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HomeMy WebLinkAbout019 - 02/21/1989 - AMENDING THE CITY CODE RELATING TO PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS r � y ORDINANCE NO. 19, 1989 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AMENDING CHAPTER 22 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS RELATING TO PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That Section 22-34 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: Section 22-34. Types of improvements which may be authorized. Street improvements which may be authorized by the City Council may include grading, paving, curbing, sidewalks, crosswalks , medians and parking lanes . Other district improvements may also include artificial streetlighting, sanitary and storm sewers, water mains, ditches, drains and laterals, as well as any other public works which may be considered necessary by the City and which are properly authorized by the City Council . The improvements may also include the development of plans for the urbanization or renewal of areas within the district. Section 2. That Section 22-35(b)(2) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: (2) An estimate of the probable total cost of such improvements including the cost of acquiring rights in land required for the improvements; the cost of planning, constructing or otherwise acquiring the improvements; engineering, legal and advertising costs; interest accruing on the bonds issued to pay the costs of the district from the date of the bonds until the date when the first installment of assessments is to be made payable; Section 3. That Section 22-35(c) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: (c) In improvements to be initiated by petition of property owners, the petition shall be on a form to be supplied by the city. The petition shall be subscribed by the owners of at least one-third (1/3) of the frontage to be assessed for improvements to streets including streetlighting and by the owners of at least one (1) percent of the area of the property to be assessed for any other improvements. The City Council may, by resolution, adopt policies to be used in the review of such petitions. Upon receiving a petition, and after review of the same, the City Council may adopt a resolution which shall state the nature and location of the improvements and describe the area to be assessed � r for the improvements by boundaries or other brief description, and direct the Director of Development Services to prepare and present to the City Council a report as in the case of City Council initiated improvements. Thereafter, the procedures shall be the same as in the case of improvement districts initiated by the City Council provided that the City Council may at any time determine by resolution that the acquisition of the proposed improvements is not feasible or desirable for reasons stated in the resolution. Any such resolution shall terminate the proceedings. Section 4. That Section 22-35 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended by adding thereto a new subsection, to be lettered (f) , which shall read as follows: (f) The City may charge a fee to petitioning property owners , the amount of which shall be established by administrative regulations approved by the City Manager, to offset costs incurred by the City in administering any district established hereunder. Section S. That Section 22-37(a) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: (a) The city may enter into reimbursement agreements with property owners within the district who have paid the cost of any district improvements which specially benefit other properties either within the district and not assessed or outside the district. Reimbursement shall be obtained from those property owners whose properties are so benefited. Reimbursable amounts due for street, storm sewer, landscaping and other improvements shall be payable at or before the time that the first building permit is obtained for development of any portions of the benefitted properties. The amount to be reimbursed may include both the amount actually paid by the property owners who are to be reimbursed, plus any mutually agreed upon amount to reflect the effects of inflation. Any such requests for reimbursement must be submitted to the City, together with an itemized list of all costs paid by the requesting party, within ninety (90) days of the completion and acceptance by the city of the district improvements. Any right to reimbursement pursuant to this provision shall not exceed a period of ten (10) years from the execution of the agreement. The City Council may approve extensions of the agreement for additional ten-year periods. Nothing herein shall be construed to permit any portion of the cost of district improvements which has been included in the assessment for the district to be eligible for reimbursement from non-participating property owners. Section 6. That Section 22-39 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 22-39. Advertising for bids; letting of contracts. All contracts for local improvements shall be let by the purchasing agent upon the determination of the City Council after the passage of the original ordinance forming the district. All contracts shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder as determined in the sole discretion of the City Council . Contracts shall be let after public advertisement for bids has been published twice in an official newspaper published in the city. The advertisements for bids shall be published at least a week apart. The date for opening of bids shall be not less than ten (10) days after the first publication. In all advertisements, the City Council shall reserve the right to reject all bids. Upon rejecting all bids or receiving no bids, the City Council may again advertise without further ordinance or may order the work done by hiring labor and arranging for purchasing necessary material under the supervision of the Director of Development Services. Notwithstanding the foregoing, improvements may be installed by the city utilizing city employees if the City Council