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Home My WebLink About5M - Special Assessment Policy CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT MEETING DATE: January 21, 2003 AGENDA #: 5M PREPARED BY: Frank Boyles, City Manager AGENDA ITEM: CONSIDER APPROVAL OF REVISIONS TO THE CITY ASSESSMENT POLICY DISCUSSION: History: The City's assessment practices are conducted in accordance with Minnesota Statutes. To supplement the statutory requirements, the City has adopted an Assessment Policy to establish further guidelines and procedures for assessing benefiting properties. Current Circumstances: Periodically the provisions of the Assessment Policy are reviewed for conformance to Statute and efficiency in administration. As a result of the most recent Policy review, several changes are recommended. 1. PaQe 12, Section III D. The provisions that provides that assessments be calculated on a front footage basis has been deleted to give the Special Assessment Committee greater flexibility in determining the most equitable assessment method. 2. PaQe 13, Section III, G, H and I. Specificreferences to dollar amounts for fees were deleted to allows the City Council to determined the fees annually. The City Council sets the various fees referred to in the Policy as part of its annual approval of the Fee Schedule. ISSUES: The proposed revision has no substantive impact upon the assessment process. The changes will bring the Policy in conformance with our actual practice. ALTERNATIVES: (1) Motion and Second to approve the revisions to the Assessment Policy as proposed. (2) Take no action or direct staff to provide further information. RECOMMENDED MOTION: Alternative (1). 16200 Eagle Creek Ave. S.E., Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372-1714 / Ph. (612) 447-4230 / Fax (612) 447-4245 I :\COUNCI L \AGN RPTS\2003\ASSESSMENT 1il'O~.DOORTUNITY EMPLOYER SECTION III - Improvement Type Application A. BridJ:!;e Installation The project cost of a bridge is confined to a very limited and restricted area. The benefit conferred to property owners bears little relationship to property size, Rather the benefit is provided on an equal and proportionate basis to the affected property owners. Therefore the unit assessment basis will be used as the most representative and cost effective method of distribution. B. Sidewalk/Bike Path Installation Although construction normally occurs only on one side of the street, channelization and safety of pedestrian traffic is regarded as an overall neighborhood benefit. Therefore it shall be the policy of the City to pay for such improvements from the Collector Street Fund. C. Street, Curb and Gutter The cost of the original installation of a bituminous mat upon an existing gravel base shall be recovered by the adjusted front footage method, The front footage rate shall be determined by dividing the project cost by the total number of adjusted front feet in the project area. D. Street ResurfacinJ:!; Street resurfacing is commonly known and referred to as street overlaying whereby a new bed of road material such as bituminous is installed over an existing paved road to a specific thickness or in the case where the bituminous pavement has deteriorated to such a condition that complete reconstruction is necessary. (If street construction is done over a non-bituminous surface i,e., gravel, sand etc., then the assessment shall be for 100% ofthe total project cost.) Street overlay and curb improvements of presently paved streets in the City of Prior Lake shall be assessed at forty per cent (40%) of the total project cost against the benefiting properties or a unit charge as determined by the City Council. The remaining sixty percent (60%) shall be recovered by means of the general ad valorem property tax paid by the entire community. All assessments shall be on a current basis and shall not be subject to ,de~el!e~.~la~~i~c.a~o.n::::':.....:: .':..:..::. ::..:..:.' --..... ::: :::..::.:.......... E. SealcoatinJ:!; Street Improvements Sealcoating shall be treated as a general maintenance expense which shall be one hundred per cent (100%) supported by taxes through a special levy spread over the entire City. No assessments will be associated with sealcoating. F, Sanitary Sewer & Water Lateral Improvements All water and sewer lines, regardless of size or designation, are considered as laterals to adjacent property. Lateral lines are normally not larger than eight inches in diameter in most residential areas, For purpose of specific benefit determination, the lateral cost of sewer and water improvements will be assessed on an adjusted front footage basis. G, Sanitary Sewer & Water Trunk Improvements Trunk sewer and water mains are usually larger than 8 inches in diameter and are designed to carry larger volumes of flow than are necessary within an immediate property area in order to serve additional service areas in the City. The difference between a normal sized lateral and the actual sized trunk represents "trunk oversizing", The cost in extra pipe sizing and depth shall be paid from ]2 Deleted: Assessments shall he determined by the adjusted front footage method. Deleted: a maximum footage or .....----,--------------.--- the City's Trunk System Reserve Fund. ..t\.t1acreage fee shall be determined by the City '<;:;.o_l!!!