise, raise, lower, change or modify the roll or any part thereof, or set it aside and order that the roll assessments be made de novo, in a manner appearing just and equitable, and then proceed to confirm the roll by ordinance. The notice of the hearing shall be published at least twice, by two (2) weekly publications in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or town. However, at least fifteen (15) days must elapse between the date of the first publication and the date fixed for the hearing. (b) The notice shall also be given by the clerk, or his deputy by deposit of the notice, at least fifteen (15) days prior to the date fixed for hearing, in the United States mails, postage prepaid, as first class mail, addressed to the last known owner or owners of each tract being assessed at their last known addresses. In the absence of fraud the failure to mail any notice does not invalidate any assessment or any proceedings under this chapter. Any list of names or addresses pertaining to any district may be revised from time to time, but it need not be revised more frequently than at twelve (12) month intervals. Any mailing of notice prescribed by this chapter shall be verified by the affidavit or certificate of the person mailing the notice, and the verification shall be retained in the records of the city or town at least until all assessments and bonds pertaining thereto have been paid in full. (c) All objections to the roll shall state clearly the grounds of objections and unless made within the time and in the manner prescribed are conclusively presumed to have been waived. If any roll is amended so as to raise any assessments or to include omitted property, a new time and place for hearing and a new notice of hearing on the amended roll shall be fixed and given as in the case of an original hearing. However, if any property has been entered originally upon the roll and the assessment upon the property has not been raised, no objections thereto may be considered by the governing body or by any court on appeal, unless they were made in writing at or before the date fixed for the original hearing. When an assessment roll is confirmed, it shall be certified to by the city clerk and transmitted to the city treasurer for collection.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-406 Lien created; priority; filing.

(a) The charge on the respective lots, tracts, parcels of land and other property for the purpose of special assessments, to pay the cost and expense in whole or in part of any improvement authorized in this chapter, when assessed and the assessment roll is confirmed by the governing body, shall be a lien upon the property assessed from the time the assessment roll is placed in the hands of the officer authorized by law to collect the assessment. The lien shall be paramount and superior to any other lien or encumbrance created before or after, except a lien for assessments for general taxes. (b) In order to have a valid, enforceable lien under this section, a lien statement sworn to before a notarial officer, shall be filed by the claimant with the county clerk of the county in which the assessment district is located. The county clerk shall file the statement and index by date, name of claimant and property owner, and by legal description. The lien statement shall contain the following: (i) The name and address of the governing body seeking to enforce the lien; (ii) The name and address of the person against whose property the lien is filed; and (iii) The legal description of the property to which the lien attaches. (c) Special assessment rolls approved prior to July 1, 1989 and still in effect, shall be filed with the county clerk of the county in which the district is located.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-407 Assessments; review of decisions.

The decision of the governing body may be appealed to the district court by filing a written notice of appeal within fifteen (15) days from the date of the governing body's decision.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-408 Assessments; when proceedings conclusive; when sale enjoinable.

(a) When any assessment roll for local improvements has been confirmed by the governing body, the regularity, validity and correctness of the proceedings relating to the improvement and to the assessment, including the action of the governing body upon the assessment roll and its confirmation, is conclusive in all things upon all parties and cannot in any manner be contested or questioned in any proceedings by any person not filing written objections and not appealing the confirmation of the assessment roll in the manner provided. (b) No proceeding of any kind may be commenced or prosecuted to defeat or contest: (i) Any assessment specified in subsection (a) of this section; (ii) The sale of any property to pay the assessment; (iii) Any certificate of delinquency issued therefor; (iv) The foreclosure of any lien issued therefor, except injunction proceedings to prevent the sale of any real estate on the grounds that the property about to be sold does not appear upon the assessment roll; or (v) That the assessment has been paid.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-409 Assessments; when paid; interest; penalty; collection and enforcement of liens generally.

The city or town, in the ordinance confirming the assessment roll, shall prescribe the time within which the assessment or installments thereof shall be paid and shall provide for the payment and collection of interest thereon at a rate established by ordinance. Assessments or installments thereof, when delinquent, in addition to interest, shall bear a penalty of not more than five percent (5%) as prescribed by general ordinance. Interest and penalty shall be included in and made a part of the assessment lien. All local assessments becoming a lien upon any property in any city or town shall be collected by the treasurer, and all liens shall be enforced in the manner provided. In cities and towns other than cities of the first class, delinquent assessments or delinquent installments thereof shall be certified to the treasurer of the county in which the city or town is located, and he shall enter them upon the general tax rolls and collect them as other general taxes are collected. The county treasurer shall remit to the city treasurer on the tenth of each month all sums so collected.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-410 Assessments; sale of property for delinquency; generally.

(a) If an assessment or any installment thereof is delinquent, the city or town, by general ordinance, may provide for the sale of property described in the local assessment roll for: (i) The amount of the delinquent assessment or installment, together with penalty and interest accruing to date of sale; (ii) The costs of the sale; (iii) The execution and delivery by the treasurer of the city or town of certificates of sale to the purchaser; and (iv) The execution by the treasurer of an assessment deed to the person entitled. (b) The treasurer shall give notice of such sales by publishing a notice once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper published within the city or town, or if there is none, then in a newspaper of general circulation within the county. The notice shall contain a list of all property upon which assessments are delinquent with the amount of the assessments, interest, penalties and costs to date of sale, including the cost of advertising the sale, together with the names of the owners of the property, or the words "unknown owners," as they appear upon the assessment roll. The notice shall include, in addition to the legal description of the property, the street address for the property used by the United States postal service when available, or the street address used by the county or municipality if available. The notice shall specify the time and place of sale and that the property described will be sold to satisfy the assessments, interest, penalties and costs due upon it. All such sales shall be made between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. and shall take place at the front door of the building in which the governing body holds its sessions. The sale shall be continued from day to day, omitting Sundays and legal holidays, until all the property described in the assessment roll on which any assessment or installment is delinquent and unpaid is sold. All sales are public, and each lot, tract or parcel of land, or other property shall be sold separately in the order in which they appear upon the assessment roll. (c) All lots, tracts and parcels of land and other property sold for delinquent and unpaid local assessments shall be sold to the first person at the sale offering to pay the amount due on the lot, tract or parcel of land or other property. If there is no bidder for any lot, tract or parcel of land, or other property, for a sum sufficient to pay the delinquent and unpaid assessment thereon, or installment thereof, together with interest, penalty and costs, the treasurer shall strike it off to the city or town for the whole amount which he is required to collect by the sale. If any bidder to whom any property is stricken off at the sale does not pay the assessment, interest, penalty and costs before 10:00 a.m. of the day following the sale, the property must then be resold, or if the assessment sale is closed, the property is deemed to have been sold to the city or town, and a certificate of sale shall be issued to the city or town therefor. (d) Any city or town may enter into an agreement with any person to provide that the person, in case of a sale under this section of the lots, tracts or parcels specified in the agreement, shall bid an amount at least equal to the sum of the total unpaid assessment, including delinquencies, and penalty, interest and costs to date of sale for each of the lots, tracts or parcels specified in the agreement.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-411 Assessments; sale of property; statement returned.

