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real + relevant <br />• <br />aglebrookchurch.co <br />October 21, 2011 <br />HAND DELIVERED <br />Julie Bartell <br />City Clerk <br />City of Lino Lakes <br />600 Town Center Parkway <br />Lino Lakes, MN 55014 <br />Re: Assessments for I -35E /CSAH 14 Interchange <br />Dear Ms. Bartell: <br />We are writing regarding the proposed special assessment against Eagle Brook Church's <br />property for the I -35E /CSAH 14 Interchange Project. We support the improvements and <br />have no objection to paying a fair share of the cost of the project. However, the amount <br />of the proposed assessment against the Eagle Brook property is approximately 9% of the <br />total amount assessed, which greatly exceeds a fair share of the project costs. <br />The amount of the assessment may not exceed the benefit conferred by the project. In <br />this case, the project does not confer significant benefit to our property, and the proposed <br />assessment exceeds that benefit. Eagle Brook Church attendance is already at or near <br />capacity, so the project will not result in growth for the Church. Consequently, the <br />completion of the project has little impact on the fair market value of the property. <br />The benefit conferred by a project is measured by the value of the property before and <br />after the completion of the project. The assessment unit cost assigned to our property <br />does not appear to bear any relationship to any increase in the value of our property <br />because of the interchange project. In addition, Eagle Brook Church is the only property <br />classified as "Institutional — Existing." A unit cost of $0.14 is assigned to that <br />classification, the third highest unit cost. Even if one assumes that the amount of the <br />assessment should be based on unit costs, the unit cost assigned to Eagle Brook Church is <br />too high, especially given the unit costs assigned to the other property classifications. <br />Among other things, only part of our property has been developed. At a minimum, the <br />part of our property that has not been developed should be assessed at a lower unit cost <br />than the developed portion of our property. <br />As a non - profit organization, we are concerned that we are being asked to shoulder more <br />of the burden of the project costs than other properties and stakeholders in the <br />community. This project is regional in nature. The homeowners and businesses of <br />Centerville, Hugo and the surrounding communities will benefit as much, and in many <br />