245.197. 1. Whenever the board of supervisors of any district nowexisting or hereafter organized pursuant to sections 245.010 to 245.280,for and in behalf of the district, or the owners of twenty-five percent ormore of the acreage of the lands in the district, shall file a petitionwith the circuit clerk in whose office the articles of association werefiled stating that there has been a material change in the values of all orsome of the property in the district since the last previous assessment ofbenefits or readjustment of the assessment of benefits, and praying for areadjustment of the assessment of benefits of the property identified inthe petition for the purpose of making a more equitable basis for the levyof the maintenance tax or for the purpose of levying a new tax to pay thecosts of the completion of the proposed works and improvements as shown inthe supplemental plan for reclamation adopted by the board of supervisorspursuant to section 245.105, or for both of the aforesaid purposes, thecourt wherein the petition is filed, if in session, or the clerk thereof invacation, shall fix a date for the hearing of the petition which date shallnot be less than forty-five nor more than sixty days from the date of thefiling of the petition.
2. The circuit clerk shall give notice to all persons interested inthe lands and property identified in the petition of the filing and hearingof the petition in the manner and for the time provided for in section245.020. Such notice may be in the following form:
To All Persons Interested in the Following Described (insertdescription of lands and property) Lands and Property Included Within......... District:
You are hereby notified that a petition has been filed in the officeof the clerk of the circuit court of ....... County, Missouri, praying fora readjustment of the assessment of benefits for the purpose(s) of................................................................................................................................................................... and that the petition will be heard by the circuit court onthe ..... day of ......., 20.....
................................
Clerk of the Circuit Court of
................. County, Missouri.
3. Upon the hearing of the petition, if the court finds that therehas been a material change in the values of the property in the districtidentified in the petition since the last previous assessment of benefits,the court shall order that there be made a readjustment of the assessmentof benefits for the lands identified in the petition for the purpose ofproviding a basis upon which to levy the maintenance tax of the district orfor the purpose of levying a new tax to pay the costs of the completion ofthe proposed works and improvements as shown in the supplemental plan forreclamation adopted by the board of supervisors pursuant to section245.105, or for both of the aforesaid purposes.
4. Thereupon the court shall appoint three commissioners possessingthe qualifications of commissioners appointed under section 245.110 to makesuch readjustment of assessments in the manner provided in section 245.120with respect to those lands identified in the petition. The commissionersshall make their report, and the same proceedings shall be had thereon, asnearly as may be, as are provided in sections 245.010 to 245.280, for theassessment of benefits accruing from the original construction. In makingthe readjustment of the assessment of benefits, the commissioners shall notbe limited to the aggregate amount of the original or any readjustment ofthe assessment of benefits, and may assess the amount of benefits that willaccrue from carrying out and putting into effect the supplemental plan forreclamation adopted by the board of supervisors pursuant to section245.105. After the making of the readjustment, the limitation of tenpercent of the benefits assessed for the annual maintenance tax which maybe levied shall apply to the amount of benefits as readjusted, and thelimitation of the tax which may be levied for payment of the costs of thecompletion of the proposed works and improvements as shown in the aforesaidsupplemental plan for reclamation shall apply to the amount of the benefitsreadjusted.
5. There shall be no such readjustment of benefits more often thanonce in a year. The lists of land and other property, with the readjustedassessed benefits and the decree and judgment of the court, shall be filedin the office of the county recorder as provided in section 245.130.
(L. 1955 p. 602 ยง 1, A.L. 1977 S.B. 3, A.L. 1985 H.B. 378, A.L. 2008 S.B. 939)