Within fifteen (15) days after the completion of the sale of all property described in the assessment rolls and authorized to be sold, the treasurer shall return to the comptroller, or other officer by whom the warrant was issued for the sale, a statement indicating his action thereon and showing all the property he sold, to whom sold and the sums paid for each.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-412 Assessments; sale of property; certificates; private purchaser; contents; city or town; sale.

(a) After receiving the amount of the assessment, penalty, interest, costs and charges, the treasurer shall make out a certificate, dated on the day of sale, stating (when known) the name of the owner as given on the assessment roll, a description of the land or other property sold, the amount paid therefor, the name of the purchaser, that it was sold for the assessment, giving the names of the streets, or other brief designation of the improvement for which the assessment was made, and specifying that the purchaser is entitled to a deed two (2) years from the date of sale, unless the property is redeemed. The certificate shall be signed by the treasurer and delivered to the purchaser who shall record it in the county clerk's office in the county in which the lands or other property is situated within three (3) months from the date thereof. If not recorded within that time, the lien thereof shall be postponed to claims of subsequent purchasers and encumbrancers for value and in good faith who become purchasers and encumbrancers while it is unrecorded. (b) The city or town comptroller, if there is one, and if not then the city or town clerk, is the custodian of all certificates for property sold to the city or town. At any time within two (2) years from the date of a certificate and before redemption of the property, he shall sell and transfer any certificate to any person who presents to him the treasurer's receipt evidencing payment of the amount for which the property described was stricken off to the city, with interest subsequently accrued to the date of payment. The comptroller or clerk, if authorized by the governing body, may sell and transfer any certificate in like manner after the expiration of two (2) years from the date of the certificate.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-413 Assessments; fund created; use.

All monies collected by the treasurer upon any assessments under this chapter shall be kept as a separate fund to be known as "local improvement fund, district no. ....," or by any other appropriate designation approved by the governing body. The fund shall be used for the retirement of any obligation or debt created in the construction of the improvement.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-414 Assessments; liability of treasurer for error.

If the treasurer receives any monies for assessments, giving a receipt therefor, for any property and afterward returns it as unpaid, or receives any money after making the return, and the property is sold for assessment which has been so paid and receipted for by him, his clerk, assistant or deputy, he and his bond are liable to the holder of the certificate given to the purchaser at the sale for the amount of the face of the certificate and legal interest which shall be demanded within two (2) years from the date of sale and recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction. No city or town is liable to the holder of any certificate.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-415 Assessments; record of payment or redemption.

If the amount of any assessment, with interest, penalty, costs and charges accrued thereon is paid to the treasurer before the sale of any property, he shall mark it paid with the date of payment on the assessment roll. If any property sold for any assessments is redeemed, the treasurer shall enter it with the date of redemption on the roll. The records shall be made on the margin of the roll opposite the description of the property.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-416 Assessments; property held in trust; creation and discharge thereof.

If any property is bid in by or stricken off to any city or town under any proceeding of this chapter, the property shall be held in trust by the city or town for the fund of the improvement district for which the assessment was levied to the extent of the assessment or installment for which the property was sold, with penalty, accrued interest and interest on the installment to time of next call for bonds or warrants. The city or town, at any time after receiving a deed, may pay the fund the amount of the delinquent assessment for which the property was sold and all accrued interest and interest to the time of the next call for bonds or warrants issued against the assessment fund at the rate provided, and thereupon take and hold the property discharged of the trust.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-417 Assessments; property held in trust; sale thereof; procedure; notice.

(a) Any city or town, at any time after the period of redemption has expired and deeds have been issued to the city or town by virtue of any proceedings under this chapter, may sell any such property at public auction to the highest bidder for cash. No bid may be accepted for any amount less than the amount set forth in the deed, plus accrued interest to date of sale, computed on the assessment for which the property was sold from the date of the execution of the deed, and all delinquent assessments and taxes against the property with accrued interest, penalties, costs and other charges. The city or town shall pay into the fund for which the property was held in trust an amount necessary to fully cancel the assessment for which the property was sold, together with all interest thereon. (b) Any such sale shall be conducted only after notice describing the property has been given and stating that the city treasurer, on the day specified, will sell the property at the front door of the building in which the governing body holds its sessions, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., and continue the sale from day to day, or withdraw the property from sale after the first day if he deems that the interests of the city or town so require. The notice shall be published at least five (5) times in a daily newspaper published within the city or town, or if there is none, then at least twice in any newspaper of general circulation in the county. At least fifteen (15) days shall elapse between the date of the last publication of the notice and the day the property is sold.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-418 Assessments; redemption of sold property; procedure; notice; deed; results therefrom.

