Agenda - Council Work Session - 03/19/2013

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`Brutal policy puts onus on residents ASSESS FROM Al Edina's policy of billing residents for the entire cost of street reconstruction is un- usual among metro cities, but it's not the only city consider- ing a change. Wayzata, another affluent suburb, has the opposite prob- lem. It has always borne the cost of street reconstructions, but is reconsidering, said pub- lic works Director Dave Du- dinsky. "We just can't afford it anymore," he said. In Minnetonka and St. Louis Park, the cities pay all of the cost of residential street reconstruction, building the cost into their levy or fees. Homeowners in Bloomington pay 25 percent, in Golden Val- ley, 20 to 25 percent, and in Hopkins, 70 percent. But in Hopkins, costs to homeown- ers are capped and linked to the cost of previous projects to protect them from sud- den price jumps. This year, Hopkins homeowners are paying $4,100 to $5,100 — 40 percent of project cost. 'A game changer' Since 1998, 17 percent of Edina's 199 miles of local streets — streets where bene - fitting properties would have to pay for road work — have been redone. The highest street assessment was in 2008 in the Country Club neighbor- hood, where the cost reached nearly $23,000 per house- hold. As in Richmond Hills, that cost included new sani- tary sewer connections to the city's main line. But unlike Country Club, Richmond Hills is not filled with million- dollar homes. Residents include teachers and retirees, and the small- er homes are catnip to young couples who are just starting out — a demographic the ag- ing city has tried hard to at- tract. Strand and Thomson paid $262,500 for their 1952 ram- JEFF WHEELER • jeff.wheeler @startribune.com Scott Strand and Ia Thomson, shown with their dog, Ike, aren't sure they would have purchased their home in Edina if they'd know a $16,800 bill for street repairs would soon follow. "Ideally, we'd like to save for retirement," Scott said, "and what about having kids ?" bier that in tax records is val- ued at half as much as the lot it sits on. Strand works in the fi- nancial field; his wife is an as- sistant at a clinic. "This is our first home, a starter home," Thomson told the council. "We might as well have rented.... This financial- ly will put us in such a pinch, I don't know what we're go- ing to do." Strand later said the home was purchased from an estate. "We are putting a lot of work into this home," he said. "Ide- ally, we'd like to save for retire- ment, and what about having kids? This just feels like a game changer." Martha Dover, who with her husband, Larry, is saving to send two teenage boys to college, said she was in shock over the assessment, "I've lived in Edina since fifth grade," she said. "This is a hardship for our family.... I don't know why they can't as- sess everyone in the city [for street reconstruction]," In 2005, the city of Edina as- sumed responsibility for curb and gutter costs but backed away from bigger road assess- ment changes for fear of being unfair to homeowners who had already paid. Now, with many streets still needing work and project costs soar- ing, Hovland said the policy seems "brutal." Weighing options At last month's coun- cil meeting, several council members wondered if the pay- back period for homeowners who choose to add the cost to their property taxes could be stretched from 10 to 15 years or even more. The city plans to notify homeowners of pend- ing street work three years ahead of time, instead of two. But the council hasn't yet had a chance to talk more deeply about a new approach to pay- ing for street reconstruction. Hovland thought it might be good to set up a citizen task force led by people with "fi- nancial acumen" who could investigate new methods for street funding. Among the questions to be answered: Could a new sys- tem be phased in over time? SEE A MAP of upcoming street projects in Edina at staxtribune.com /a1014 What about capping the amount paid by residents? And could people who have already paid for their streets be exempted from any new payment system? Susan Arenson is getting hit with a double - whammy She and her husband moved to Richmond Hills when they downsized in 2009. Their last home was in Edina, too, and Arenson said they paid about $7,000 a dozen years ago for street reconstruction in their old neighborhood. Before they moved, they checked at City Hall and thought streets in their new neighborhood weren't due for work un- til 2017. "This threw us for a loop because we researched it and knew we needed to spend money on this fixer - upper," she said. "We're perplexed." After paying twice for street reconstruction, Aren- son isn't too excited about seeing the policy change. "I'd hate to see us have this huge bill and then start pay- ing for everyone else's," she said. Mary Jane Smetanka • 612-673-7380 Twitter: @smetan