2006 Minnesota Statutes

430.07 METHOD OF IMPROVEMENTS; ASSESSMENTS.
    Subdivision 1. Resolutions. The city council and park commissioners may, by concurrent
resolution, or by separate resolution when acting separately, specify the method of improving any
street, pedestrian mall, park, or parkway under this chapter, including grading, drainage, planting,
street lighting, paving, curbing, building gutters and sidewalks, installing sewer and water mains
where necessary in the case of parks, and installing necessary structures and apparatus for
playgrounds and general park uses.
    Subd. 2. Definition; pedestrian mall improvement. "Pedestrian mall improvement" means
an improvement designed and to be used primarily for the movement, safety, convenience, and
enjoyment of pedestrians, whether or not a part of a street is set apart for roadway for emergency
vehicles, transit vehicles, or private vehicles. A "pedestrian mall improvement" may provide and
include space for seating, cafe tables, shelters, trees, flower plantings, sculptures, newsstands,
telephone booths, traffic signs, kiosks, fire hydrants, street lighting, ornamental signs, ornamental
lights, trash receptacles, display cases, marquees, awnings, canopies, overhead radiant heating
fixtures, underground radiant heating pipes and devices, walls, bollards and chains, and similar
fixtures, equipment, facilities, and appurtenances which, in the judgment of the council, will
enhance the movement, safety, convenience, and enjoyment of pedestrians and benefit the city
and adjoining properties. Sidewalks on pedestrian malls may be constructed of concrete, bricks,
asphalt tiles, blocks, granite sets or other materials and combinations of materials the council
approves.
    Subd. 3. Council's powers. The council may narrow a roadway to be maintained in
connection with a pedestrian mall, may have street vaults reconstructed or removed, may
construct crosswalks at any point within a block and at the ends of blocks, and may design the
roadway to curve and meander within the limits of the street regardless of the uniformity of width
of the street or curve or absence of curve in the center line of the street to enhance the usefulness
and appearance of a pedestrian mall.
    Subd. 4. Estimated cost; assessment. The city engineer shall estimate the cost of each item
in an improvement separately or by reasonable classifications detailed to the satisfaction of
the city council or the park commissioners, and shall submit the estimate with the plat. In the
case of property used for residential purposes only for no more than a four-family dwelling,
these estimates may not exceed six-inch water mains and 24-inch sewers. The city council shall
examine the estimates, change them if necessary, and adopt an estimate of the cost. The city
council, in appointing commissioners, shall provide the estimate, and the commissioners shall
assess the amount of the estimate or a part of it as directed by the city council, upon land in the
city they consider specifically benefited, in proportion to the benefits and not exceeding the actual
benefit to a parcel. The commissioners shall add these assessments to the benefits assessed under
section 430.02 and report the net result of damages or benefits as required by section 430.02. The
procedure following the report must be the same as that following a report under section 430.02.
    Subd. 5. Mistaken estimates. If, in proceedings under this chapter, the actual cost of the
improvement of a street, park, or parkway is less than the estimated cost adopted by the city
council, the council shall cancel and annul the assessments made in the proceedings to a total
amount that does not exceed the fractional part of the total amount of the excess of estimated
cost over the actual cost equivalent to the fraction obtained by dividing the total amount of the
assessments by the total amount of the estimated cost.
If the assessments in a proceeding have not been entirely collected, or if the city council
considers that assessments cannot be fully collected, the council may direct the city comptroller to
keep in the fund in the proceeding an amount the city council thinks will cover the deficiencies
in the collection of the assessments. The city council shall direct that the rest of the excess of
estimated cost must be disposed of in the following manner. The city council shall direct the city
comptroller to certify the amount of this balance to the county auditor. The auditor shall deduct
the amount from the first installment of the assessment to be collected after the receipt of the
certificate. This deduction must be made from the assessment against each piece or parcel of
property in the proportion that the excess, as certified by the city comptroller, bears to the total of
the installment of the assessment. If the balance as certified exceeds one installment, it must be
deducted from succeeding installments until it is fully deducted. Alternatively, the city council
may direct that the city comptroller's certification of the excess be accompanied by a request that
the excess be applied to reduce all unpaid installments in proportion to the amount of such unpaid
installments. In that case, the assessment rolls shall be recomputed by reducing the amount
of the original assessment against each piece or parcel of property in the proportion that the
excess, as certified by the city comptroller, bears to the total original assessment. The balance
for each piece or parcel of property, after deduction of principal installments previously paid or
in the process of collection, shall then be divided into equal annual installments of principal or
equal annual installments of principal and interest, whichever method was used for the original
assessments. The same rate of interest and collection period shall apply to the new installments
as was provided for the original assessment.
If the assessment against a piece or parcel of property has been paid in full, and the amount
to be refunded does not exceed $1, the city council may deposit the amount of the potential refund
in the city's permanent improvement fund or bond redemption fund.
If the amount to be refunded exceeds $1, but does not exceed $20, the city comptroller shall
mail to the current owner of the property a notice stating that the refund is available. The notice
must be mailed within 60 days after the city council determines the actual cost of the improvement.
If the amount to be refunded exceeds $20 the following notice procedure must be followed.
The city comptroller shall mail to the person who owned the property when the assessment
was paid, at the person's last known address, a notice stating that the refund is available. The
notice must be mailed within 60 days after the city council determines the actual cost of the
improvement. If a response is not received from the owner within ten days of the date of mailing,
a second notice must be mailed. If the refund is not claimed by the person who owned the
property when the assessment was paid within 30 days of the date of mailing the last required
notice, the city council may deposit the amount of the potential refund in the city's permanent
improvement fund or bond redemption fund.
    Subd. 6. Payments by city. If some of the damages and cost of the improvement has been
paid by the city, the city council shall direct the city comptroller to certify to the county auditor
only that part of the excess of estimated cost equal to the part of the total estimated cost of the
improvement and damages that has been or is assessed against benefited property. The council
shall not direct that a certificate be issued to the county auditor until the city engineer reports that
the improvement work has been completed and each item of damage or cost in the proceeding has
been paid. This report by the city engineer must be made to the city council immediately upon
completion of the work in the proceeding. In a proceeding where there is or may be an excess of
estimated cost and there is or will be a balance in the fund in the proceeding over and above the
actual cost, the city council may withdraw from the fund a percentage of the fund equal to the
percentage of the cost of the improvement paid by the city and have this money deposited in the
fund from which it was originally drawn or taken by the city council.
    Subd. 7. Permissible improvements. A street, park, parkway, or pedestrian mall may
be improved and the cost assessed and raised under this chapter, including the following
improvements: widening, grading, drainage, planting, pavement, sidewalks, curb and gutter,
sewers and water mains, and in the case of parks, the necessary structures and apparatus for
playgrounds and general park uses. For streets or parkways over 80 feet wide, the resolution
may, to facilitate connections with private property and avoid cutting or breaking into the
improvements, order a double water main or a double sewer, one on either side of the street or
parkway, or adopt another feasible arrangement or device.
History: (1558) 1911 c 185 s 6; 1913 c 345 s 3; 1917 c 103 s 4; 1923 c 438 s 1; 1925 c
417 s 4; 1953 c 184 s 1; 1963 c 504 s 14; 1969 c 500 s 1; 1977 c 75 s 1; 1984 c 543 s 56; 1986
c 444; 1987 c 229 art 9 s 1; 1989 c 115 s 5