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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-22-2012 Ericson Memo to Commission2401 Highway 10 ® Mounds View, MN 55112-1499 Phone: 763.717.4000 ® Fax: 763.717.4019 October 22, 2012 Jason Reiling 2467 Clearview Avenue Mounds View, MN 55112 RE: Charter Commission Correspondence Dear Jason, I sent the attached email out to Charter Commission members on Friday of last week, and your message bounced back to me. I had "replied all" to Chair Thomas's last email and your address was apparently undeliverable. Do you have a new email address or was there simply a hiccup in the mail servers Friday? To sum up the attached message, I'm simply asking that the Commission consider some possible changes to the proposed language, pointing out potential issues which may or may not have been considered. The City Council and I appreciate all the work the Commission is doing to update the Charter to ensure it is easy to understand and relevant, however I remain concerned that by amending this Chapter, Section 8.01 specifically, more problems may be created than the problems it intends to resolve. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to give me a call Sincerely, Jim Ericson City Administrator Encl. Equal Opportunity Employer .WMIMM4TV From: Jim Ericson Sent: Friday, October 19, 2012 5:19 PM To: 'JThomas'; Jason Refiling; Brian Amundsen; Jim Battin; James Miller Cc: Mark Beer; Nick DeBar Subject: Charter Commission Meeting - Oct 10 12, 2012 Attachments: Chp8upd_9-12-12.pdf Good afternoon Charter Commission Members. I've had an opportunity to watch the Commission's Oct 10th meeting and review the Chapter 8 draft version dated Sep 12, 2012, and have a few observations and comments to share. I apologize in advance for the long (LONG!) message but feel the points are worth articulating. First, there was some discussion about Line 5. I too wondered about the draft language and I'm not sure how that was resolved. I'll await the revised version before the next meeting. Keep in mind that the City adopts a Tax Levy. We do not levy "revenues" or "dedicated revenues", although clearly the taxes levied represent revenues of the City, once collected. We can levy taxes FOR dedicated purposes, of course, which is essentially what we do every year when we adopt a budget --a certain amount is levied for administration, a certain amount is levied for public safety, a certain amount is levied for the street improvement program, and so on. Regarding the proposed definition of Dedicated Revenue in Line 44, is it intended to be limited to ONLY dollars collected through an assessment process? The word "assess" or "assessed" would suggest the act of certifying a special assessment upon a property. The word "collected" would seem to convey a more generic and appropriate description, in my opinion. Still in Line 44/45, if "Dedicated Revenue" means monies collected for a "specific public improvement or purpose..." then ALL taxes levied and collected would be defined as Dedicated Revenue, as the general fund levy supports very specific purposes within the operation of the City. "Public Improvement" alone in the definition would make sense, but not the addition of "or purpose". Finally, to close out this definition in Line 44/45, and I paraphrase, "dedicated revenues are monies collected for a specific public improvement from businesses, citizens and residents of the City." Is it not redundant to indicate citizens and residents? Who are these citizens of the city? In line 6, to restate what I indicate above, I think "collect" is preferable over "assess" for the reasons noted, especially since it looks like you were intending to remove assessment in the first place. What about the following, instead: "The City may make any type of public improvement not forbidden by law, and collect dedicated revenue to pay all or any part of the cost..." But removing or separating this Chapter from special assessments would seem to pose other issues that would need to be addressed. At the tail end of the above sentence in Line 7, the reference to "as are of a local character" would no longer seem to apply with the expanded reference to dedicated revenue. For example, let's say the City decides to levy taxes for a city-wide parks improvement program. (We already levy taxes to maintain the parks.) Clearly such a program would be a public improvement, but how does that reconcile with the "as are of a local character" 1 qualifier? Or we can use the Streets Program as an example. Clearly it's a public improvement, but I don't think we can say it's of a local character. I would assert that any city-wide improvement or program on its face is NOT of a local character. In my line of thinking, it seems that the "local character" qualifier was there specifically to tie back to special assessments. If we're no longer talking about special assessments strictly, then I don't think it makes sense to retain the limiting "local character" qualifier. Continuing on in Section 8.01, in