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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-10-2013 Chap 8 Updates CHAPTER 8 1 2 (Draft Version dated March 10, 2013) 3 PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS AND SPECIA L ASSESSMENTS 4 5 Section 8.01. Power to Make Improvements and Levy Assessments.. 6 The City may make any type of public improvement Public Improvement not forbidden by law and levy 7 MN Statutes or this Charter 8 All Public Improvements which may levy and collect assessments or fees for any portion of, or act to 9 complete, the improvement shall exclusively be processes under the control of this Chapter and the 10 Charter, as a whole. 11 12 8.02 Definitions – Application. For the purpose of this chapter, the terms defined in this section, shall 13 have the meanings ascribed to them. 14 15 Assessment District: The collection of all benefited properties, which shall be specifically 16 identified in the Notice of Hearing for a proposed Local Improvement Plan and published in the 17 official newspaper. Upon Council approval of the Local Improvement Resolution, the collection of 18 all benefited properties specifically identified by County Property Record number in the Resolution 19 and notice sent to the property owner of record prior to the Council action to approve the 20 Resolution. 21 22 Assessment Procedure: as described in MN Statute 429.061, as amended, shall apply to Local 23 Improvement. 24 25 Benefited Property: The property or properties which will be improved or maintained as a result of 26 the improvement being completed. (The benefit to the property shall be identified as a dollar value 27 by the City to the property owner when proposing the improvement. The identified benefit shall not 28 require any type of certification or verification by a third party. The identified benefit may be 29 nullified as a result of a properly filed petition using the Petition Process by the properties for the 30 proposed Assessment District, or individually modified by the Council as a result of an oral request 31 of the property owner directly to the City Council at a City Council meeting. Nothing in this 32 definition will preclude a property owner from their rights under MN Statute 429.081 to appeal an 33 assessment to the District Court. this section to be moved to process area of chapter.) 34 35 City Services: Include those services cited under MN Statutes Chapter 471 (Municipal Powers), as 36 amended, in exchange for the taxes and fees citizens or residents pay. Basic city services may 37 include, but are not limited to, sanitation (both sewer and refuse), water, streets, inspections, public 38 safety (fire department, police, ambulance) snowplowing, and other health department issues. City 39 Services may be delivered directly by a City department, employee, City approved volunteer, 40 authorized and appointed commission, elected official, or be sub-contracted to a third party. 41 42 Dedicated Revenue: Funds, fees, or taxes assessed for a specific Public Improvement or purpose 43 from businesses, citizens and residents of the City. This includes Special Assessments. 44 45 Local Improvement: A Public Improvement done by special assessments to pay all or any part of 46 the cost of assessment under the authority of MN Statute 429.021, as amended, or by other 47 Dedicated Revenue. 48 49 Neighborhood Character: (Provide a high priority to maintain to be moved to process section) The 50 predominate appearance and use of an area. The Neighborhood Character is a about how a 51 neighborhood looks and feels. Many things, such as a single building, can have its own character, 52 but a neighborhood character is the composition of many buildings, streets, parks, plazas, trees, 53 gardens, views, etc. Essentially anything in the local built or natural environments. It can be 54 anchored by an architectural style, or it can be anchored by a feature in the landscape. Character is 55 usually the first thing that visitors notice in a community and one of the first things that residents of 56 that community will embrace. 57 58 Public Improvement: Work, which the City intends to capitalize and is greater than $100K 59 when completed that increases value, brings into a more valuable or desirable condition, or 60 betterment of property, or right-of-way owned by the City, County or State. 61 62 Public Improvement Project: A City Service project comprised of one or more public 63 improvement(s) defined or completed by segments or steps that span multiple years, approved 64 through a single resolution. 65 66 Requirements: A Public Improvement Project will be approved by resolution on a per build-out, 67 per segment process. 68 69 Resolution for a Local or Public Improvement: A resolution, in the proper form, which is for a 70 Public Improvement Project and which shall define or describe all improvements as are of a local 71 character. The to be done for the total project to be completed, its steps or segments, the set of 72 engineering standards to be applied, the benefit to properties involved, the local character to be 73 maintained or modified, the assessment process(es) and(or) the financing method(s) which will be 74 used to pay for the project. A Resolution for Public Improvement Project, whether financed with 75 assessments for any local improvement may not exceed the cost of the improvement, including all 76 costs and expenses connected therewith, with interest. No assessment shall exceed the benefits to the 77 propertyor not, shall have both a public hearing and a public comment period of not less than sixty 78 calendar days. A Public Improvement Project Resolution