(a) Any property sold for an assessment is subject to redemption by the former owner, or his grantee, mortgagee, heir or other representative at any time within two (2) years from the date of the sale, upon the payment to the treasurer for the purchaser of the amount for which the property was sold, with interest at the rate of twelve percent (12%) per year, together with all taxes and special assessments, interest, penalties, costs and other charges thereon paid by the purchaser at or since the sale, with like interest thereon. Unless written notice of taxes and assessments subsequently paid, and the amount thereof, is deposited with the city or town treasurer, property may be redeemed without their inclusion. On any redemption, the treasurer shall give to the redemptioner a certificate of redemption and pay over the amount received to the purchaser of the certificate of sale or his assigns. If property is not redeemed within the period of two (2) years, the treasurer, on demand of the purchaser or his assigns and the surrender to him of the certificate of sale, shall execute a deed for the property to the purchaser or his assigns. No deed may be executed until the holder of the certificate of sale has notified the owners of the property that he holds the certificate and that he will demand a deed therefor. The notice shall be given by personal service upon the owners. If the owners are nonresidents of the state or cannot be found within the state after diligent search, the notice may be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation within the city or town once a week for three (3) successive weeks. The notice and return thereof, with the affidavit of the person, or in case of a city or town, of the comptroller or clerk, claiming a deed, showing that service was made, shall be filed with the treasurer. If property is not redeemed within sixty (60) days after the date of service, or the date of the first publication of the notice, the holder of the certificate of sale is entitled to a deed. The deed shall be executed only for the property described in the certificate, and after payment of all delinquent taxes and special assessments, or installments and certificates of delinquency or other certificates issued for special or local assessments, whether levied, assessed or issued before or after the issuance of the certificates of sale. Any deed may be issued to any city or town for the face amount of the certificate of sale, plus accrued interest, costs, penalties and charges, and be held by the city or town subject to the liens of general taxes and special assessments. (b) The deed shall be: (i) Executed in the name of the city or town by which the improvement was made and shall recite in substance: (A) The matters contained in the certificate of sale; (B) The notice to the owner; and (C) That no redemption has been made of the property within the time allowed by law. (c) The deed shall be signed and acknowledged by the city or town treasurer and is prima facie evidence that: (i) The property was assessed according to law; (ii) The property was not redeemed; (iii) Due notice of demand for deed had been given; and (iv) The person executing the deed was the proper officer. (d) The deed is conclusive evidence of the regularity of all other proceedings from the assessment, up to and including the execution of the deed, and shall convey the entire fee simple title to the property described, except as otherwise provided for cities and towns, stripped of all liens and claims except assessments for local improvements or installments thereof not delinquent.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-419 Assessments; foreclosure action for delinquency.

Any city or town may proceed with the collection or enforcement of any delinquent assessment or delinquent installment in an action brought in its own name in the district court in the county in which the city or town is located. It is not necessary to bring a separate suit for each piece or parcel of property delinquent, but all or any part of the property delinquent under any single assessment roll or assessment district may be proceeded against in the same action. Any of the owners or persons interested in any of the property may be joined as parties defendant in the action to foreclose, and any liens for delinquent assessments or installments may be foreclosed in the proceeding. The proceeding shall be tried before the court without a jury. In any such proceeding, it is sufficient to allege the passage of the ordinance providing for the improvement, the making of the improvement, the levying of the improvement assessment, the confirmation thereof, the date of delinquency of the assessment or installment and that the assessment was not paid prior to the delinquency or at all. The assessment roll and confirmatory order or authenticated copies are prima facie evidence of the regularity and legality of the proceedings connected therewith, and the burden of proof is upon the defendants. In any action where the owners or parties interested in any particular lot, tract or parcel of land or other property included in the suit suffer a default, the court may enter judgment of foreclosure and sale as to those parties and property and order execution thereon, and the action may proceed as to the remaining defendants and property. The judgment of the court shall specify separately the amount of the assessment or installment, with interest, penalty and costs, chargeable to the several lots, tracts and parcels of land and other property in the proceedings. The judgment has the effect of a separate judgment, and any appeal shall not invalidate or delay it except as to the property which is the subject of the appeal. In entering judgment the court shall decree that such lots, tracts or parcels of land or other property be sold to enforce the judgment and execution shall issue for the enforcement of the decree. Judgment may be entered as to any one (1) or more lots, tracts or parcels of land or other property involved, and the court may retain jurisdiction of the case as to the balance. All proceedings supplemental to judgment, including appeal, order of sale, period of redemption, sale and the issuance of deed shall be conducted in accordance with the law relating to property sold upon foreclosure of real estate mortgages.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-420 Assessments; enforcement of installment liens.

If the assessment upon property is payable in installments, the enforcement of the lien of any installment by any method authorized in this chapter does not prevent the enforcement of the lien of any subsequent installment when it becomes delinquent. Any city or town may provide by ordinance that upon failure to pay any installment when due, the entire assessment is due and payable and the collection enforced in the manner prescribed.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-421 Assessments; certificates of delinquency; issuance, sale; evidence therefrom; restriction.

(a) Any city or town, by ordinance, may provide for the issuance of certificates of delinquency for any delinquent assessment or installment and any penalty and interest thereon to date of issuance. The certificates of delinquency constitute a lien against the property upon which assessments were levied. They shall bear interest from the date of issuance at the rate of twelve percent (12%) per year and may be foreclosed after two (2) years from the date of their issuance in the same manner and with the same effect as mortgages upon real estate are foreclosed. (b) The certificates may be: (i) Issued to the city or town; (ii) Sold to any person applying for them; (iii) Assigned in writing, and the city or town may sell and assign any certificates issued to it upon the payment, in cash of the principal and accrued interest. (c) A certificate is prima facie evidence that: (i) The land against which it was issued was subject to the assessment at the time assessed; (ii) The property was assessed as required by law; and (iii) The assessment or installment was not paid prior to the issuance of the certificate. (d) No certificate of delinquency may be issued upon any property for any assessment or installment during the pendency of any proceedings in court affecting the assessment or installment thereof.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-422 Assessments; omitted property; when assessed; resolution; notice and hearing; results therefrom.

