8.3. SR 07-25-1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. and it would be impossible to obtain additional funds if this $3,800 amount is low. . The Council can change the City assessment policy at any meeting, and has done so in the past, in order to treat property owners fairly. Therefore the City needs any surplus funds that may be available to payoff the bonds if policy changes take place and the City has a shortage of funds to meet its bond obligation (We may again see an assessment policy change for the Sandpiper Estates area). If the $3,800 assessment amount is not sufficient to meet the bond repayment schedule, then, at the end of the project, the City will need to tax the entire City for the necessary funds to meet our bond obligation. . If the City did not assess out one established, uniform, and consistent amount for trunk improvements throughout the City, we may very well see the western area at $3,800 per acre, the northwest area at $4,200 per acre, the northeast area at $3,400 or less per acre, and the east area at $4,600 or more per acre for the trunk sewer and water system. The question becomes, "does this make sense or should everyone pay the same amount for the same utility and the same benefit?" The benefit to the landowner or developer for the opportunity to develop the property in an urban manner exceeds the $3,800 per acre amount regardless of the actual cost for the improvements. The City could conceivably assess out the improvements on a zoning district basis, but issues arise regarding reassessment for future rezonings and what you charge PUD's, plus the difficulty from an administrative point of view in tracking all of these activities. Also, there is a legal question of whether or not we could reassess out trunk costs with a rezoning request or whether or not we have to wait until a plat follows the rezoning request. This could cause a delay in receiving funds to payoff the bonds. Such a rezoning district system would be more complex to administer and would open up the City to more criticism due to more "judgment" from the City being necessary. For example, we could have separate assessment rates for the following sewer and water areas: Rlc, RId, Rle, R2a, R2b, R3, R4, the C District (Cl, C2, C3) and the 1 District (1-1 and 1-2). Finally, assessing out by zoning district still does not eliminate the guesswork in establishing assessment amounts if the entire project area is not completed in one phase or if the assessment takes place before bids are awarded. . There is clearly no right or wrong answer to the charging for trunk improvements. The establishing of an assessment rate before a project area is 100 percent completed is an art and not an exact science. The City is looking for a fair, consistent, uniform and equitable assessment method on a city-wide basis, plus something that is relatively easy to administer and which will cover all of our expenses regardless of changes in our assessment