384.63  Insufficiency — certification to county treasurer — deficiency assessment.
  1.  If the special assessment which may be levied against a lot is insufficient to pay its proportion of the cost of the improvement, or if no special assessment may be levied against a lot, the deficiency shall be paid from the city fund or funds designated by the council.
  2.  The council shall, by resolution, provide that the deficiencies for the lots specially benefited by a public improvement shall be certified to the county treasurer, who shall record them in the county system as “special assessment deficiencies”, and to the appropriate city official charged with the responsibility of issuing building permits, who shall notify the council when a private improvement is subsequently constructed on any lot subject to a deficiency. Certification to the county treasurer shall include a legal description of each lot. The period of amortization for a public improvement for which there are deficiencies shall commence with the adoption of the resolution of necessity and extend for the same period for which installments of assessments for the project are made payable. Deficiencies may be assessed only during the period of amortization, which shall also be certified to the county treasurer and the city official charged with the responsibility of issuing building permits. Certification to the county treasurer shall include a legal description of each lot.
  3.  When a private improvement is constructed on a lot subject to a deficiency, during the period of amortization, the council shall, by resolution, assess a pro rata portion of the deficiency on that lot, in the same proportion to the total deficiency on that lot as the number of future installments of special assessments remaining to be paid is to the total number of installments of assessments for the project, subject to the twenty-five percent limitation of section 384.62. A deficiency assessment becomes a lien on the property and is payable in the same manner, and subject to the same interests as the other special assessments. The council shall direct the clerk to certify a deficiency assessment to the county treasurer, and to send a notice of the deficiency assessment by mail to each owner, as provided in section 384.60, but publication of the notice is not required.
  4.  An owner may appeal from the amount of the assessment within thirty days of the date notice is mailed. County officials shall collect a deficiency assessment, commencing in the year following the assessment, in the manner provided for the collection of other special assessments. Upon collection, the county treasurer shall make the appropriate credit entries in the county system, and shall credit the amounts collected as provided for other special assessments on the same public improvement, or to the city, to the extent that the deficiency has been previously paid from other city funds.
[S13, §792-b; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §6017; C46, §391.44; C50, §391.44, 391A.25; C54, 58, 62, §391.44, 391A.28; C66, 71, 73, §390A.19, 391.44, 391A.28; C75, 77, 79, 81, §384.63; 82 Acts, ch 1104, §18]
83 Acts, ch 90, §24; 86 Acts, ch 1241, §13; 92 Acts, ch 1016, §9; 97 Acts, ch 121, §12; 2003 Acts, ch 108, §70