(a) If for any reason property otherwise subject to assessment has been omitted from the assessment roll, the governing body, upon its own motion or upon the application of the owner of any property within the assessment district, may assess it according to the special benefits accruing to the omitted property because of the improvement and in proportion to the assessments levied upon other property within the district. (b) In any such case, the governing body shall first pass a resolution: (i) Setting forth that certain described property was omitted from the assessment; (ii) Notifying all persons who may desire to object to appear at a meeting of the governing body at a time specified in the resolution; and (iii) Directing the proper board, officer or authority to report at or prior to the hearing the amount which should be borne by each lot, tract or parcel of land or other property omitted. (c) The resolution shall be mailed and published in the manner provided for the giving of notice in W.S. 15-6-202. (d) After the hearing, the governing body shall consider the matter as though the property had been included upon the original roll and may confirm all or any portion thereof by ordinance. The roll of omitted property shall then be certified to the treasurer for collection in the same manner as other assessments.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-423 Assessments; fees.

The city or town treasurer shall charge fifty cents ($.50) for the issuance of each certificate of sale and each certificate of delinquency and one dollar ($1.00) for each deed.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-424 Assessments; purchaser's lien; interest.

The purchaser at any sale authorized in this chapter acquires a lien on the property bid in by him for the amount paid plus all taxes and delinquent assessments, or delinquency and all interest, penalties, costs and charges he paid thereon whether levied before or after the sale for state, county, city or town purposes. The purchaser is entitled to interest at the rate of twelve percent (12%) per year on the original amount he paid from the date of the sale and upon subsequent payments from the date of payment of the respective amounts.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-425 Assessments; general tax certificates subject thereto; foreclosure; interest.

(a) The holder of any certificate of sale or delinquency for general taxes, before commencing any action to foreclose the lien, shall: (i) Pay in full all local assessments or installments outstanding against the whole or any portion of the property included in the certificate; or (ii) Proceed to acquire title to the property subject to certain or all local assessment liens thereon, in which case the complaint, decree of foreclosure, order of sale, sale, certificate of sale and deed shall so state. (b) If the holder pays the local assessments, he is entitled to twelve percent (12%) interest per year on that amount from the date of payment. (c) In any action to foreclose a lien for general taxes upon any property, a copy of the complaint shall be served on the treasurer of the city or town in which the property is located within five (5) days after it is filed. If any property is struck off to or bid in by the county at any sale for general taxes, and the property is subsequently sold by the county, the proceeds of the sale shall first be applied to discharge in full the lien or liens for general taxes for which the property was sold. The remaining proceeds, or the amount necessary, shall be paid to the city or town to discharge all local assessment liens upon the property. Any surplus shall be distributed among the proper county funds.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-426 Assessments; limitation of actions.

An action to collect any special assessment or installment for local improvements of any kind, or to enforce the lien of any such assessment or installment, whether brought by a city or town or by the holder of any certificate of delinquency, or by any other person having the right to bring the action, shall be commenced within ten (10) years after the assessment becomes delinquent, or within ten (10) years after the last installment becomes delinquent.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-427 Reassessments; when authorized or required; property included.

(a) If any special assessment for local improvements is invalid in whole or in part for any reason, the governing body may reassess the assessments and enforce their collection in accordance with the provisions of law and ordinance existing at the time the reassessment is made. If for any reason the amount assessed is insufficient to pay the cost and expense of the improvement made and enjoyed by the owners of property in the assessment district, the governing body shall reassess all property in the assessment district to pay for the improvement. The assessment shall be made according to the provisions of law and ordinance existing at the time of its levy. Any city or town may assess or reassess all property which the governing body finds to be specially benefited to pay the whole or any portion of the cost and expense of any local improvement whether or not the property so assessed or reassessed abuts upon, is adjacent to, or proximate to the improvement, or was included in the original assessment district. The right to assess all property found to be specially benefited also applies to any supplemental assessment or reassessment which the city or town finds necessary to provide for any deficiency in any local improvement district fund caused by the invalidity of any portion of the original assessment in the improvement district, or if for any cause the amount originally assessed is insufficient to pay the cost of the improvement. (b) If any assessment or reassessment for any local improvement is declared void and its enforcement refused by any court, or for any cause is set aside, annulled or declared void by any court, either directly or by virtue of any decision of the court, the governing body shall assess or reassess the property which has been or will be benefited by the local improvement, based upon its actual cost at the time of its completion.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-428 Reassessments; ordinance; roll; effect of contracts or irregularities; limitation; payment.

(a) The governing body of any city or town shall proceed with any assessment authorized by W.S. 15-6-427 by ordinance so ordering and directing the preparation of an assessment roll. The roll may include any property specially benefited by the improvement, whether or not it was included in the original assessment district. When assessed the additional property becomes a part of the local improvement district, and all payments of assessments shall be paid into the local improvement fund to pay for the improvement. (b) The fact that the contract has been let or that the improvement has been made and computed in whole or in part does not prevent the making of the assessment. The omission, failure or neglect of an officer to comply with the provisions of law or ordinance of the city or town, as to any matter connected with the improvement and the first assessment thereof does not invalidate or in any other way affect the making of any assessment authorized by W.S. 15-6-427. However, the assessment shall not exceed the actual cost and expense of the improvement, together with the accrued interest thereon, and the cost of the reassessment. It is the intent of this chapter to make the cost and expense of local improvements payable by the property specially benefited thereby, notwithstanding that the proceedings of the governing body, board of public works or other board, officers or authority of the city or town may be found irregular or defective, whether jurisdictional or otherwise. When the assessment is completed, all sums paid on the former attempted assessment shall be credited to the property for which they were paid. (c) If any property within the original local improvement district is not affected by any assessment authorized by W.S. 15-6-427, it need not be entered upon the assessment roll. (d) After certification of the roll to the treasurer of the city or town for collection, the same time for payment of assessments, without the imposition of any penalties or interest, and the notice that the assessments are in the hands of the treasurer for collection, shall be given as in the case of an original assessment. After delinquency the penalty and interest shall be charged as on original assessment. If the original assessment was payable in installments, the new assessment, after delinquency, may be divided into equal installments and made payable as the governing body may prescribe in the ordinance ordering the new assessment.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-429 Reassessments; assessment provisions applicable.