lines 9 & 10, if the Commission eliminates the connection to special assessments, the following sentence would no longer seem to apply: "No collection of dedicated revenue shall exceed the benefits to the property." This clause relates to special assessments. With the expansion of dedicated revenue to include OTHER sources of revenue (tax levies, fees, funds) the ability to show "benefit" becomes a challenge. When assessments are NOT part of a project's funding, requiring that the City show a direct benefit to the individual property owner would be impractical --if not impossible --to do, and could add significant cost to the project attempting conduct such analyses. As a result of all the proposed changes, the next line in Section 8.01 (Lines 10/11) contradicts the process and procedures relating to public improvements paid for with dedicated revenues: "This Chapter does not apply to public improvements funded only with general funds or bonding." If the public improvement is not paid for in part or whole using special assessments, then it is paid for using tax dollars, in which case this chapter does not apply. This clause again is based on the notion of assessment or no assessments. Leaving this line in the Charter will negate almost all of the additional limitations being proposed by the Commission. An exception to the above would include the water tower reconditioning project --a project funded wholly through enterprise funds. Another exception would be the new park buildings at Random Park (and Hillview and Groveland Parks before it) which were paid using Park Dedication Fund dollars. These two projects then WOULD be covered under the Chapter, thus we'd have to show a benefit to property owners. How? Finally (regarding Section 8.01, anyway) the new sentence starting on Line 11 could be worded differently: The sentence begins, "All public improvements which may levy and collect Dedicated Revenue...." An "improvement" cannot levy or collect revenue. Perhaps it should read, " All public improvements FUNDED WITH ANY LEVEL OF Dedicated Revenue shall be exclusively controlled by this Chapter...." Or something similar. The sentence goes on to say that such projects "shall exclusively be controlled by this Chapter and the Charter, as a whole..." Since in reality every "public improvement" is funded and implemented using dedicated revenues, this sentence seems to contradict the preceding sentence, which excludes improvements paid for using general funds. Unless the Commission intends to clarify the definition of dedicated revenues to exclude general funds or bonds, it would seem that one of these two clauses at the end of 8.01 would need to change. OK, moving on to the definitions... z Assessment District: This definition is confusing. Did it come from statutes? What is a Local Improvement Plan? It's "capped" so is there a corresponding definition? The following phrase seems particularly difficult to translate: "Upon Council approval of the Local Improvement Resolution, the collection of all benefitted properties specifically identified by County Property Record number in the resolution and notice sent to the property owner of record prior to the Council action to approve the resolution." After reading that three times, I'm fairly certain something is missing because as it reads, it's not even a complete sentence. Benefitted Property: This definition needs to be tweaked as well. It says, "The property or properties which will be improved or maintained as a result of the improvement being completed." With very limited exception, the city will not undertake any improvement upon private property, which this definition seems to suggest. I also have questions about the "procedural" language that follows but will refrain from commenting until such a procedural section has been prepared. City Services. The word "sited" in the first sentence should be "cited". Dedicated Revenue. I think the definition is too broad. Does this include special assessment dollars? See comments above. Local Improvement. The change proposed by adding the words "or by other dedicated revenue" negates the need to have a separate definition. The Charter presently defines a local improvement as "a public improvement financed partly or wholly from special Assessments." The proposed change makes "Public Improvement" and "Local Improvement" the very same thing, in essence. Local Character. I disagree with the definition as proposed. Local character simply means that the improvement is one in which the benefits are limited to a smaller area of the City and thus warranting or justifying the use of a special assessment against the benefitting properties. The City determines the benefitting properties and the resident has the right to appeal any such inclusion or assessment, per statute, 429.081. It is NOT in the City's best interest to broadly interpret a benefitting area as appeals cost the City money and will often delay the implementation of a project. Public Improvement. As I've stated previously, I think the