Costs of the sidewalk shall be ascertained by the commissioner of highways for the town and shall be submitted by the commissioner to, and be approved by, the town council, and thereafter the commissioner of highways shall demand the costs from the abutting landowner, and if the owner shall neglect and refuse to pay the costs, the commissioner of highways shall certify the costs so ascertained and approved to the assessors of taxes for the town, and the assessors shall include the cost of making and laying the sidewalk in the next assessment of taxes for the town against the land or the owner thereof.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 24-7-4