Review draft Special Assessment Policy for City Improvement Projects.

On May 20^th the Public Works Committee directed staff to develop a draft Special Assessments Policy to establish how special assessments are to be levied against properties benefiting from various types of City improvement projects, including street reconstruction projects. As was discussed at the time, even if special assessments are not needed to fund improvement projects it would be advantageous to the City to have an adopted assessment policy.  Then on June 25^th the Charter Commission voted to amend Section 8.4.5 of the City Charter to increase the percentage of property owners required to petition against Council initiated public improvements utilizing special assessments as a funding source from greater than 50% to greater than 60%.  The effect of this amendment will make it harder for the public to petition against Council initiated improvement projects.
 
In light of the above actions, and considering the inability to apply Franchise Fees to fund street reconstruction projects in the foreseeable future, City staff has developed the attached draft Special Assessments Policy for review by the Public Works Committee this evening.  The attached draft policy was developed from the model Special Assessments Policy prepared by Ehlers and Associates, Inc. as posted on the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) web site, and is intended to be a work in progress.  Staff amended the model policy to address any considerations relevant to the City of Ramsey as tabulated below.  If any of these considerations are determined to be unnecessary they can be removed from the draft policy. Conversely, additional considerations can be added to the draft policy.

30 minutes

The following considerations are addressed in the attached draft Special Assessments Policy.

• Subgrade corrections
• Rural to urban street conversions
• Double fronting properties
• Corner properties
• Property classification/zoning
• Property size/density (large lot vs. small lot)
• Property shape/configuration
• Front footage versus per unit rate application

Pending the outcome of the Committee’s discussion and direction to staff, any of the above considerations can be deleted or expanded upon in the draft policy for future consideration and discussion.  Additional considerations can also be added to the draft policy as needed.
 
As has previously been discussed, special assessments at the minimum rate of 20% for street reconstruction projects may exceed $10,000, particularly on larger lots greater than an acre in area.  This amount is significantly more than property owners in the City of Ramsey have been assessed in the past for seal-coat and overlay projects.  Such assessments have generally been $2,000 or less for residential properties, and $7,000 or less for commercial/industrial properties.

On May 20^th the Public Works Committee also directed staff to research other cities special assessments policies to see how some other cities address specific situations and apply special considerations in assessing their property owners for public improvements.  Staff has since obtained assessment policies from other cities that apply special assessments to fund their public improvements.  Attached are copies of the assessment policies for Andover, Blaine and Champlin. Several other assessment policies were obtained and will be available for review at the meeting as needed.  At the time this case was published, staff was tabulating pertinent information from these policies and will present this tabulation during the Public Works Committee meeting.


The attached draft policy was developed by the Engineering Department.  Staff from other city departments did not formally review the draft policy before it was published with this case.  However, staff from other departments will be asked to review the draft policy prior to the Public Works Committee meeting and any comments received will be presented to the Committee.  A cursory review of the attached draft policy was completed as related to potential conflicts with language in the City Charter, but should the Public Works Committee direct staff to revise the draft policy and bring it back to the Committee for future discussion, the City Attorney will be asked to review the revised draft policy in detail to ensure there are no conflicts between language in the draft policy and the Charter.
 
Also attached is a Special Assessments Guide developed and distributed by LMC. This guide defines special assessments, discusses a cities authority to levy special assessments for certain improvements and the process that must be followed, and provides other relevant information and web site links that would aid in developing a policy for the City of Ramsey.
 
Also attached is Appendix B as prepared for a Public Works Committee case discussed on January 19, 2010.  This attachment lists the Street Maintenance Program assessment practices used at that time and references some of the dates those practices went into effect.  
 
City staff is waiting to finalize the Garnet Street/168^th Avenue and Andrie Street/164^th Lane Feasibility Reports pending more formal direction on supported funding sources/levels for future street reconstruction projects.

The majority of the Special Assessments Policy can be developed in-house as part of Staff's daily duties however, the City Attorney will need to review the policy one or more times prior to adoption, particularly to ensure it does not conflict with any City Charter provisions.  Also, depending on whether additional research is requested by Committee and/or Council members, some assistance from consultants may be required to finalize the policy.

Staff recommends that the Public Works Committee provide direction to staff for revising the draft Special Assessments Policy, and to direct staff to present the revised draft policy at the September Public Works Committee meeting.  At that time the Committee can either offer additional revisions or recommend approval as drafted by the City Council in October.

Motion directing staff to make revisions to the draft Special Assessments Policy as discussed for further consideration at the September Public Works Committee meeting.