for multiple years of construction, not in 79 the same geographic location, shall not prevent review and petition, of each annual segment, from 80 the citizen's right to petition the engineering standards or the financing method being applied to the 81 work scheduled for that calendar year. 82 83 SectionService, (conflicts as used in current section 8.02. Effective Charter Provisions. Local 84 improvements (05): 85 86 Special Assessment: Any assessment levied to an individual property or collection of properties 87 which abut or is identified as being improved by, or maintained by, a result of the term "local 88 improvement" shall mean a or public improvement financed partly or wholly from special 89 assessments) shall be carried out exclusively underbeing completed. The Assessment will follow the 90 provisions of this Charterprocess as stated in MN Statute 429.061, as amended, and be controlled by 91 MN Statute 429.051, as amended. 92 93 Section 8.03. Local Improvement Ordinances and Regulations. Within 90 days after this Charter goes 94 into effect, the Council shall enact suitable ordinance(s) governing local improvementsLocal Improvements 95 and special assessmentsSpecial Assessments. The ordinance(s) shall provide a complete working code 96 covering the determination of assessments and assessment Districts, public hearings, appeals from a 97 collection of assessments, penalties for delinquency in making payments, financing of said assessments, 98 and the certifying of unpaid assessments for collection by the proper county officer. Said ordinance(s) 99 shall also provide for installment payments and notices to be given thereof, appellate procedure, re- 100 assessmentreassessment, if necessary, and all other matters appropriate to the subject of local 101 improvementsLocal Improvements and assessments. After the adoption of such ordinance(s) providing 102 for local improvementsLocal Improvements, all procedures in compliance therewith shall conform to 103 the regulations as set forth in such ordinance(s) and as otherwise contained in this Charter. 104 105 Section 8.04. Procedure for Local Improvements funded by Special Assessments. 106 The Council may levy Special Assessments to pay all or any part of the cost of such improvements, 107 as allowed under MN Statute 429.111, as amended. The total assessments for any Public Improvement 108 may not exceed the cost of the improvement, including all costs and expenses, with interest. No individual 109 property assessment shall exceed the benefits to the property. 110 This section prescribes the procedures that shall be followed and applied when Special 111 Assessments will be used for any or all of the financing of any and all Local Improvement in the City of 112 Mounds View. 113 114 Subdivision 1. Local Improvements with Special Assessment Financing 115 A. Initiation: All improvements to be paid for by special assessments shall be initiated by one of the 116 following: a.) a petition (see “8.04 Sub1, B” below) together with a resolution adopted by an 117 affirmative vote of three of the five members of the Council, or; 118 b.) a resolution adopted by an affirmative vote of four of the five members of the Council. 119 B. Qualified Petition and Petitioner. 120 1. Petitions from citizens regarding a proposed Local Improvement project must meet certain 121 criteria. Any petition failing to meet these criteria will receive no consideration by City. 122  First, the Public Improvement petition must be for and include on the petition cover page a 123 specific proposal for a defined geographic area, a specific real property impact, a quantifiable 124 benefit to the City and properties affected, and propose a means of financing which would result in 125 the City capitalizing the improvement. 126  Second, the petition must be of interest to and impact more than a single property, 127  Third, the petition may not request any action which would be a violation of MN Statutes or 128 local ordinances. 129  Fourth, the completed petition consists of one or more pages, gathered together and numbered 130 as a whole into a single document. Each signature page will contain the title of the proposal, the 131 geographic scope, the general change, the proposed financing method and costs to individual 132 property owners, the sponsor’s name, the dated signature and printed name and address of those 133 signing. 134  Fifth, the completed petition will be submitted for qualification review to the City 135 Administrator, or Assistant City Administrator, no later than 180 days from the date of the first 136 signature on the signature pages. 137 Sample petition will be made up by City Staff and available for any property owner or citizen 138 interested in sponsoring a petition. 139 2. Petitioners are: 140  Any person whose name is listed as owner of the property with the Ramsey County Property 141 Records Office is to be recognized by the City as the property owner. 142  Any person who is the owner of a benefited property in a proposed Local Improvement, is a 143 qualified person to propose, circulate, and sign a petition. 144  Any person whose name appears on a petition may withdraw their name by a statement in 145 writing filed with the Council before such petition is presented to the Council. 146 3. Petitions must be submitted and conducted by a benefited property owner(s).A qualified petition 147 will have the signatures of at minimum twenty-five percent of the benefited property owners in the 148 proposed Local Improvement area. City Staff shall provide any benefited property owner the 149 complete list of names of property owners for a proposed Local Improvement area. 150 4. City Staff shall qualify petition based on items 8.04.Subd B: Ph1, 2, and 3 previous. City Staff 151 shall report receipt of all petitions for Local Improvements. The report shall include the primary 152 petitioner, the proposed improvement and whether the petition was qualified or not for Council 153 consideration. 