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gillard C. Coty, Chairman . ,Page 4 " June 1 ,` 1978. In question 8 ouwh whether the charter can require voter approval for certificates of indebte ness ssu or purposes other than to meet emergencies or disasters. The answer would seem to be'.that_ to the extent that the certificates of indebtedness provide an additional borrowing mechanism beyond those already permitted by chapter 475,. the charte r can also limit the conditions ,• - hich ' ‘ ch certificates are to be,i ss ed. Thus, if you p •, . - or axan icipation certificates o estatutory cities use, orpublic safety and highway equipment certificates similar to those available in statutory cities, :the election requirement could be attached to this: authority. However, there would seem to be no advantage in:providing se o tional financing devices if an election is'to be;_..required :before issuance. In questyou ask' whether a charter can require voter approval for special assessment and whether the Vote can be-restricted to those assessed. The. nswer, to both: cgat.ions: would ' ;aopear..pttjfs4. : M.S. 429.111 , contained in the chapter; on special> assessments. and speaking to :t . - ssue:'provides any city operating under a home rule charter may proceed either under this chapter or under its charter in making an improvement unless a ,home rule charter or amendment adopted after April 17 1953 provides for making such improvements . :under this chapter or under the charter exclusively. Thus, at least for those kinds of ' .;improvements contemplated by chapter 429 and not authorized exclusive of charter provisions by other chapters of the Minnesota Statutes, a carter procedure for special assessments on local improvements could be made exclusive. Again, the advisabilit or workability of this approach is a matter that you ought to consider very carefully • In question' Q,you ask` the kinds of restrictions and prohibitions which a charter can place on special assessments The answer would seem to be that any reasonable limits or prohibitions which do not contravine the constitutional requirement that the assessment be, no more than the benefit or other state policies established by statute or constitution,,. would be effective.' It would not be possible for me to list all the kinds of restrictions that might be placed by the charter. Quest'. . 1 on thr- .f .. . . - ' e set' + for local im•rovemen the answer l_js_yes, except as other statutory authorizations for special assessments which ,,til', cannot be over-ridden by home rule charters, may prescribe different threshholds. Que tion 12 the answer is yes. with the same qualifications'as in question _11 . J 0' t�. ice uestion i, ou. nnci'noi ent or deferra� of special a sessi on 4 �-r----�.>m � . is, the answer Ofild appear 00/to be yes, so long as the criteria for postponement or deferral are reasonable. However,.. care should be exercised to assure that local improvements are not made economically unfeasible by such requirements. Again, the qualifications in my answers to question 11 applies. In t on 14 you ask whether the charter can define legal benefit for purposes -of special assessments. The answer is that theoretically this would be possible to the extent that • the charter definition does not result in an assessment which exceeds te actual benefit:. - ` as demonstrated by the increase in market value from the improvement. However, any kind . 11 of definition set out in any charter or ordinance or procedural manual will almost certainly be inadequate ,in certain cases. It seems not to be the kind of thing you would want to do in a charter.7