Who pays for improvement district costs and when refunds happen

(a) The County or an affected owner of an assessment unit may advance costs, including incidentals, for improvement districts, whether before or after the commencement of proceedings for creation of improvement districts and, to the extent that said costs are included in the cost of improvements for said improvement districts, the council may direct partial or full reimbursement to the County or such owner for such costs from improvement district funds. Upon a request by an affected owner of an assessment unit, the director of finance may apply all or part of any such refund toward payment of improvement district assessments or installments thereof. The County may expend such funds to the same extent as if it advanced its own funds for that purpose. If the improvement district is not created or if it is terminated by the council under section 12-6, said owner shall not be entitled to any refund or credit, except as authorized by the council. (b) For main or general thoroughfares, the County may assume and pay out of all available funds, the costs of improvements thereto which: (1) exceed the special benefits conferred on the assessed assessment units or (2) the council finds should not be covered by special assessments. As used in this section “main or general thoroughfare” means a street or highway that is used as an arterial highway between substantially different or naturally separated localities or sections of the County.