154 C. Council Resolution – 155 City Staff will present all properly qualified petitions in the form of a resolution to the Council 156 within 60 calendar days of receipt of the petition by the City Administrator or Assistant City 157 Administrator. For all Local Improvement proposals the Council resolution shall state the purpose 158 and scope of the proposed improvement, the benefited properties, and the estimated average Special 159 Assessment amount to be assigned per benefited property. The City Staff shall establish a list of the 160 benefited addresses and property owners and a cost estimate both in common unit price and in total 161 proposed project. 162 D. Public Hearing and Notice 163 Upon receipt of a qualified Local or Public Improvement Resolution, the Council shall by resolution 164 set a date for a public hearing on the proposed improvement. The resolution will set the time, place 165 and purpose of the public hearing 166 1. The resolution shall be published in the City Newsletter twice and at least one week apart no 167 less than two weeks prior to the date of stated hearing. A copy of the resolution, including 168 estimated unit prices and total price, shall be mailed to each benefited property owner, at 169 owner's last known address, at least two weeks prior to the date of stated hearing. Failure to 170 give mailed notice, or any defects in the notice, shall not invalidate the proceedings. 171 2. At the proposed improvement hearing the City Council shall summarize to those in attendance 172 the City Staff's written and oral statements about the purpose of the proposed improvement and 173 costs per benefited property. The City Council shall hear any resident’s agreement or 174 disagreement with the proposed improvement. The Council or City Staff shall answer 175 questions presented by the public where feasible or known answers exist. The City Council will 176 accept written petitions if presented at the meeting. 177 E. Public Confirmation and Objection Period 178 1. A period of sixty days shall elapse after the public hearing before any further Council action or 179 non-City staff expenses shall be expended on the proposed improvement. If within this sixty 180 day period, a petition signed by a majority of the owners proposed to be assessed for the 181 improvement is filed against the improvement the Council shall not make such improvement at 182 the expense of the property benefited, unless in the same sixty day period a majority of the 183 benefited properties owners file a petition requesting the improvement proceed as proposed. If 184 the petition requests changes but is not against the proposed improvement, the Council and City 185 Staff will review the proposed changes and estimate the total project cost resulting from the 186 requested changes, as if the alternative was part of the original proposal. The proposed changes 187 shall not delay or change the sixty day waiting period. 188 2. At the end of the sixty day period the Council shall pass a resolution: 189 1. Approving the proposed improvement, as originally proposed, if no properly qualified 190 petition against it is received, 191 2. Approve the proposed improvement as modified by a properly qualified petition request, if 192 a modifying petition request is received and agreeable to the Council, or 193 3. Shall cancel the proposed improvement if a properly qualified petition against such 194 proposed improvement is received and no majority signed petition is received requesting the 195 Council proceed as originally proposed or modified. 196 197 198 199 200 Subdivision 2. (Brian proposes that this subdivision be withdrawn totally from the Charter as the 201 condition is addressed in Subdivision 1 above remaining subdivision would be renumbered). 202 203 Subdivision 3. When a proposed improvement is allowed under the foregoing subdivisions the Council 204 may proceed at any time between sixty days and one year after the public hearing on the improvement. 205 However, no contract shall be let in the event that the current proposed contract exceeds the estimated 206 cost by more than ten percent. 207 208 Subdivision 4. When a proposed improvement is disallowed under the foregoing subdivisions, the 209 Council shall not vote on the same improvement within a period of one year after the public hearing on 210 said improvement. 211 212 213 Section 8.05. Procedure for Public Improvements not funded by Special Assessment 214 The Council may pay all the cost of Local or Public Improvements without Special Assessment to 215 the Benefited Property. The Council may utilize fund balances of dedicated funds previously collected for 216 the purpose of Local or Public improvement, may allocate a combination of dedicated funds with the 217 General funds to fund the Local or Public improvement, however may not use the General fund for the 218 Local or Public Improvement if the dedicated fund is not fully utilized before General funds are allocated. 219 This section prescribes the procedures that shall be followed and applied when Special 220 Assessments are not used for any of the financing of Local or Public Improvement in the City of Mounds 221 View. 222 223 Subdivision 1. Local Improvements with Dedicated Fund Financing 224 A. Initiation: All improvements to be paid for by Dedicated fund shall be initiated by one of the 225 following: a.) a petition (see “8.05 Sub1, B” below) together with a resolution adopted by an 226 affirmative vote of three of the five members of the Council, or; 227 b.) a resolution adopted by an affirmative vote of four of the five members of the Council. 