The provisions of original assessments relating to the filing of assessment rolls, the time, place, notice and conduct of hearing, the confirmation of the roll, the time when assessments become a lien upon the property assessed, the proceedings on appeal from any assessment, the method of collecting assessments and all proceedings for enforcing the lien shall be conducted in the same manner for assessment authorized by W.S. 15-6-427.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-430 Reassessments or supplemental assessments; time limitations; use of fund.

(a) No city or town shall proceed with any reassessment or supplemental assessment unless the ordinance ordering it is passed by the governing body within: (i) Three (3) years from the time the original assessment for the improvement was held to be invalid, insufficient or for any cause set aside, in whole or in part, or held void or its enforcement denied directly or indirectly by the courts; or (ii) In the case of supplemental assessments within three (3) years from the time it was determined that the total amount of the valid assessments levied and assessed on account of any improvement was insufficient to pay the whole or that portion of the cost and expense to be paid by special assessment. (b) If the amount collected by assessment is insufficient to pay the cost of the improvement, the governing body may authorize the payment of the deficit out of the permanent improvement fund.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-431 Bonds; authorization; general requirements; signatures; limitation on amount.

(a) The governing body of any city or town may provide by ordinance for the issuance of bonds for the payment of the whole or any portion of the cost and expense of any local improvements as provided in this chapter. (b) The bonds authorized in subsection (a) of this section: (i) May be issued to the contractor, or be issued and sold as otherwise provided; (ii) Shall be issued only pursuant to ordinance; (iii) By their terms shall be made payable on or before a date not more than fifteen (15) years from the date of issuance; (iv) Shall bear interest as provided in the ordinance payable annually or semiannually at a rate not to exceed twelve percent (12%); (v) Shall be in the denominations provided in the ordinance and be numbered in each series consecutively from one (1) upwards; (vi) May be refunded under W.S. 16-5-101 through 16-5-119; (vii) May be payable in any place within or without the state including the office of the state treasurer. (c) Each bond shall: (i) Have interest coupons attached for each payment; (ii) Have the seal of the city or town affixed to it and refer to the improvement for which issued and the ordinance ordering its issuance; (iii) Provide that the principal and interest is payable out of the local improvement fund created for the payment of the cost and expense of the improvement and not otherwise. (d) Each bond and coupon shall be signed by the mayor, countersigned by the treasurer and attested by the clerk or comptroller. Printed facsimile signatures of those officers may be used on the coupons. (e) No bonds may be issued in any amount in excess of the cost and expense of the improvement.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-432 Bonds; cost assessment; payments; interest.

If any city or town issues bonds to pay the cost and expense of any local improvement, the cost and expense shall be assessed against the lots, tracts and parcels of land and other property liable. The ordinance levying the assessment shall provide that the sum charged against each may be paid during the thirty (30) day period as provided in W.S. 15-6-439, unless the legal owners of record of all property assessed in the district waive that thirty (30) day period. The ordinance levying the assessment shall specify whether the sum remaining unpaid is payable in equal annual or semiannual installments for a period of years equal to that which the bonds issued to pay for the improvement run, with interest upon the whole unpaid sum at a rate fixed by ordinance, or in equal level annual or semiannual installments of principal and interest thereon at a rate fixed by ordinance for a period of years equal to that period for which the bonds to pay for the improvements were issued.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-433 Bonds; action for nonpayment.

If the city or town fails, neglects or refuses to pay the bonds or to promptly collect any assessment when due, the owner of any bonds may proceed in his own name to collect the assessments and foreclose the lien in any court of competent jurisdiction. The bondholder shall recover five percent (5%) in addition to the amount and interest thereon, together with the cost of the suit. Any number of holders of the bonds for any single improvement may join as plaintiffs, and any number of owners of property encumbered by the lien may be joined as defendants in the suit.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-434 Bonds; remedy for nonpayment.

No holder or owner of any bond issued under this chapter has any claim against the city or town, except from the special assessment made for the improvement for which the bond was issued, or from the local improvement fund of the city or town. His remedy in case of nonpayment is limited to the enforcement of the assessments, or for payment out of the local improvement fund. A copy of this section shall be plainly written, printed or engraved on each bond issued.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-435 Bonds; payment of principal and interest; redemption call.

The city or town treasurer shall pay the principal and interest on bonds issued out of the respective local improvement funds from which they are payable. If there is sufficient money in any local improvement fund over the amount required for the payment of maturing principal and interest to pay the principal of one (1) or more bonds, which are subject to redemption on the next interest payment date, the treasurer shall call in and pay those bonds in numerical order. Notice of the call shall be made by publication in a newspaper of general circulation within the city or town, or by mail to the holder, if known, not less than fifteen (15) days prior to the date of call and shall state that bonds no. .... (giving the serial number or numbers of the bonds called) will be paid on the call day, and interest on those bonds shall cease upon that date.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-436 Bonds; indebtedness.

The indebtedness created by the issuance of any warrants or bonds provided in this chapter is not within the limitation of indebtedness of any city or town.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-437 Bonds; revolving fund authorized; source of monies; limitation.

If the governing body determines that improvements constructed in any local improvement district confer general benefits on the city or town, it may create concurrently a fund to be known as the revolving local improvement fund. In payment for those benefits and to meet the financial requirements of the revolving fund, the city or town shall advance annually to the credit of the fund from the proceeds of city or state gasoline or state cigarette license taxes collected or received by it, a sum of not less than two percent (2%) of the total amount of the bonds issued for the local improvement district for a period of ten (10) years or for the length of time necessary to pay all bonds issued, whichever is the shorter. The fund shall not exceed twenty percent (20%) of the outstanding bond obligations of the district.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-438 Bonds; transfer to and between funds.

The city or town shall withdraw annually from the revolving fund and deposit in the local improvement district fund sufficient money to meet the difference between the principal amount of assessments due that year and the amount of assessments actually collected that year. Delinquent assessments shall remain liens upon the property assessed, and if they are enforced or foreclosed, the proceeds of the sales or other payments discharging the delinquencies shall revert to the revolving fund in repayment of the amounts advanced. If there is money in the local improvement fund which is not required for the payment of any bond or interest of the local improvement fund, and after all bonds and interest have been fully paid, the money remaining in the local improvement fund, by order of the governing body, shall be transferred to the revolving fund for disposition as the governing body may determine.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-439 Payment of assessments; redemption from liability; notice; bonds; use of sums.