definition is overly broad. Work done to increase value or bring about a more desirable condition? Cutting the grass in the right of way, plowing the streets, replacing a sidewalk panel, fixing a pothole would all be considered public improvements according to the definition. Granted, the statutory definition of Improvement in statutes (429.081) is quite extensive in and of itself, so not sure what to suggest. Public Improvement Project. This definition builds on an overly broad definition of Public Improvement and City Services, and includes procedural steps, which I'll refrain from commenting upon until that section is prepared and considered. That said, a Public Improvement Project is specifically defined as multi-year project completed in segments or steps. That being the case, in reality, almost all projects undertaken by the City would NOT be a Public Improvement Project, since most projects are completed in one year or less. One could argue ONLY the Street and Utility Improvement Program would be considered a Public Improvement Project. Was it the Commission's intent to create such a limiting definition? I fear however that the narrow definition could be construed to include normal maintenance operations (city services) which may be segmented over many years, such as testing 20% of stormwater ponds on an annual basis, or inspecting 25% of the rental units on an annual basis, or striping 30% of the roads on an annual basis, or seal -coating roads every five years, etc. 3 While I did not want to address procedural issues, I'll make just one statement (assuming anyone is still reading at this point): As was stated at a recent Charter Commission meeting and as proposed in the draft provisions to Chapter 8, one intent of the Commission in revising this Chapter is to empower residents with the ability to petition against a street project despite there being no special assessments. Has the Commission discussed the rationale behind why an expansion of the right to petition is warranted? In conclusion (I know, FINALLY, you think!) I look at Chapter 8 as a complex series of interwoven controls relating to public improvements delicately balanced upon the premise of special assessments. If you remove the special assessment linchpin, and in its place insert something different, the entire chapter begins to wobble under the weight of unintended consequences. It would almost make more sense to leave the chapter as it is, and simply create a NEW section to address the process/procedure for projects that do NOT incorporate assessments (in part or whole) as a funding source. That way, the integrity of the chapter relating to special assessments is preserved while at the same time resolving the perceived need to address projects NOT funded through special assessments. I know the Commission has already invested significant time into the proposed revisions and I do not mean to minimize or dismiss any efforts up to this point, I simply offer the suggestion as an alternative for your collective consideration moving forward, with all due respect. If anyone has questions, feel free to call or write. I'll plan on attending the next meeting if anyone feels that would be helpful. Again, sorry for the prolific message. Best regards, Jim Ericson City Administrator City of Mounds View 2401 County Road 10 Mounds View, MN 55112 763-717-4001 (phone) 763-717-4019 (Fax) 763-464-9644 (Cell) www.ci.mounds-view.mn.us (Web) BCC: City Council 4 I CHAPTER 8 2 (Draft Version dated Sep 12, 2012) 3 PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS AND DEDICATED REVENUEASSE SMEN -S 4 5 Section 8.01. Power to Make Improvements and Levy-'ssesshiep s collect Dedicated Revenue. The City 6 may make any type of public improvement not forbidden by law and levy and collect dedicated revenue 7cce oto pay all or any part of the cost of such improvements as are of a local character. The 8 total asses� collection of Dedicated Revenue for any local improvement may not exceed the cost of 9 the improvement, including all costs and expenses connected therewith, with interest. No assessn eut 10 collection of Dedicated Revenue shall exceed the benefits to the property. This Chapter does not apply to 11 public improvements funded only with general funds or bonding. All public improvements which may 12 levy and collect Dedicated Revenue for any portion or act to complete the improvement shall exclusively 13 be controlled by this Chapter and the Charter, as a whole. as allowed under MN Statute 429.111. as 14 amended. 15 16 8.02 Definitions – Application. For the purpose of this chapter, the terms defined in this section, shall have 17 the meanings ascribed to them. 18 19 Assessment District: The collection of all benefited properties, which shall be specifically identified in 20 the Notice of Hearing for a proposed Local Improvement Plan and published in the official 21 newspaper. Upon Council approval of the Local Improvement Resolution, the collection of all 22 benefited properties specifically identified by County Property Record number in the Resolution and 23 notice sent to the property owner of record prior to the Council action to approve the Resolution. 