1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to municipalities; authorizing collector 
  1.3             street utilities; proposing coding for new law as 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 444A. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [444A.01] [DEFINITIONS.] 
  1.7      Subdivision 1.  [SCOPE.] For purposes of this section, the 
  1.8   following terms have the meanings given them. 
  1.9      Subd. 2.  [MUNICIPALITY.] "Municipality" means a home rule 
  1.10  charter or statutory city or town as described in section 
  1.11  368.01, subdivision 1. 
  1.12     Subd. 3.  [STREET UTILITY; STREET UTILITIES.] "Street 
  1.13  utility" or "street utilities" means grading; base construction; 
  1.14  surface construction; installation of curb, gutter, and drainage 
  1.15  appurtenances; signalization; lighting; increasing the capacity 
  1.16  of an existing collector street; sidewalks and boulevard 
  1.17  improvements within the designated right-of-way of a new 
  1.18  collector street; and related engineering and financing.  The 
  1.19  boulevard improvements must be subject to the normal and 
  1.20  customary standards for such improvements throughout the 
  1.21  municipality as adopted by ordinance of the municipality. 
  1.22     Subd. 4.  [COLLECTOR STREET.] "Collector street" means a 
  1.23  public roadway classified as a collector street or higher 
  1.24  classification in a functional classification system used by the 
  1.25  municipality in planning or programming roadways, excluding 
  2.1   state trunk highways and interstate freeways. 
  2.2      Sec. 2.  [444A.02] [AUTHORIZATION.] 
  2.3      A municipality may: 
  2.4      (1) construct new collector streets or, reconstruct, 
  2.5   repair, enlarge, improve, or in any other manner obtain street 
  2.6   utilities to increase or maintain traffic capacity of existing 
  2.7   collector streets for the collection, transport, and 
  2.8   disbursement of traffic within its corporate limits; 
  2.9      (2) acquire by gift, purchase, lease, condemnation, or 
  2.10  otherwise any or all real property required for these purposes; 
  2.11  and 
  2.12     (3) provide a local matching amount for a street utility on 
  2.13  a county collector street located within the corporate 
  2.14  boundaries of the municipality. 
  2.15     Sec. 3.  [444A.03] [CHARGES; NET REVENUES.] 
  2.16     To pay for the street utilities, a municipality may, by 
  2.17  ordinance, impose just and equitable periodic charges for the 
  2.18  use and availability of the street utilities and make contracts 
  2.19  for the charges as provided in this section.  The charges must 
  2.20  be tied to an approved capital improvement plan and the 
  2.21  transportation section of the comprehensive plan of the 
  2.22  municipality.  The municipality shall be divided into different 
  2.23  travel sheds and may establish different charges for each shed 
  2.24  based on current and projected uses of land and needs as 
  2.25  supported by the comprehensive plan of the municipality.  The 
  2.26  municipality may defer charges against unimproved properties 
  2.27  until a designated future year or until platting of the property 
  2.28  or construction of improvements on the property and the deferred 
  2.29  charges may bear interest at the rate determined by the 
  2.30  municipality.  Any charges that are not used for the authorized 
  2.31  purpose must be returned to the individual, corporation, or 
  2.32  partnership that paid the charges.  If the municipality cannot 
  2.33  locate the individual, corporation, or partnership that paid the 
  2.34  charges, the municipality may use the funds solely for other 
  2.35  street utilities authorized in this section.  All charges 
  2.36  collected must be placed in a separate fund for the street 
  3.1   utilities and spent for the purpose of meeting authorized 
  3.2   obligations relating to street utilities in the travel shed from 
  3.3   which charges are collected.  In resolutions authorizing the 
  3.4   issuance of general or special obligations and pledging net 
  3.5   revenues or other revenues to them, the municipality may make 
  3.6   covenants for the protection of the holders of the obligations 
  3.7   and taxpayers of the municipality as it deems necessary that it 
  3.8   will impose and collect charges authorized by this section at 
  3.9   the times and in the amounts required to produce net revenues 
  3.10  adequate to pay all principal and interest when due on the 
  3.11  obligations and to create and maintain reserves to secure the 
  3.12  payments as required by the resolutions.  The governing body of 
  3.13  the municipality may obligate the owner, leasee, occupant, or 
  3.14  all of them to pay the charges and may certify unpaid charges to 
  3.15  the county auditor with taxes against the property for 
  3.16  collection at the same times and in the same manner as other ad 
  3.17  valorem taxes are collected.  Net revenues from the charges 
  3.18  authorized by this section may not be used for the operation and 
  3.19  maintenance of the street utility. 
