The board of county commissioners may grant to any owner a reduction of not more than fifty per cent of his annual maintenance assessment provided that the owner shall have filed with the county engineer a certificate of the board of supervisors of the soil conservation district of the county in which the land is located, certifying that he is following practices in the cultivation or management of agricultural land that will reduce the runoff of surface water and the erosion of sediment and silt into drainage channels. The certificate shall be signed by the president and the secretary-treasurer of the soil conservation district board of supervisors and it shall remain in effect until canceled by the board of county commissioners. The county engineer shall have the right to inspect the premises of any owner claiming assessment reduction due to soil and water conservation and to ask the soil conservation district for review of any certificate on file.
At the time he makes his annual report and estimate of maintenance costs, the county engineer shall transmit to the board of county commissioners all soil conservation certificates that have been filed with him. The clerk of the board of county commissioners, on or before the first day of July in each year, shall file with the county auditor a list of owners who have been certified by the soil conservation district for a fifty per cent reduction in maintenance assessment for the current year.
Effective Date: 04-09-1981 .