228 B. Qualified Petition and Petitioner. 229 1. Petitions from citizens regarding a proposed Local Improvement project must meet certain 230 criteria. Any petition failing to meet these criteria will receive no consideration by City. 231  First, the Public Improvement petition must be for and include on the petition cover page a 232 specific proposal for a defined geographic area, a specific real property impact, a quantifiable 233 benefit to the City and properties affected, and propose the Dedicated Funds account to be 234 allocated for the financing. 235  Second, the petition must be of interest to and impact more than a single property, 236  Third, the petition may not request any action which would be a violation of MN Statutes or 237 local ordinances. 238  Fourth, the completed petition consists of one or more pages, gathered together and numbered 239 as a whole into a single document. Each signature page will contain the title of the proposal, the 240 geographic scope, the general change, the proposed financing method and costs to individual 241 property owners, the sponsor’s name, the dated signature and printed name and address of those 242 signing. 243  Fifth, the completed petition will be submitted for qualification review to the City 244 Administrator, or Assistant City Administrator, no later than 180 days from the date of the first 245 signature on the signature pages. 246  Sample petition will be made up b y City Staff and available for any property owner or citizen 247 interested in sponsoring a petition. 248 249 2. Petitioners are: 250  Any person whose name is listed as owner of the property with the Ramsey County Property 251 Records Office is to be recognized by the City as the property owner. 252  Any person who is the owner of a benefited property in a proposed Local Improvement, is a 253 qualified person to propose, circulate, and sign a petition. 254  Any person whose name appears on a petition may withdraw their name by a statement in 255 writing filed with the Council before such petition is presented to the Council. 256 3. Petitions must be submitted and conducted by a benefited property owner(s).A qualified petition 257 will have the signatures of at minimum twenty-five percent of the benefited property owners in the 258 proposed Local Improvement area. City Staff shall provide any benefited property owner the 259 complete list of names of property owners for a proposed Local Improvement area. 260 4. City Staff shall qualify petition based on items 8.05.Subd B:Ph 1,2, and 3 previous. City Staff 261 shall report receipt of all petitions for Local Improvements. The report shall include the primary 262 petitioner, the proposed improvement and whether the petition was qualified or not for Council 263 consideration. 264 C. Council Resolution – 265 City Staff will present all properly qualified petitions in the form of a resolution to the Council 266 within 60 calendar days of receipt of the petition by the City Administrator or Assistant City 267 Administrator. For all Local Improvement proposals the Council resolution shall state the purpose 268 and scope of the proposed improvement, the benefited properties, and the estimated Dedicated Fund 269 or General Fund balance to be allocated to the improvement. The City Staff shall establish a list of 270 the benefited addresses and property owners with an average per property investment amount that is 271 being proposed along with total proposed project. 272 D. Public Hearing and Notice 273 Upon receipt of a qualified Local or Public Improvement Resolution, the Council shall by resolution 274 set a date for a public hearing on the proposed improvement. The resolution will set the time, place 275 and purpose of the public hearing 276 1. The resolution shall be published in the City Newsletter twice and at least one week apart no 277 less than two weeks prior to the date of stated hearing. A copy of the resolution, including 278 estimated unit prices and total price shall be mailed to each benefited property owner, at 279 owner's last known address, at least two weeks prior to the date of stated hearing. Failure to 280 give mailed notice, or any defects in the notice, shall not invalidate the proceedings. 281 2. At the proposed improvement hearing the City Council shall summarize to those in attendance 282 the City Staff's written and oral statements about the purpose of the proposed improvement and 283 costs per benefited property. The City Council shall hear any resident’s agreement or 284 disagreement with the proposed improvement. The Council or City Staff shall answer 285 questions presented by the public where feasible or known answers exist. The City Council will 286 accept written petitions if presented at the meeting. 287 E. Public Confirmation and Objection Period 288 1. A period of sixty days shall elapse after the public hearing before any further Council action or 289 non-City staff expenses shall be expended on the proposed improvement. If within this sixty 290 day period, a petition signed by a majority of the owners proposed to be assessed for the 291 improvement is filed against the improvement the Council shall not make such improvement at 292 the expense of the property benefited, unless in the same sixty day period a majority of the 293 benefited properties owners file a petition requesting the improvement proceed as proposed. If 294 the petition requests changes but is not against the proposed improvement, the Council and City 295 Staff will review the proposed changes and estimate the total project cost resulting from the 296 requested changes, as if the alternative was part of the original proposal. The proposed changes 297 shall not delay or change the sixty day waiting period. 