11-01-2007 Charter Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

n Charter Commission October 11, 2007 Page 3 DRAFT 90 Commissioner Bening stated it has passed once and failed twice. He stated the same road has 91 failed twice. 92 93 Commissioner Carlson arrived at 7:15 p.m. 94 95 Ms. Marty stated the proposed Charter amendment includes changes to the way local assessments 96 are defined. She stated the current Charter reads the only time the City can assess a project is 97 when it is a public improvement with a local character. She indicated this language is missing 98 from the City Council draft and stated if the Commission wants the "local character" language, it 99 has to be added. 100 101 Commissioner Trehus requested a definition of "local character." 102 103 Ms. Marty stated the term creates ambiguity and does not have a standard definition. She 104 indicated it adds an extra concept and tells people that the idea is you are putting in 105 improvements that do something for Lino Lakes and not just for any other City or for traffic 106 passing through. 107 108 Chair Duffy stated the proposed amendment that the City Council has come up with does not 109 have the language it wants. 110 111 It was the consensus of the Commission to include the "local character" language in the proposed 112 amendment. 113 114 Ms. Marty requested input from the Commission regarding notification of property owners and 115 who should be notified. 116 117 Commissioner Dahl stated that property owners that abut the proposed improvement should be 118 notified. 119 120 Ms. Marty stated there is conflicting language in state law, the City Council draft, and the 121 proposed amendment regarding votes of property owners for assessments. She asked if the 122 Commission wants the ability to do area -wide assessments and stated the question comes down 123 to whether the assessed property owners are benefiting from the improvement. She added this is 124 an issue that needs to be addressed; state law requires that area assessments be imposed when an 125 improvement helps the entire neighborhood. 126 127 Commissioner Bening stated that currently, local residents pay a certain percentage, and the rest 128 is paid out of the City's general fund. 129 130 Ms. Marty stated it is state law that the City can assess the amount your property value increases 131 due to the improvement; you only have to pay the amount your value went up. /'1 132 133 Chair Duffy asked what the most common scenario is. 3