Laserfiche WebLink
I league of minnesoba cities <br /> February 11, 1982 <br /> <br />TO: <br /> <br />m FROM: <br /> <br /> RE: <br />! <br /> <br />Mayors, Managers and Clerks <br /> <br />Peggy Flicker, Legislative Counsel <br /> <br />H.F. 1904 - League Special Service District Bill <br /> <br /> Please urge your legislators to support H.F. 1904 (Brandl, Schreiber, Novak, Dempsey), <br />Iwhich would allow cities to establish special service districts and finance municipal <br />services and improvements within those districts. (The Senate companion does not yet <br />have a file number. You may refer to it as the "League special services district <br />mbill, chief authored by Senator Linda ~erglin.") ~ <br /> <br /> In special'districts, Cities would be able to provide the kinds of services they arel <br /> already authorized to provide and finance them in whole or in part through special <br />Iad valorem taxes, service charges, and/or local option special sales taxes. <br /> <br /> This bill is especially important in this day of service and revenue cutbacks. Cities <br />Ineed.a variety of ways to finance services that their citizens may want. The special <br />service district concept allows more flexibility in matching "who pays" with "who <br />benefits from the service." <br />I Cities now have the statutory authority to construct, operate and maintain a wide <br /> variety of municipal improvements and to use special assessments to finance them, <br /> under Chapter 429 of the Minnesota Statutes. However, the use of special assessments <br />Ihas several major drawbacks. First, Minnesota court decisions have been restrictive <br /> very <br /> in interpreting the requirement that the amount of the special assessment may not exceed <br /> the benefit to the property. The city must be able to show an actual increase in the <br />Imarket value of the property as a result of the improvement, and the assessment may not <br />exceed that value increase. <br /> <br />iSecond, the service charge provisions now in Chapter 429 do not adequately allow for <br />financing of maintenance and operating types of costs. There are problems with both <br />the scope of the statute and the meeting of the strict special benefit test. <br /> <br />Third, certain kinds of municipal services, such as parking lots, are not currently <br />authorized to be done under Chapter 429 (even assuming the special benefit test could <br />be met). <br /> <br />(OVER) <br /> <br />I 300 <br /> hanover building, 480 cedar street, saint paul, minnesota 551 01 [8123 222,2881 <br /> <br /> <br />