Agenda - Council Work Session - 11/18/2014

Home

RELEVANT LINKS: Minn. Stat. § 429.061, subd. 3. Metropolitan Airports Com'ns v. Bearman, 716 N.W.2d 403 (Minn. Ct. App. 2006). Minn. Stat. § 429.061, subd. 3. See Form 18. Minn. Stat. § 429.061, subd. 3. See Form 18A. Minn. Stat. § 429.061, subd. 3. IV. Levying and collecting assessments and interest Assessment rolls are lists for each assessment project containing a description of each parcel of property, including the parcel identification number (PID), the name of the property owner, and the amount of the assessment. The clerk should prepare a separate assessment roll for each improvement project prior to the assessment hearing. At or after the assessment hearing, the council must officially adopt the roll by resolution and then the clerk must certify it to the county auditor. There are two ways for a city to collect assessments: • The city clerk, on council direction, certifies a duplicate copy of the assessment roll and sends it to the county auditor who spreads the assessments every year for collection with taxes. • The city clerk retains the assessment roll in his or her office and annually certifies to the county auditor the total amount of principal and interest due on special assessments from each parcel of property for the following years. In the first method, the certification of assessments should be filed with the county auditor on or before Nov. 30 if the auditor is to spread the first installment on the books for collection the following year. The auditor is then responsible for spreading the assessment against the properties every year that an installment payment is due. This is the preferred method for two reasons. First, it eliminates the clerk having to do an annual computation and, thus, avoids errors in later years. Second, once all the assessments have been certified, the city may retain the ability to collect the assessments if the land is forfeited due to nonpayment of property taxes, or the owner declares bankruptcy. If the council prefers the second method it may direct the clerk to file all the special assessment rolls in the clerk's office, and to certify annually to the county auditor only the total amount of principal and interest due on special assessments from each parcel of property for the following year. The clerk must certify all assessments to the county auditor on or before Nov. 30 if the auditor is to spread the first installment on the books for collection in the following year. A. Payment of assessments and interest Once the clerk has prepared the special assessment roll and the council has approved it, property owners initially have two options: League of Minnesota Cities Information Memo: 9/22/2011 Special Assessment Guide Page 24