Resolution adopting Final Assessments on Capital Improvement Project 11084; Victory Drive Signal and Lighting Improvements Project.

Adoption of attached resolution.

The current agenda item is to conclude the Chapter 429 special assessment process by conducting the final assessment hearing and then Council to consider adoption of the final assessment by Resolution for Capital Improvement Project 11084; Victory Drive Signal and Lighting Improvements Project.
 
A preliminary assessment hearing was conducted for this project on November 12, 2024, in the Council Chambers of the Intergovernmental Center in Mankato, Minnesota. At the hearing, there were no objections, the project was ordered and the preliminary assessment roll was adopted. The City’s past practice has been to conduct a second final assessment hearing using the actual costs of the project and send a notice to property owners to account for any changes in the assessment from what was approved at the preliminary assessment hearing.
 
When comparing the final roll with the preliminary roll, the following was concluded:

• Properties with only a streetlight assessment have a final assessment matching the preliminary roll. The streetlight assessment was calculated based on the measured frontage multiplied by the approved commercial lighting rate per front foot of frontage.
• Properties with a traffic signal assessment have a final assessment less than the preliminary roll. The decrease is due to unused construction contingency and decreased construction engineering costs.
   

Property owners have been informed of the amount to be specially assessed against each parcel, that the council may adopt the assessment roll at the hearing, the right of the property owner to prepay the entire assessment, that prepayment may be made without assessment of interest, and the proposed interest rate on the assessment. For assessments not paid in full, the assessment amount will be certified to Blue Earth County Taxpayer Services for collection with property taxes over a ten- or fifteen-year period with an annual interest rate of 4.5%.
 
Assessments are payable over 10 or 15 years, depending on the amount of the assessment. Deferrals are available for property owners who are over 65 years of age, retired by disability, or call to active duty in which paying the assessment would represent a hardship. Interest does accrue on deferred assessments. 
 
The final assessment shall be payable in equal annual installments with the first installment to be payable on or before the first Monday in January 2026, and shall bear interest at the rate of four and one-half percent (4.5%) per annum from the date of the adoption of the final assessment resolution. Any deferred installments shall bear interest at four and one-half (4.5%) per annum beginning January 1, 2026. To each subsequent installment, when due, interest shall be added for one year on all unpaid installments.
 
Property owners were also informed of their right and the process for appealing their proposed special assessment. In accordance with State Statute, if property owners have any objection to the proposed assessment on their property, they must either present a written objection, signed by an owner, and file with the City Clerk at 10 Civic Center Plaza, Mankato, Minnesota, 56001, and/or appear at the hearing and personally object to the proposed assessment before the council.
 
State law requires that at the final assessment hearing, or at any adjournment thereof, the Council shall hear and pass upon all objections to the proposed assessment, whether presented orally or in writing. The council may amend the proposed assessment as to any parcel and, by resolution, adopt the same as the special assessment against the lands named in the assessment roll. Notice of the date, time, and location of any adjournment of the hearing shall either be stated during the meeting, as reflected in the minutes, or the City may provide notice in the same manner as required by statute for notice of assessment hearings generally.
 
An owner may appeal an assessment to district court pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 429.081 by serving notice of the appeal upon the mayor or clerk of the city within 30 days after the adoption of the assessment and filing such notice with the district court within ten days after service upon the mayor or clerk. No appeal to district court may be taken as to the amount of an assessment unless a written objection signed by the affected property owner is filed with the municipal clerk prior to the assessment hearing or presented to the presiding officer at the hearing.
 
At the time of this report, the City Clerk has received no letters of objection from any property owners.