SF 3520

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to special assessments; providing that the 
  1.3             notice to property owners before an improvement is 
  1.4             ordered contains an estimate of the amount proposed to 
  1.5             be assessed against each property owner; amending 
  1.6             Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 429.031, subdivision 
  1.7             1. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 429.031, 
  1.10  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subdivision 1.  [PREPARATION OF PLANS, NOTICE OF HEARING.] 
  1.12  (a) Before the municipality awards a contract for an improvement 
  1.13  or orders it made by day labor, or before the municipality may 
  1.14  assess any portion of the cost of an improvement to be made 
  1.15  under a cooperative agreement with the state or another 
  1.16  political subdivision for sharing the cost of making the 
  1.17  improvement, the council shall hold a public hearing on the 
  1.18  proposed improvement following two publications in the newspaper 
  1.19  of a notice stating the time and place of the hearing, the 
  1.20  general nature of the improvement, the estimated cost, and the 
  1.21  area proposed to be assessed.  The two publications must be a 
  1.22  week apart, and the hearing must be at least three days after 
  1.23  the second publication.  Not less than ten days before the 
  1.24  hearing, notice of the hearing must also be mailed to the owner 
  1.25  of each parcel within the area proposed to be assessed with a 
  1.26  reasonable estimate of the amount to be assessed against each 
  2.1   parcel, but failure to give mailed notice or any defects in the 
  2.2   notice does not invalidate the proceedings.  For the purpose of 
  2.3   giving mailed notice, owners are those shown as owners on the 
  2.4   records of the county auditor or, in any county where tax 
  2.5   statements are mailed by the county treasurer, on the records of 
  2.6   the county treasurer; but other appropriate records may be used 
  2.7   for this purpose.  For properties that are tax exempt or subject 
  2.8   to taxation on a gross earnings basis and are not listed on the 
  2.9   records of the county auditor or the county treasurer, the 
  2.10  owners may be ascertained by any practicable means, and mailed 
  2.11  notice must be given them as provided in this subdivision.  
  2.12     (b) Before the adoption of a resolution ordering the 
  2.13  improvement, the council shall secure from the city engineer or 
  2.14  some other competent person of its selection a report advising 
  2.15  it in a preliminary way as to whether the proposed improvement 
  2.16  is necessary, cost-effective, and feasible and as to whether it 
  2.17  should best be made as proposed or in connection with some other 
  2.18  improvement.  The report must also include the estimated cost of 
  2.19  the improvement as recommended with a reasonable estimate of the 
  2.20  amount to be assessed against each parcel.  No error or omission 
  2.21  in the report invalidates the proceeding unless it materially 
  2.22  prejudices the interests of an owner. 
  2.23     (c) If the report is not prepared by an employee of a 
  2.24  municipality, the compensation for preparing the report under 
  2.25  this subdivision must be based on the following factors: 
  2.26     (1) the time and labor required; 
  2.27     (2) the experience and knowledge of the preparer; 
  2.28     (3) the complexity and novelty of the problems involved; 
  2.29  and 
  2.30     (4) the extent of the responsibilities assumed. 
  2.31     (d) The compensation must not be based primarily on a 
  2.32  percentage of the estimated cost of the improvement. 
  2.33     (e) The council may also take other steps prior to the 
  2.34  hearing, including, among other things, the preparation of plans 
  2.35  and specifications and the advertisement for bids that will in 
  2.36  its judgment provide helpful information in determining the 
  3.1   desirability and feasibility of the improvement.  
  3.2      (f) The hearing may be adjourned from time to time, and a 
  3.3   resolution ordering the improvement may be adopted at any time 
  3.4   within six months after the date of the hearing by vote of a 
  3.5   majority of all members of the council when the improvement has 
  3.6   been petitioned for by the owners of not less than 35 percent in 
  3.7   frontage of the real property abutting on the streets named in 
  3.8   the petition as the location of the improvement.  When there has 
  3.9   been no such petition, the resolution may be adopted only by 
  3.10  vote of four-fifths of all members of the council; provided that 
  3.11  if the mayor of the municipality is a member of the council but 
  3.12  has no vote or votes only in case of a tie, the mayor is not 
  3.13  deemed to be a member for the purpose of determining a 
  3.14  four-fifths majority vote.  
  3.15     (g) The resolution ordering the improvement may reduce, but 
  3.16  not increase, the extent of the improvement as stated in the 
  3.17  notice of hearing.