The owner of any lot, tract or parcel of land or other property charged with any assessments may redeem it from all or any portion of the liability for the contract price of the improvement by paying the entire assessment or any portion thereof charged against the lot or parcel of land, without interest, within thirty (30) days after notice to him of the assessment unless the legal owners of record of all of the property assessed in the district have waived this thirty (30) day period. Unless the legal owners of record of all property assessed in the district waive the thirty (30) day cash payment period, the city or town treasurer, as soon as the assessment roll has been placed in his hands for collection, shall publish the notice in a newspaper of general circulation within the city or town. The notice shall be published once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks and shall specify that the roll is in his hands for collection and that any assessment thereon or any portion of any assessment may be paid at any time within thirty (30) days from the date of the first publication of the notice without penalty, interest or costs. Bonds may be issued prior to the expiration of the thirty (30) day period but only if the legal owners of all of the property assessed in the district have waived the thirty (30) day cash payment period, and bonds may be issued at any time after the expiration of the thirty (30) day period. The governing body may provide that the owner of any lot or parcel of land may redeem it from all liability for the unpaid amount of the assessment at any time after the thirty (30) days, if applicable, by paying all the installments of the assessment remaining unpaid, with interest thereon to the date of the maturity of the installment next falling due. If any sum is paid as provided in this section, it shall be paid to the city treasurer, or to the officer whose duty it is to collect the assessments, and all sums so paid shall be applied solely to the payment of the cost and expense of the improvements or to the redemption of the bonds issued.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-440 Payment of assessments; installment collection.

Unless the assessment against any parcel is paid within thirty (30) days after the notice, or the thirty (30) day period has been waived by the legal owners of record of all of the property assessed in the district, the assessment shall be collected in installments as provided in W.S. 15-6-409 and 15-6-432. Each installment is delinquent unless paid when due.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-441 Assessments and contracts; when valid and enforceable.

(a) If the governing body has made any contract for any local improvement or makes any assessment against property within any local improvement district and has in making the contract or assessment acted in good faith and without fraud, the contract and assessment is valid and enforceable, and the assessment is a lien upon the property involved. (b) No objection to the validity of the contract or assessment may be made on the ground that: (i) The contract for the improvement was not awarded in the manner or at the time required by law; (ii) The assessment was made by an unauthorized officer or person, if it has been confirmed by the governing body; (iii) The contract or assessment is based upon a front foot basis or upon a basis of benefits to the property within the district, unless it appears that the city or town authorities acted fraudulently or oppressively in making the assessment. (c) All assessments made by the city or town authorities in good faith are valid, in full force and effect and collectible in the manner provided by law for the collection of assessments.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-442 Right of paying joint owner to contribution; lien created.

If any local assessment or installment thereof is paid, or any certificate of sale redeemed, or any judgment paid by any joint owner of any property assessed for any local improvement, the joint owner, after demand and refusal, by an action brought in the district court, may recover from each of his coowners the amounts of the payment which each coowner should bear, with interest thereon at ten percent (10%) per year from the date of the payments, and the costs of the action. The joint owner making payment has a lien upon the undivided interest of his coowners in the property from date of payment.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-443 When paid assessment recoverable.

If any person through error or inadvertence pays any local assessment, or installment thereof, upon the lands of another, the payor, after demand and refusal, by an action in the district court, may recover from the owner of the lands the amount paid and costs of the action.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-444 Correction of mistakes; payment of contractor.

(a) The governing body, by any subsequent proceedings, shall correct any mistakes, errors or irregularities in any of the proceedings mentioned in this chapter. (b) After any local improvements have been commenced, the city or town engineer shall prepare an estimate of the work done each month. The governing body shall order the recorder to draw a negotiable warrant in favor of the contractor upon the special assessment fund for an amount equal to ninety percent (90%) of the monthly estimate. The remaining ten percent (10%) shall be paid to the contractor upon completion and acceptance of the work. The warrants, payable only out of the special assessment fund, shall bear interest at the rate allowed on public warrants pursuant to W.S. 9-4-106.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-445 Governing body; hearing continuance; jurisdiction retained.

(a) The governing body may continue the hearing upon any petition, resolution or remonstrance provided for in this chapter and shall retain jurisdiction until it is fully disposed of. (b) The governing body does not lose jurisdiction over the making of any improvements, the making of any assessment or the issuance of any bonds or any other matter provided for in this chapter by reason of any adjournment, delay, error or irregularity on the part of any member or any city or town officer.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-446 Extra work; performance; cost; payment.

Extra work in connection with any local improvements not particularly provided for in the plans, specifications, estimates, bids and contracts shall be performed by the contractor at the direction of the city engineer at a cost of labor and materials plus fifteen percent (15%) for superintendence. The amount shall be included in the assessment for the improvement or be paid out of the general or road funds of the city or town in the discretion of the governing body.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-447 Property description; proportional payment; notice to purchasers.

It is sufficient in any case to describe the lot or piece of ground as it is platted or recorded, or described in any official record, although it belongs to several persons. The owner of any part may pay his proportion of the tax as determined by the city treasurer. Any purchaser, assignee or transferee of any property subject to assessment in any improvement district, after the publication of the notice of intention to create the improvement district, is held to notice thereof and of all proceedings with reference thereto the same as owners of the property at the time of the notice or proceedings.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-448 Work on railways and streets along railways.

