The county engineer shall estimate the benefits accruing to public corporations and any department, office, or institution of the state. The engineer shall determine the estimated cost of the improvement that each public corporation and any department, office, or institution of the state shall be assessed by reason of the benefit to public health, safety, convenience, the environment, wildlife, recreation, and welfare, or as the means of improving any street, road, or highway under the control or ownership of any public corporation or any department, office, or institution of the state, or for benefit to any land owned by any public corporation or any department, office, or institution of the state. The engineer shall prepare a schedule of assessments containing the name and address of each public corporation and each department, office, or institution of the state so benefited, the amount of the estimated assessment, and an explanation of the assessment if the assessment is for purposes other than drainage.

The county engineer shall also include in the schedule of assessments the name and address of each private owner of land and a description of the land believed to be benefited by the proposed improvement, which names and descriptions shall be taken from the tax duplicates of the county. The engineer shall enter in the schedule the amount of the estimated assessment, which in no case shall be less than ten dollars, to be assessed to each tract of land and an explanation of the assessment, if the assessment is for purposes other than drainage, by reason of the construction of the improvement upon which the assessment is based. The total of these estimated assessments including the total estimated assessments allocated to public corporations and the state shall equal the estimated cost of the proposed improvement.

In determining the estimated drainage assessments for a parcel, the county engineer shall give primary consideration to the potential increase in productivity that the parcel may experience as a result of the improvement and shall also give consideration to the quantity of drainage contributed, the relative location of the property to the project, the portion of the project through which the drainage from the parcel flows, the value of the project to the watershed, and benefits as defined in section 6131.01 of the Revised Code.

The county engineer shall also estimate the value of land or other property necessary to be taken and the damages to be sustained by any owner as a result of the construction of the proposed improvement and the subsequent maintenance of the improvement. The engineer shall prepare a schedule of damages containing the name and address of each owner alleged to be damaged, the amount of the estimated damages, and an explanation of the injury upon which the estimate is based. The engineer's schedule of damages shall also contain the value of the land or other property necessary to be taken, the name and address of the owner, and a complete description of the land or other property. The engineer shall include the total of the estimated damages and valuations as part of his estimate of the total cost of constructing the improvement.

The county engineer, in making his estimate of the amount to be assessed each tract of land, each public corporation, and the state in accordance with this section, and the board of county commissioners, in amending, correcting, confirming, and approving the assessments in accordance with section 6131.22 of the Revised Code, shall levy the assessments according to benefits. Each tract of land and public corporation affected by an improvement and the state shall be assessed in the proportion that each is benefited by the improvement, as "benefit" and "improvement" are defined in section 6131.01 of the Revised Code, and not otherwise.

Effective Date: 04-09-1981 .