298 2. At the end of the sixty day period the Council shall pass a resolution: 299 1. Approving the proposed improvement, as originally proposed, if no properly qualified 300 petition against it is received, 301 2. Approve the proposed improvement as modified by a properly qualified petition request, if 302 a modifying petition request is received and agreeable to the Council, or 303 3. Shall cancel the proposed improvement if a properly qualified petition against such 304 proposed improvement is received and no majority signed petition is received requesting the 305 Council proceed as originally proposed or modified. 306 307 Section 8.06. Procedure. 308 309 Subdivision 1. All improvements to be paid for by special assessments against the benefited property 310 shall be instituted by either, (1) the petition of at least twenty--five percent in number of the benefited property 311 owners together with a resolution adopted by an affirmative vote of the majority of all of the Council, or, (2) a 312 resolution adopted by a four--fifths affirmative vote of all of the Council. The Council resolution shall state 313 the nature and scope of the proposed improvement, and shall provide means to obtain a cost estimate which 314 shall set forth the cost of the improvement both in unit price and in total thereof. Upon receipt of such 315 estimate, the Council shall by resolution set a date for a public hearing on the proposed improvement, setting 316 forth therein the time, place and purpose of such hearing. Such resolution shall be described in the City 317 Newsletter and published twice at least one week apart in the official newspaper of the City no less than two 318 weeks prior to the date of said hearing, and in addition thereto, a copy of such resolution including estimated 319 unit prices and estimated total price thereof shall be mailed to each benefited property owner at owner's last 320 known address at least two weeks prior to the date of said hearing. Failure to give mailed notice, or any 321 defects in the notice, shall not invalidate the proceedings. At such hearing the City Council shall receive any 322 written and oral statements, and hear any petitioners for or against the proposed improvement. A period of 323 sixty days shall elapse after the public hearing before any further action shall be taken by the Council on the 324 proposed improvement. If within such sixty day period, a petition against such improvement be filed with the 325 Council, signed by a majority of the owners proposed to be assessed for the improvement, or, when the 326 improvement has been petitioned for, signed by a number of the owners proposed to be assessed for such 327 improvement at least equal to the number of those who petitioned for the improvement, the Council shall not 328 make such improvement at the expense of the property benefited, unless, in the meantime, there be filed with 329 the Council a petition asking that the improvement be made, signed by property owners proposed to be 330 assessed for such improvement at least equal in number to those who signed the petition against the 331 improvement; in which event the Council may disregard the petition against the improvement. Any person 332 whose name appears on a petition to the Council for a local improvement, or on a petition to the Council 333 against a local improvement, may withdraw their name by a statement in writing filed with the Council before 334 such petition is presented to the Council. 335 336 Subdivision 2. Regardless of the provisions in Subdivision 1, when less than 100 percent of the 337 estimated cost of a proposed local improvement is to be paid for by special assessment, within the sixty day 338 period after a public hearing has been held on the proposed improvement, a petition may be filed with the 339 Council, signed by a majority of the number of electors who voted for Mayor in the last regular municipal 340 election, protesting against either the improvement, or the assessment formula, or both. In this event, the 341 Council shall not proceed with the improvement, as proposed. 342 343 Subdivision 3. When a proposed improvement is allowed under the foregoing subdivisions the 344 Council may proceed at anytimeany time between sixty days and one year after the public hearing on the 345 improvement. However, no contract shall be let in the event that the current proposed contract exceeds the 346 estimated cost by more than ten percent. 347 348 Subdivision 4. When a proposed improvement is disallowed under the foregoing subdivisions, the 349 Council shall not vote on the same improvement within a period of one year after the public hearing on 350 said improvement. 351 352 Subdivision 4. When a proposed improvement is disallowed under the foregoing subdivisions, the 353 Council shall not vote on the same improvement within a period of one year after the public hearing on said 354 improvement. 355 356 Section 8.0507. Assessments for Services. The Council may provide by ordinance that the 357 cost of City services to streets, sidewalks, or other public or private property may be assessed against 358 property benefited and may be collected in the same manner as special assessments. Such costs shall not be 359 deemed to be "special assessments" for the purposes set forth in Section 8.03 of this chapter. 360