(a) All railway and street railway companies shall make or reconstruct all or those portions of all paving, graveling or macadamizing between the rails of their tracks and one (1) foot outside thereof at their own expense as the city or town may require. The improvement or the reconstruction shall be of the material and character ordered by the city or town and shall be done at the same time that the rest of the improvement is made or reconstructed. No work on the improvement along the railway or street railway may be permitted to delay or interfere with the work of the general improvement of the street, and no use may be made of that portion of the railway or street railway, without the written permission of the city engineer, during the progress of the work or until the improvement is safe for use and open for traffic by the city engineer. (b) When the improvement is being constructed or reconstructed the companies shall lay, in the best approved manner, such rails as the governing body may require. The companies shall keep and maintain the paving, graveling and macadamizing between their rails and one (1) foot outside thereof and the rails up to the surface grade of the improved street, according to the plans and survey of the city therefor and all in good repair, using the same material as is used for the original improvement or such other material as the governing body may order. When the improvement of any street is being constructed or reconstructed the companies shall raise or lower their tracks and rails to conform to the grade established by the city or town for the improvement. If any railway or street railway company fails or refuses to comply with an order, resolution or ordinance of the governing body to make, reconstruct, maintain or repair an improvement, the work may be done by the city and the cost and expense thereof shall be assessed against the company and upon its real estate and personal property within the corporate limits of the city or town and the franchise granted to the company in the manner provided for the assessment of the cost against other property. The assessment may be collected in the manner provided for other assessments or in a direct proceeding in the district court. If the cost of any part of the improvement of any street is charged against any railway or street railway company or its property, plans and specifications for that part of the improvement shall be included in the plans and specifications filed by the city engineer for the improvement of the other portions of the street. The bids therefor shall be called for by the city or town in connection with the bids for the remainder of the improvement and received showing the cost per square yard separately from the cost per square yard of the other portions of the improvement. If done by the city or town, the cost shall be determined separately from the cost of the other portions of the improvement. At any time after the advertisement for bids for graveling, macadamizing or paving of any street or streets occupied by any railway or street railway, they shall file with the governing body a statement indicating whether they refuse to construct or reconstruct the improvement or whether they desire the city or town to do the improving and charge the cost against the company. The instrument shall be filed not more than three (3) days after the opening of the bids for the work, and if the instrument is not filed within that time, it is deemed a refusal to do the improving themselves and a request for the city or town to construct it and assess the cost to the company. Special improvement warrants or bonds may be issued for the construction or reconstruction or maintenance of an improvement, the cost of which is assessed to the company. (c) If any tracks or rails of any railway or street railway are laid or relaid upon any street or streets improved by paving, graveling or macadamizing, the company shall do the work under the supervision of the city engineer and in such a manner as to injure the improvement as little as possible and shall reconstruct those portions removed or injured by them so that the street is left in as good a condition as it was prior to commencing the laying or relaying of tracks or rails. (d) Railway or street railway companies as used in this section include the owner or owners of any railway or street railway whether persons or corporations.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-501 Contracts for construction.

Any first class city or any town having a population of four thousand (4,000) or more may provide by ordinance for letting to the lowest responsible bidder for any period not exceeding one (1) year, as prescribed by the ordinance, a contract for the construction, in accordance with specifications prepared by the city engineer and approved by the governing body, of all cement or concrete sidewalks which the governing body may order constructed during the term of the contract. The proposed ordinance shall be published at least two (2) times in a newspaper of general circulation within the city or town, and written notice thereof shall be served in the manner provided by Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure upon the owner or owners of property abutting the sidewalks which have then been ordered and which are then proposed to be ordered to be constructed. The first publication of the ordinance shall be made and written notices served not less than thirty (30) days before the date for hearing objections. Any owner of any lot or parcel of land or property to be assessed for the cost of construction of the sidewalks then ordered or proposed to be ordered to be constructed may appear in person or by counsel at the hearing and show cause, if any, why the sidewalks should not be constructed. If objections are made to the construction of the sidewalks by the owners or agents representing more than one-half (1/2) of the total number of lineal feet frontage of all property which would be assessed to defray the cost of the sidewalks, the sidewalks shall not be constructed. The contractor shall give bond for the performance of his contract as required by the ordinance. The ordinance shall provide that upon ordering the construction of any such sidewalk the city engineer or the street commissioner shall immediately give written notice thereof, served personally on the owner or owners, or agents of the abutting property, or by publication once a week for a period of four (4) weeks in a newspaper of general circulation within the city or town, fully describing the termini, course, width and character of the walk ordered. The notice shall provide for a period of thirty (30) days during which parties so desiring may construct the walk abutting their property, and that all the walks so ordered remaining unbuilt at the expiration of the thirty (30) days from the date of service, or of the first publication, shall be constructed by the contractor. The ordinance shall also provide that at the expiration of the thirty (30) days the city engineer or the street commissioner shall notify the contractor to build the portions of the sidewalk ordered that have not been built. The contractor shall construct the sidewalk in accordance with the ordinance and his contract within sixty (60) days after he is so notified.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-502 Assessment; costs included; property affected.

The total cost of all sidewalks constructed by the city contractor under this article, which includes that of the sidewalk proper as well as that of any notice, curbing, grading, handrailing, private crossing and all other necessary expenses, shall be assessed by the governing body by motion, resolution or ordinance as a special assessment against the property in front of which the sidewalk is built. The property occupying street corners shall be assessed for that part of the sidewalk thereon which is within the street intersection.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-503 Assessment; when payable; warrants; collection; interest; treasurer's duties.

(a) All costs and expenses of building any sidewalk under this article shall be defrayed by special assessment payable in installments and extending over a period of four (4) years. The governing body may issue special improvement warrants for the installments and levy assessments to pay them. The assessments shall be collected as other city taxes. (b) Special improvement warrants shall bear interest at the rate allowed on public warrants pursuant to W.S. 9-4-106. (c) The city treasurer shall receive payment in full and give receipts for the entire special assessment of this character on any property with interest to the date of payment when tendered by the owner or agent. Upon receipt of any entire payment the city treasurer shall give notice thereof in writing to the proper tax authorities.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-504 Other provisions applicable.

Any city or town authorized by this article may proceed in the matter of sidewalk construction either under this article or under the provisions of law already in force in regard to sidewalk construction, or partly under the provisions of this article and partly under the older provisions of law. It is the intention of this article to supplement but not to supersede or otherwise affect other provisions of law with regard to powers of first class cities in relation to sidewalks.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-601 Authorization; installation and maintenance costs.

