§ A281-2. General assessment policies.

A. 

Initiation of improvements. Improvements may be initiated by the City Council or by petition of not less than 35% of the affected property owners. Petitions requesting improvements will be received by the Council until the last day of August of the year prior to the year of requested construction. Petitions after this date will be received only upon special consent of the Council. The City Council shall, by resolution, determine whether or not the petition has been signed by the required percentage of owners of the property affected by such petition.

B. 

Procedure. The City Council shall, by resolution, adopt a procedure for the implementation of the local improvement process. A copy of the procedure shall be kept on file in the office of the City Clerk-Treasurer and appended to this policy manual. The procedure shall outline the steps to be followed in determining the need for an improvement and adopting assessments.

C. 

Project cost. The "project cost" of an improvement shall be deemed to include the cost of all necessary construction work required to accomplish the improvement, plus expenses incurred or to be incurred in making the improvement, including engineering, legal, administrative, financing, right-of-way, and other contingent cost.

D. 

City cost. Where the project cost of an improvement is not entirely attributable to the need for service to the areas served by said improvement, or where unusual conditions beyond the control of the property owners in the area served by the improvement would result in an inequitable distribution of special assessments, the City, through the use of other funds, may pay such "City costs" which, in the opinion of the City Council, represents those costs not directly attributable to the area served.

E. 

Assessable cost. The "assessable cost" of an improvement shall be defined as those costs which, in the opinion of the City Council, are attributable to the need for service in the areas served by the improvement and are not in excess of the special benefit conveyed to the property by the improvements. Said assessable cost shall be equal to the project cost of the current project as defined above, minus City cost as defined above, minus other financial assistance applied to the project.

F. 

Use of other funds. If financial assistance is received from the federal government, from the State of Minnesota, or from any other source to defray a portion of the cost of a given improvement, such aid will first be used to reduce the City cost of the improvement. If the financial assistance received is greater than the normal City cost, the remainder of the aid will be used to reduce the special assessments against the benefiting properties. Such reductions will be applied on a pro-rata basis.

G. 

City property. City-owned property, including municipal building sites, parks, and playgrounds, but not including public streets and alleys shall be regarded as being assessable on the same basis as if such property was privately owned.

H. 

Distribution of assessments. The assessable costs of the improvement shall be distributed among the affected property owners according to one of the procedures outlined in § A281-3.

(1) 

Adjusted frontage shall be expressed to the nearest foot.

(2) 

"Area" shall be defined as the gross area of the parcel or lot which is benefitted, in terms of square feet or acres. All property within district boundaries is to be included. District boundaries shall be determined by the Superintendent of Streets or the City Engineer.

(3) 

Unit or lot: When the City Council determines that the assessable cost would be more equitably distributed on a unit basis, the assessable unit may be the lot or other equitable unit adopted by the Council.

(4) 

Measures of dimension, distance, or size shall be based on recorded platting data, wherever possible.

I. 

Application of policy. In the event the literal application of the provisions delineated herein would result in an inequitable distribution of special assessments, the City Council reserves the right to adjust the policy so as to achieve a more equitable distribution. Such adjustment may be based on current or anticipated land use.

J. 

Time of assessments. Levying of assessments generally occurs in the current year of construction.