[G. L. c. 80, §§ 12, 13 or the body politic for the benefit of which it was made is a party, instituted prior to the expiration of the lien therefor, the lien shall continue until one year after the validity of the assessment is finally determined.

This section was enacted in the general betterment law of 1918 in substantial accordance with the provisions previously in force in respect to highway betterments and sewer assessments, with this important difference, that under the present law the lien does not take effect until the order stating that betterments are to be assessed for the improvement is recorded in the registry of deeds, whereas under the earlier statutes the lien went into effect as soon as the order was adopted,' without reference to the recording of the order, which in most instances was not required at all.

In collecting an assessment by enforcement of the lien the collector acts in the same manner as in collecting the general tax on real estate, and the statutes and decisions relative to the sale of land for non-payment of taxes, redemption, foreclosure and the like are applicable to special assessments.2

Interest and Apportionment

SECTION 13. Assessments made under this chapter shall bear interest at the rate of four per cent per annum from the thirtieth day after the assessment list has been committed to the collector. If at any time before demand for payment by the collector the owner of land assessed gives notice to the board to apportion such assessment such board shall, and in any other case may, apportion the same into such number of equal portions, not exceeding ten, as the owner shall in his notice request; but no one of said portions shall be less than five dollars. The board shall certify such apportionment to the collector, and he shall add to each annual tax bill upon the land so assessed one of such portions until the whole assessment has been paid. He shall also add to the first such bill interest on such assessment to the last day of October of such year, and in the bill for each year thereafter one year's interest on the amount of the assessment remaining unpaid, or, if the parcel and the assessment thereon have been divided as hereinafter provided, he shall include the proportionate part of such apportionment in the annual tax bills upon the parcels into which 1 See G. L. c. 80, §2, supra, page 681.

2

* See G. L. c. 60, §§37-86, inc., supra, pages 346 to 392, inc.

G. L. c. 80, §§ 13, 14]

the land has been divided. Any portion of an assessment remaining unpaid may be paid at any one time, notwithstanding a prior appor tionment.

The rate of interest upon unpaid special assessments, whether apportioned or not, was reduced in 1918 from six to four per cent to conform to the corresponding provision in the eminent domain act, the higher rate having frequently operated to induce land owners to delay as long as possible the final determination of proceedings for the determination of damages by the taking of their land by eminent domain in order to have the benefit of what was then considered a high rate of interest. Almost immediately interest rates rose as a result of war conditions, so that at present cities and towns which issue bonds to meet the cost of a public improvement paid for by betterment assessments are often obliged to pay a higher rate of interest on the bonds than they receive upon the deferred installments of the apportioned betterment assessments.

The provisions of section thirteen in regard to apportionment follow in general the previous statutes, but were intended to provide a simple and uniform system in place of the confusing and inconsistent provisions previously in force.

An owner of land assessed who asks for an apportionment does not thereby forfeit his right to apply for an abatement of the assessment.1 The request for apportionment must be made in a much more limited time than the petition for abatement and it is not to be supposed that the legislature intended to shorten the time for bringing a petition by one who availed himself of the privilege of asking for an apportionment. An owner of land subjected to an invalid assessment which has been apportioned does not forfeit his right to recover back the later installments by having paid the first without protest; and he may recover such an installment back in an action of contract notwithstanding its having been added to his general tax bill.3

Apportionment by Assessors

SECTION 14. The aldermen of any city may direct that the apportionment of betterments under the preceding section be made by the

1 Gardner v. Boston, 106 Mass. 549 (1871).

2 Smith v. Boston, 194 Mass. 31 (1907).

[G. L. c. 80, §§ 14, 15 assessors thereof, and thereupon all powers and duties with respect to the apportionment of betterments assessed in behalf of such city shall be transferred from the board by whom the assessment was made to the

assessors.

The foregoing section was introduced into the general betterment act of 1918 in order to permit the purely ministerial duty of apportioning betterment assessments to be transferred to the board of assessors.

