Ala. Code § 45-58-30.09: Establishment and Maintenance of Districts; Service Charges.

(a) The expense of establishing and maintaining a district shall be paid for by the proceeds of a service charge which shall be levied and collected in an amount sufficient to pay the expense. The service charge shall be levied upon and collected from persons and properties served by the district. The charge shall be a personal obligation of the owner of the property served by the district; and to secure the collection of the charge there shall be a lien against the property in favor of the district, which lien shall be enforceable by sale thereof in the same manner in which the foreclosure of a municipal assessment for public improvements is authorized.

(b) A property owner who owns a structure, used solely as a residence, which at the time of its original construction was situated on a county line, may avoid the payment of a service charge which is based upon the presence of such structure; if (1) at no time before or after April 12, 1988, was the structure assessed for taxes in Shelby County, (2) at no time before or after April 12, 1988, was any homestead exemption claimed for the structure in reduction of taxes assessed in Shelby County, and, the property owner furnishes to the district an agreement that any service charges imposed with respect to future construction on the property shall constitute a lien upon the entire property located within the district, including the property upon which the residence is situated.