(a) If any assessment made under this chapter shall not be paid within the time mentioned in the notice published by the collector, the collector shall add thereto a penalty of twenty percent (20%) and shall at once return a list of the property on which the assessments have not been paid to the board of improvement as delinquent.
(b)
(1) The board shall thereupon proceed to collect the delinquent assessments by filing a complaint in equity in the court having jurisdiction of suits for the enforcement of liens upon real property.
(2) The pleadings, service, right and time of redemption, time and manner of taking appeal, and all procedure, both in the lower court and on appeal, shall be governed by the general statutes providing for such suits by improvement districts in cities and towns.