~iLto finance the City's Trunk System Resetve'Pund.. The'ratefortrunk System Water fees shall be adjusted annually according to the Engineering News Recoj'd Index. All parcels within a utility improvement area shall be levied an area assessment charge.a.~. determined by the City Council. For unplatted property that can be developed at a greater density than its present use, a maximum of 2.5 acres shall be assessed currently. The remaining acreage assessment will be deferred for five years. Interest will accrue annually but will not be compounded. The purpose of the Trunk System Reserve Fund will be to pay for central system improvements such as non-assessed trunk mains, lateralloopings, forcemains and pumping stations which are essential for the functional operation of the entire municipal system. Revenue sources to support this Fund shall be derived principally from the acreage charge and non-dedicated sewer and water connection fees, EnterpJise fund transfers may occasionally be necessitated to provide interim financing, H, Storm Water Drainage Improvements The fundamental concept underlying a storm sewer assessment is that all land within a drainage area is considered to be benefited because all land contributes water runoff to the system, Upon this premise the City Engineer shall establish a drainage district within a stonn sewer project basin and all property, subject to Assessment Policy reductions, shall be assessed according to the area assessment method. Storm Water Trunk fees will be paid at time of platting and/or development in all zoning districts on net acreage exclusive of roadways and public ponding areas, Properties will be considered exempt and not subject to a Storm Water Trunk charge if all the following conditions occur: 1. Adequate on-site and off-site storm sewer facilities are available to serve the property with respect to runoff capacity. 2. There are no associated street improvements required within the subdivision application or building permit review process, 3. TIle entire area proposed to be developed has been previously assessed. Park land will be excluded for the purpose of assessment calculation, TIle rate will be computed on a "per acre" net lot basis as determined by the Storm Water Fee Study adopted by the City Council. .. ----.. . At the time the improvement is constructed, the developer shall construct such drainage facilities as are required for stonn water control as determined and approved by the City Engineer. The cost for any additional right-of-way required for off-premises runoff storage, as it relates to the specific site project, may be paid from the Trunk System Reserve Fund, subject to topographical and/or unique runoff considerations. To be eligible for payment, the land area must exceed twenty-five percent of the land area required for the development needs to implement the Storm Water Management Guide Plan, The land must also be capable of providing utilitarian use such as street and home sites. 13 Deleted: Based upon calculations and past experience, a charge of $3.500 per acre Deleted: is fair and equitable [ Deleted: of$3.500 per acre [ Deleted: at $3.180 per acre Ponds are considered an amenity to the development and must conform to the intent of the Storm Water Management Guide Plan, A Storm Water Trunk fee will not be collected for the ponding areas which are dedicated to the City. The City Engineer will determine ifthe ponding areas meet the intent of the Storm Water Management Plan. The rate for Storm Water Trunk fees shall be adjusted annually according to the Engineering News Record Index. 1. Collector Street Improvements TIle City's designated Municipal State Aid system of roadways has evolved into a network of collector streets that direct traffic to distribution points connecting with central trunk arteries such as State and County highways. While collector streets serve and benefit the entire community, certain aspects of construction provide a more local impact upon a neighborhood and should be borne by that specific area, All collector pedestrian related improvements i.e., bikeways, sidewalks, trail systems plus excess right of way are designated as area-wide beneficiaries. While actual costs associated with construction of the collector street such as engineering, grading, bituminous and curb and gutter installation are deemed to be reimbursable from MSA funds. To finance those collector street system costs not eligible for state aid an acreage fee is to be collected at time of developer's agreement on all new subdivisions. TIle Collector Street Fees are calculated as follows: Development Acreage Fee A net development acreage charge shall be due and payable at time of final plat approval_ as determined by thTC;C{tYC'oi.indi:"'.'" --. .. u............ --........ u........ ...... -- u. --... -...... '... TIle developer shall dedicate up to maximum of 60 feet of right-of-way and the City will reimburse any right-of-way in excess of 60 feet at a per acreage rate to be determined annually by the City Council. TIle fees are to be dedicated to the Collector Street Fund and are to be used for the purpose of reimbursement of excess ROW, collector street improvements and pedestrian trail improvements associated with such MSA streets and the City's municipal share of County road related trail improvements. 14 Deleted: $1500.00 per net developer Deleted: of property. --~.....,.--.__._--._.--_.._-----_.~--