  3.20     Sec. 4.  [444A.04] [PROCEDURES FOR ADOPTION.] 
  3.21     A municipality may impose the street utility charges 
  3.22  authorized in this section by ordinance adopted by the governing 
  3.23  body.  The charges must be fair, reasonable, and proportionate 
  3.24  to the actual cost of the street utilities for which the charges 
  3.25  are imposed.  The ordinance must not be voted on or adopted 
  3.26  until after a public hearing has been held on the question.  A 
  3.27  notice of the time, place, and purpose of the hearing must be 
  3.28  published at least once in each week for two successive weeks in 
  3.29  the official newspaper of the municipality, or in a newspaper of 
  3.30  general content and circulation within the municipality, and the 
  3.31  last notice must be published at least seven but no more than 30 
  3.32  days before the hearing.  If the ordinance is adopted, the 
  3.33  municipality must file the ordinance of record with the county 
  3.34  recorder and provide a copy to the county auditor. 
  3.35     Sec. 5.  [444A.05] [FINANCING.] 
  3.36     (a) A municipality may issue and sell its general or 
  4.1   special obligations to finance street utilities authorized in 
  4.2   this section. 
  4.3      (b) The obligations may be in an amount the municipality 
  4.4   considers necessary to defray in whole or in part the expense 
  4.5   incurred or estimated to be incurred in connection with the 
  4.6   street utilities, including every item of cost from inception to 
  4.7   completion and all fees and expenses incurred in connection with 
  4.8   the street utilities or the financing of those utilities. 
  4.9      (c) The obligations may be paid from the net revenues 
  4.10  derived from street utility charges imposed under this section 
  4.11  or from other revenues pledged for their payment under charter 
  4.12  or law.  But if other revenues are pledged for this purpose, 
  4.13  they must reduce the charges imposed under this section for the 
  4.14  street utility. 
  4.15     (d) All obligations relating to street utilities must be 
  4.16  issued and sold in accordance with chapter 475, except that: 
  4.17     (1) an election is not required; 
  4.18     (2) the amount of the obligation is not included in 
  4.19  determining the net indebtedness of the municipality under the 
  4.20  provisions of any law or charter limiting such indebtedness; and 
  4.21     (3) the obligations may be sold at public or private sale 
  4.22  at the price or prices the municipality determines by resolution.
  4.23     Sec. 6.  [444A.06] [ADVANCE FUNDING AGREEMENTS.] 
  4.24     An individual, corporation, or partnership may enter into 
  4.25  an agreement with the municipality to undertake and fund any 
  4.26  street utilities before the collection of any charges authorized 
  4.27  in this section.  The agreement may provide that net revenues 
  4.28  from the charges collected for the street utility must be paid 
  4.29  to the individual, corporation, or partnership subject to the 
  4.30  terms and conditions of the agreement.  Sections 471.345 and 
  4.31  574.26 do not apply to street utilities undertaken by an 
  4.32  individual, corporation, or partnership pursuant to such an 
  4.33  agreement. 
  4.34     Sec. 7.  [444A.07] [SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS.] 
  4.35     In a municipality that adopts an ordinance under section 
  4.36  444A.04, charges for property that has direct driveway access to 
  5.1   the collector street may be levied as special assessments only 
  5.2   by agreement with the owner.  Otherwise special assessments must 
  5.3   not be used to finance the same transportation utilities in a 
  5.4   municipality that adopts an ordinance under section 444A.04.