Subsequent Division of Land Assessed

SECTION 15. If land which is subject to a lien for an assessment made under this chapter is subsequently divided by sale, mortgage, partition or otherwise and such division has been duly recorded in the registry of deeds, the board, before the land has been advertised for sale for non-payment of the assessment, may, or upon the written request of the owner or mortgagee of a portion thereof, accompanied by a plan sufficient for the identification of the division of the whole estate, with the names of the different owners thereof, shall, divide said assessment or the amount thereof remaining unpaid, and the costs and interest accrued thereon, among the several parcels into which said land has been divided, assessing upon each parcel the part of the original assessment remaining unpaid proportionate to the special benefit received by such parcel from the improvement. After such assessment has been so divided, only the part of the assessment, interest and costs assessed upon each parcel shall constitute a lien upon such parcel. At least seven days prior to making such division the board shall send by registered mail to all owners of any interest in the land assessed, whose addresses are known to them, a notice of their intention to make such division and of the time appointed therefor, unless such notice has been waived. A person aggrieved by any action of the board under this section shall have the same remedy as a person aggrieved by the refusal of the board to abate an assessment.

The provision for the division of an unpaid betterment assessment when the land upon which it was assessed was divided was taken from previous statutes relating to sewer assessments, and to public improvements in the city of Boston. Apart from a division in accordance with the procedure laid down by statute, an assessment is properly made in one entire sum on the

G. L. c. 80, §§ 15, 16]

land as it existed when the lien went into effect and is to be enforced as one lien on the entire parcel, regardless of any division of the parcel by sale or otherwise before or after the assessment.1

Re-Assessment

SECTION 16. If an assessment is invalid and has not been paid in full or has been paid under such circumstances that it can be recovered back, it may be re-assessed by the board in the amount for which the original assessment ought to have been made, at any time before the expiration of two years from the date of the assessment, if the land has in the meantime been alienated; otherwise at any time before the alienation thereof. Such assessment shall be a lien upon any sum paid on account of the original assessment, and to the extent that it is not thereby satisfied shall be a lien upon the land. It shall be collected in the same manner as an original assessment, and shall in all other respects be subject to this chapter.

A re-assessment is a new assessment of a betterment which has been held or found to be invalid; an order of the board which levied an assessment reducing it in amount is not a re-assessment. The provisions in the general betterment act of 1918 in regard to re-assessment were taken in substance from the highway betterment act but were somewhat amplified and certain defects in the law were remedied. In general the provisions in regard to the re-assessment of general taxes are incorporated into this section.2

3

The lien for a re-assessment under the foregoing section attaches when the original order is recorded and is not lost by reason of the invalidity of an assessment thereunder, so that it remains an incumbrance on the land, unless the invalidity of the assessment was due to such illegality in the establishment or construction of the public improvement for which the assessment was levied that no valid assessment could have been made. In such case, if by subsequent curative act an assess

1 Hester v. Collector of Brockton, 217 Mass. 422 (1914). See as to provisions for division of lien for general taxes G. L. c. 59, §§79-81, inc., supra, page 309. 1 Blake v. Baker, 115 Mass. 188 (1874).

2 See G. L. c. 59, §§77, 78, supra, page 306.

3 Colburn v. Litchfield, 132 Mass. 449 (1882); Smith v. Abington Savings Bank, 171 Mass. 178 (1898); Maloy v. Holl, 190 Mass. 277 (1906).

[G. L. c. 80, §§ 16, 17 ment is authorized and is levied, there is no encumbrance on the land until the curative act is enacted.*

Provisions of Chapter Eighty Exclusive

SECTION 17. Whenever a formal vote or order for the laying out or construction of a public improvement, or for the taking of land therefor, states that betterments are to be assessed, no betterments shall be assessed except under this chapter, and all proceedings relating to such betterments shall be as herein provided, notwithstanding any special act hitherto enacted.

This section was intended to make it clear that the provisions of the general betterment act of 1918 now incorporated in chapter eighty of the General Laws supersede all other general and special acts and provisions in city charters, upon the same subject. It is to be noted however that the provisions of chapter eighty do not apply except in the case of a formal vote or order for the laying out or construction of a public improvement stating that betterments are to be assessed, and with respect to betterments or special assessments imposed in any other way, the provisions of chapter eighty are not applicable unless specifically incorporated by reference.

4

Maloy v. Holl, 190 Mass. 277 (1906); Campbell v. Haven, 211 Mass. 121 (1912); Sullivan v. Mandell, 212 Mass. 174 (1912).