24 25 Assessment Procedure: as described in MN Statute 429.061, as amended, shall apply to this chapter. 26 27 Benefited Property: The property or properties which will be improved or maintained as a result of the 28 improvement being completed. (The benefit to the property shall be identified as a dollar value to the 29 property owner by the City when proposing the improvement. The identified benefit shall not require 30 any type of certification or verification by a third party. The identified benefit may be nullified as a 31 result of a properly filed petition using the Petition Process by the properties for the proposed 32 Assessment District, or individually modified by the Council as a result of an oral request of the 33 property owner directly to the City Council at a City Council meeting. Nothing in this definition will 34 preclude a property owner from their rights under MN Statute 429.081 to appeal an assessment to the 35 District Court. this section to be moved to process area of chapter.) 36 37 City Services: Include those services sited under MN Statutes Chapter 471 (Municipal Powers), as 38 amended, in exchange for the taxes and fees citizens or residents pay. Basic city services may include, 39 but are not limited to, sanitation (both sewer and refuse), water, streets, inspections, public safety (fire 40 department, police, ambulance) snowplowing, and other health department issues. City Services may 41 be delivered directly by a City deparlhnent, employee, City approved volunteer, authorized and 42 appointed commission, elected official, or be sub -contracted to a third party. 43 44 ( Dedicated RevenueAssess;;:e .t: Funds. fees, or taxesAssessment collected for a specific public 45 improvement or purpose from business, citizens and residents of the City. 46 47 Local Improvement: A public improvement done by special assessment under the authority of MN 48 Statute 429.021, as amended, or by other Dedicated Revenue. 49 50 Local Character: (Provide a high priority to maintain to be moved to process section) The 51 predominate appearance and use of an area. 52 53 Public Improvement: Work done that increases value, brings into a more valuable or desirable 54 condition, or betterment of property, or right-of-way owned by the City, County or State. 55 56 Public Improvement Project: A City Service project comprised of one or more public 57 improvement(s) defined or completed by segments or steps that span multiple years, approved 58 through a single resolutions which shall define or describe all improvements to be done for the 59 total project to be completed, its steps or segments, the set of engineering standards to be applied, 60 the benefit to properties involved, the local character to be maintained or modified, the 61 assessment proeess(es) and(or) the financing method(s) which will be used to pay for the project. 62 A Public Improvement Project, whether financed with assessments or not, shall have both a 63 public hearing and a public comment period of not less than sixty calendar days. A Public 64 Improvement Project or Resolution shall not prevent each annual segment from the citizen's 65 right to petition the engineering standards or the financing method being applied to work 66 scheduled for that calendar year, to be moved to process section 67 68 Requirements: A Public Improvement Project will be approved by resolution on a per build -out, 69 per segment process. 70 71 Service, (conflicts as used in current section 8.05): 72 73 Special Assessment: Any assessment made to an individual property or collection of properties which 74 abut or is identified as being improved by, or maintained by, a result of the local or public 75 improvement being completed. The Assessment will follow the process as stated in MN Statute 76 429.061, as amended, and be controlled by MN Statute 429.05 Las amended. 77 78 Section 8.03. Local Improvement Ordinances and Regulations. Within 90 days after this Charter goes 79 into effect, the Council shall enact suitable ordinance(s) governing local improvements and special 80 assessments. The ordinance(s) shall provide a complete working code covering the determination of 81 assessments and assessment Districts, public hearings, appeals from a collection of assessments, 82 penalties for delinquency in making payments, financing of said assessments, and the certifying of 83 unpaid assessments for collection by the proper county officer. Said ordinance(s) shall also provide for 84 installment payments and notices to be given thereof, appellate procedure, reassessment, if necessary, 85 and all other matters appropriate to the subject of local improvements and assessments. After the 86 adoption of such ordinance(s) providing for local improvements, all procedures in compliance therewith 87 shall conform to the regulations as set forth in such ordinance(s) and as otherwise contained in this 88 Charter.