The governing body of any city or town having a population of more than eight thousand (8,000) may create lighting districts in the business portions thereof embracing any street or avenue or portion thereof and abutting property and require the cost of installing the system to be paid by the owners of the property abutting upon a street or avenue within the district, including any street or other railway therein, and assess and collect the cost of the installation by special assessment against that property. The cost of maintenance of the lighting system shall be paid by the city or town at large.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-602 Assessments; proportion; limitation.

(a) The entire cost of erecting and maintaining the posts shall be borne by the owners of property which abuts upon a street or avenue within the district. Each parcel of land so abutting shall be assessed in the proportion which the street frontage of the parcel bears to the street frontage of the entire district. (b) The owner of any street or other railway upon a street or avenue within the district shall be assessed for not more than one-sixth (1/6) of the entire cost and expense of the installation as the governing body determines.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-603 Creation; contents of resolution; notice; hearing; installation and maintenance of posts.

(a) If the governing body desires to create a special lighting district, it shall propose a resolution designating the number of the district and describing its boundaries. The resolution shall state the: (i) Character and number of posts to be erected; (ii) Character of the lights to be maintained; (iii) Estimate of the cost of posts and erection; (iv) Proportion of the cost to be assessed against abutting property, including a street or other railway; and (v) Time the governing body will hear objections to the final adoption of the resolution. (b) The proposed resolution shall be published at least five (5) times in a daily newspaper of general circulation within the city or town, or in a weekly newspaper in four (4) issues, and written notice thereof shall be served upon the owner or owners, or agents of the abutting property. The first publication of the resolution shall be made and the written notices served not less than thirty (30) days before the date set for hearing objections. (c) Any owner or agent of any lot or parcel of land or property to be assessed within the district may appear in person or by counsel at the hearing and show cause, if any, why the district should not be created and lights installed and maintained as provided in this article. If objections are made to the creation of the district by owners or agents representing more than one-half (1/2) of the total number of lineal feet frontage of all the property which would be assessed to defray the cost of the installation, the district shall not be created. Not less than six (6) months thereafter a resolution for the same or similar purpose covering the same territory may again be considered after notice and proceedings as provided for consideration of the original resolution. If sufficient objections are not made, a majority of members of the governing body voting in its favor shall adopt the resolution. (d) The governing body, by contract, may procure and erect the posts required for the maintenance of the lights or require the street commissioner or other official of the city or town to do so in the manner in which the governing body provides. When the posts have been installed the governing body shall provide for the maintenance of the lights and pay the expense of the maintenance. All posts shall be of uniform size and character and be distributed uniformly upon the street or avenue or section thereof to be lighted.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-604 Creation; assessment; contents; notice, hearing and objections; final resolution.

(a) The governing body shall estimate the cost of erecting and furnishing the posts and on or before the first Monday in November of each year adopt a resolution levying and assessing all of the property embraced within the district with the entire cost of installing the lighting system. Each lot or parcel of land in the district shall be assessed for that part of the whole cost of the installation which its linear feet bordering the street, avenue or alley, bear to the total number of lineal feet abutting the streets, avenues or alleys included within the special district, and levying and assessing against any street or other railway upon a street or avenue or portion thereof included in the lighting district not to exceed one-sixth (1/6) of the total cost of installing the lighting system, as determined by the governing body. The resolution shall contain a list describing each lot or parcel of land, any street or other railway with the name of the owner thereof, if known, the linear number of feet fronting or abutting upon the street or avenue to be lighted or otherwise assessable and the amount levied thereon. The resolution shall be signed by the mayor and city clerk and kept on file in the clerk's office. (b) A notice signed by the city clerk stating that the resolution levying the assessment to defray the cost of installing the lighting system is on file in his office, subject to inspection for a period of five (5) days, shall be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation within the city or town, and written notice thereof shall be served upon the owner or owners or agents of the abutting property. The notice shall state the time and place at which the governing body will hear objections to the final adoption of the resolution. The hearing shall not be less than five (5) days after publication of the notice. (c) At the time fixed, the governing body shall meet and hear all objections, and for that purpose may adjourn from day to day and may modify the resolution in whole or in part. A copy of the resolution as finally adopted and certified by the clerk must be delivered within two (2) days after its passage to the city treasurer. The treasurer, within five (5) days after the receipt thereof, by written notice, mailed or otherwise delivered, shall notify each owner of the property assessed of the amount of assessment, the purpose for which the levy is made, the tax against each lot or parcel of land and the date it becomes delinquent.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-605 Manner of maintaining and paying.

The lighting system in each district shall be maintained at the expense of the city or town by contract in the manner in which the governing body provides, and the cost thereof shall be paid out of the fund which the governing body designates.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-606 Lien; creation; enforcement; when vitiated.

(a) Any special assessment levied together with all costs and penalties constitute a lien upon the property assessed from the date of the final passage of the resolution levying the assessment. The lien may be enforced as provided by law for the enforcement of other liens. (b) No mistake in the description of the property or the name of the owner vitiates the liens unless it is impossible to identify the property from the description.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-607 Existing remedies applicable.

All remedies, provisions and means provided by existing laws or by the ordinances of any city or town availing itself of the provisions of this article, for the correction of errors or omissions in the adoption of any resolution or proceeding, or in the levy of any assessment, or its collection, or for the enforcement of any levy by sale of the property against which any assessment is made, or for the redemption of property from sale, or otherwise applicable to the administration of this article are available the same as if they were made a part of this article.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-608 Posts already installed.

If before the creation of any lighting district, posts conforming in size, character and location to the governing body's requirements have been installed at the expense of any owners of property therein, the governing body may adopt those posts and out of the funds raised to defray the cost of obtaining and installing posts for the district, may pay the owners of the posts so adopted.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-6-609 Discontinuation.

If at any time after the creation of any special lighting district, a petition is presented to the governing body, signed by the owners or agents of more than one-half (1/2) of the total number of linear feet of the property fronting or abutting upon any street or avenue or portion thereof included within the district, asking that the district be discontinued, the governing body, by resolution, shall provide for discontinuing the maintenance and operation of the lighting system. However, if the governing body, prior to the presentation of the petition, has entered into any contract for the maintenance and operation of the system, it shall not be discontinued until the contract expires.

Source: WY Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title15.pdfFetched: 10/4/2026