01-14-1985 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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DS-3. MUNICIPAL. SERVICE 7 i :'; sanitary sewers, water>*:z_•.s systems, street IiF,hts, and public malis, parking, or courtyards). Both service charge:: an,! ad valorem property tax should be available to finance services or capital improvements in the district. Recent court decisions concerning special as<:essme►;ts have made it more difficult for cities to use special assessments to finance public services and improvements. The Minnesota Supreme Court has interpreted the State Constitution to require not only that a cpectal assessment project "specially benefit" affected parcels of property, out also that the city be able to prove that the market value of a property will increase in dirCLt relation to the amount of the special assessment applied to that property. This interpretrstion h.,, problems for several important city functions. First, it is more ditticult assess ali (or even part) of a capital improvement project to repaii or replace, as opposed to newly built improvements. This result hinders cities from sheeting the widely recognized need for maintenance of the existing public infrastructure. Second, cities' ab..lity to finance annual operating and maintenance costs of some services to property through, the use of special service charges is either unclear or nonexistent under current law. The only current financing aitern:tive to special assessments or service charges is the general property tax. but it may not be desirable to use the general property tax to fin.-,nce somt2 capital or operating expenses. For example, if a road is used almost exclusively by people living in one corner of a city, it may be bad public policy to require the cost of replacing that road to be borne by all the property in the city. This is especially true if the property in the rest of the city has already been assessed for similar improvements. Or, if the central business district :,r mall of a city benefits from more frequent snowplowing or street cleaning, better lighting, etc. it may not be good policy to have All the city taxpayers ►;;:are in those expenses. DS-L. TAX INCREMENT FINANCING (B) The League recommends that the tax increment financing statute remain unamended. _ Tax increment financing has permitted many cities in various parts of the state to define and carry out rehabilitation, redevelopment, housing, and economic development projects or. their own initiative. It represents the most feasible and effective legal strategy which is currer.tly available to cities to preserve and improve their physical and economic Environment. DS-S. PORT AUTHORITIES (B) The legislature should adopt enabling legislation allowing any city to create a port authority. A number of cities have benefitted from special acts of the legislature allowing them individually to create port authorities. These cities have benefitted from additional flexibility in Elie economic development field. These opportunities should be available to all cities rather than requiring individual acts of the legislature.