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Charter Commission <br />October 11, 2007 <br />Page 3 <br />APPROVED <br />88 local improvement project is to be funded via assessment. She asked the Commission how it has <br />89 worked in the past to have a public vote on paying for improvements with taxes. <br />90 <br />91 Commissioner Bening stated it has passed once and failed twice. He stated the same road has <br />92 failed twice. <br />93 <br />94 Commissioner Carlson arrived at 7:15 p.m. <br />95 <br />96 Ms. Marty stated the proposed Charter amendment includes changes to the way local assessments <br />97 are defined. She stated the current Charter reads the only time the City can assess a project is <br />98 when it is a public improvement with a local character. She indicated this language is missing <br />99 from the City Council draft and stated if the Commission wants the "local character" language, it <br />100 has to be added. <br />101 <br />102 Commissioner Trehus requested a definition of "local character." <br />103 <br />104 Ms. Marty stated the term creates ambiguity and does not have a standard definition. She <br />105 indicated it adds an extra concept and tells people that the idea is you are putting in <br />106 improvements that do something for Lino Lakes and not just for any other City or for traffic <br />107 passing through. <br />108 <br />,-N109 Chair Duffy stated the proposed amendment that the City Council has come up with does not <br />110 have the language it wants. <br />111 <br />112 It was the consensus of the Commission to include the "local character" language in the proposed <br />113 amendment. <br />114 <br />115 Ms. Marty requested input from the Commission regarding notification of property owners and <br />116 who should be notified. <br />117 <br />118 Commissioner Dahl stated that property owners that abut the proposed improvement should be <br />119 notified. <br />120 <br />121 Ms. Marty stated there is conflicting language in state law, the City Council draft, and the <br />122 proposed amendment regarding votes of property owners for assessments. She asked if the <br />123 Commission wants the ability to do area -wide assessments and stated the question comes down <br />124 to whether the assessed property owners are benefiting from the improvement. She added this is <br />125 an issue that needs to be addressed; state law requires that area assessments be imposed when an <br />126 improvement helps the entire neighborhood. <br />127 <br />128 Commissioner Bening stated that currently, local residents pay a certain percentage, and the rest <br />129 is paid out of the City's general fund. <br />130 <br />3 <br />