An Act Providing for the Levying of Special Assessments to Cover the Cost of the Construction, Improvement or Repair of National Roads within the City of Manila

September 5, 1938

COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 396

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE LEVYING OF SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS TO COVER THE COST OF THE CONSTRUCTION, IMPROVEMENT OR REPAIR OF NATIONAL ROADS WITHIN THE CITY OF MANILA

SECTION 1. When the President of the Philippines shall so direct it, the Municipal Board of the City of Manila, as an agency of the National Government, shall provide, by means of an ordinance, for the levying and collection, by special assessments of the real estate within the district or section of the City of Manila especially benefited, of the cost or a part thereof to be determined by the President, of laying out, opening, constructing, straightening, widening extending, grading, pavying, curbing, walling, deepening, or otherwise establishing, repairing, enlarging, or improving national roads in the City of Manila, including the cost of acquiring the necessary land and improvements therein. Within the meaning of this section, all real estate comprised within the district or section benefited, except lands or buildings owned by the United States of America, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, or the City of Manila, shall be subject to the payment of the special assessment, based upon the valuation of such real estate as shown by the books of the City Assessor, or its present value as fixed by said officer in the first instance if the property does not appear of record in his books according to the valuation whereof the special tax has to be made, computed and assessed. cSATDC

SECTION 2. The ordinance providing for the levying and collection of a special assessment shall describe in terms of reasonable accuracy the nature, extent, and location of the national road project to cover the cost of which the special assessment is to be levied; the probable or actual cost thereof; the rate per centum, as shall be determined by the President, of the cost to be defrayed by special assessment; the district or section which shall be subject to the payment of the said special assessment, delimiting the same by metes and bounds and the number of annual installments, which shall not be less than five, in which such special assessment shall be paid, without any interest.

SECTION 3. The Municipal Board of the City of Manila shall not be required to fix one uniform rate per centum for all the taxable real estate in the entire district or section, but may fix different rates for real estate in different parts or sections of the same, according as said property will derive greater or less benefit from the improvement.

SECTION 4. The proposed special assessment ordinance shall be published in the Official Gazette for a period of not less than ten days and shall be posted at the usual places for posting public notices, in the Office of the Director of Public Works and in the office of the city engineer and also at conspicuous places in the district or section of the City where such national road projects is constructed or contemplated to be constructed. The Secretary of the Municipal Board shall, upon request, furnish a copy of the proposed ordinance, by ordinary mail or otherwise. Within three days after the last publication of the special assessment ordinance, the Board or the committee in charge of the project shall hold a public hearing on the same and hear all pertinent arguments and evidence offered by the persons interested or their attorney and such arguments and evidence shall be attached to the proper records.

SECTION 5. The special assessment ordinance together with all the papers pertaining to the same shall be sent for approval to the Mayor, as in other cases, and the time for the approval or vetoing thereof shall run only from the date of the receipt of the last paper lacking. The Mayor may receive protests of persons claiming to be affected, provided such protest be signed by a majority of said persons representing more than one-half of the total assessed value of the property which according to the proposed ordinance would be subject to the special assessment, and before approving or vetoing said ordinance, he may propose to the Municipal Board such amendment or amendments to the same as he may see fit. From the decision of the Municipal Board, either the parties affected or the City Engineer through the Director of Public Works may appeal to the President of the Philippines, whose decision shall be final.

SECTION 6. Upon the approval of the special assessment ordinance, the City Assessor and collector shall forthwith proceed to determine the special tax payable by each realty each year during the period fixed in the ordinance, upon the basis of the estimated or actual cost of the work and the total and parcel value of the real estate comprised within the district especially benefited, and shall notify each owner by ordinary mail of the special tax assessed against such property owned by him in the district benefited; but if upon the completion of the improvement, in cases where the assessment is made prior to the completion thereof, it should appear that the cost has been less or more, the City Engineer through the Director of Public Works, shall forthwith certify this fact to the City Assessor and Collector who shall thereupon proceed to rectify the assessment, reducing or increasing, as the case may be, the special tax upon each property affected for the unpaid remainder of the annual installments, or if all are paid, fixing the amount to be credited to or the special additional tax to be collected from the realty, as the case may be, and shall notify the persons interested of such rectification.

SECTION 7. Any owner considering himself aggrieved by any decision of the City Assessor and Collector may appeal from the same to the board of tax appeals within the same time and in the same manner as prescribed by law for cases of assessment and valuation of real estate for the ordinary tax.

SECTION 8. All sums and amounts due from any owner or owners as a result of any action taken by virtue of the authority conferred in this Act shall be due and payable to the City Treasurer in the same manner as the annual tax levied on real estate under provisions of article XI, title X of the Revised Administrative Code, and shall be subject to the same penalties for delinquency, and enforceable by the same remedies, as such annual tax; and all such sums and amounts, together with any such penalties incurred, shall from the date on which they were assessed constitute liens which may exist upon such property excepting only such as may have attached as a result of the nonpayment of said annual tax: Provided, however, That the proceeds thereof shall accrue to the National Treasury as a special fund for the construction, improvement, and maintenance of national roads within the City of Manila, to be allotted by the Secretary of Public Works to such projects upon the recommendation of the Director of Public Works.

SECTION 9. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, September 5, 1938. IDAESH