Agenda - Council - 06/23/1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I CURRENT L~W$ RESTRICTING A CITY COUNCZL'8 ABILITY TO IMPOBE 5EWER AND WATER UTZLITZES Case By: William X. Goodrich, city Attorney Background: At the Council meeting on June 16, 1998, staff was directed to inventory the City Code of Ordinances and City Charter to determine what regulations are currently in effect to protect residents from being specially assessed and forced to connect to City (municipal sewer and water utilities. In response to this directive the following are the relevant constitution/charter/ordinance provisions. Fourteenth Amendment - U.S, Constitution. A special assessment which exceeds the special benefits to the property measured by the difference in market value before and after the improvements, is a taking of property without fair compensation in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution· Section 9.4 of the city charter. This section relates to all city public improvement projects which are proposed to be assessed and provides the following citizen safeguards: 60 day waiting period between the public improvement hearing and the Council ordering an improvement. ms If the improvement was initiated by affected resident petition, those in opposition may also present a petition· If the opposition petition is presented within 30 days after the public hearing, and it contains at least the percentage of affected property owners who signed the initiation petition, the City Council may not order the improvement, UNLESS within the next 30 days a petition is presented signed by property owners in favor, which petition has a percentage of owners greater than the opposition petition. If the local improvement is initiated by the City council, as opposed to a petition by residents, and if within 60 days of the improvement public hearing an opposition petition is presented signed by greater than 50 percent of the owners proposed to be assessed, the City Council cannot make the improvement. /55