so orders. Section 7. That Section 22-83(a) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: (a) If the city incurs any cost in the course of proceedings for forming a special improvement district, the amount of such cost may initially be paid from the surplus and deficiency fund. If the district is ultimately formed, the amount of such cost shall be included in the cost of the improvements installed in the district and repaid from assessments of the district to the extent assessed. Section 8. That Section 22-85(a) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: (a) Upon the completion of any local improvement and acceptance by the City Council , the Director of Engineering shall prepare a statement showing the total costs of the district, including: (1) Actual construction costs; (2) Engineering costs; (3) Acquisition costs of existing improvements and rights-of-way; (4) Interest accruing on the bonds issued to pay the costs of the district from the date of the bonds until the date when the first installment of assessments is to be made payable; (5) Legal fees, administration fees, publication and financing costs, and other incidentals incurred in connection with the improvements not to exceed twenty (20) percent of actual construction, engineering and acquisition costs; (6) A reserve fund in the amount of ten (10) percent of the principal amount of the bonds not including the amount of the reserve or such maximum amount as may be permitted under federal tax law, whichever is less. The bond ordinance for each district shall specify the extent to which the reserve fund for the district may be reduced, if at all , prior to payment in full of the bonds, as well as the circumstances under which any such release of funds may occur. Any funds so released from the reserve fund prior to payment in full of the bonds shall be proportionally distributed to the assessed property owners as defined in §22-111(c) . The Council may, by resolution, adopt standards to be applied to all districts for determining the terms and conditions upon which reserve funds may be reduced. Section 9. That Section 22-88(1) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: (1) The total cost of the district to be assessed; Section 10. That Section 22-88(4) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: (4) That any complaints or objections which may be made in writing by such owner or owners to the City Council and filed in the office of the City Clerk within thirty (30) days from the publication of such notice will be heard and determined by the City Council before the passage of any ordinance assessing the costs of the district. Section 11. That Section 22-89 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: (a) The City Council sitting as a board of equalization at the date set or an adjournment thereof shall hear and determine all such complaints and objections and may conform the apportionment or make any modifications which may seem equitable and just after consideration of all objections to the apportionment. Prior to approving the apportionment, the City Council shall determine, by findings based upon evidence in the record, whether the costs to be assessed against any property within the district exceed the special benefit derived by such property from the construction of district improvements. No costs exceeding the special benefit shall be assessed. If any change in the proposed apportionment is made by the City Council , it shall be referred to the Financial Officer, who shall cause to be prepared a new apportionment and an assessing ordinance in accordance therewith and shall transmit the same to the City Council . (b) The assessing ordinance shall assess the costs of the district as described in §22-85(a) against the property to be assessed in the district in the proportion finally determined. The passage of such ordinance, together with the findings of the City Council , shall be prima facie evidence of the fact that the property assessed is benefited in the amount of the assessment and that such assessments have been lawfully levied. Section 12. That Section 22-90 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: Section 22-90. Limit on assessments; city to pay certain costs. (a) No property in the district shall be assessed for any improvements in an amount exceeding one-half (112) of such property's actual value not including the proposed district improvements. For this purpose, the value of any property shall be conclusively presumed to be equivalent to such property's actual valuation as computed from the records of the County Assessor in accordance with state statutes for the year preceding the assessing ordinance. The foregoing limitation on assessments shall not apply to any property when all of the owners of such property expressly waive the limitation in writing. (b) If a street is improved as an arterial or collector street rather than as a residential access street, the Director of Engineering shall compute the extra expense caused by such streets being improved as arterial or collector streets and for traffic signalization when required because of collector or arterial status. Such cost shall be paid by the city out of the street oversizing fund and shall not be assessed against particular properties in the district. The determination made by the Director and approved by the City Council as to the cost to be apportioned by reason of improving a street as an arterial or collector rather than as a residential access street shall be conclusive. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the city shall not participate in the cost of oversized street improvements required for the special use and benefit of the adjacent development, including by way of example and not by way of limitation, acceleration and deceleration lanes, double left-turn lanes and traffic control signals, if it is required by the traffic impact study for the development, or in the absence of such study it is required by the traffic engineer to the extent that such improvements are in addition to improvements associated with arterial -arterial intersections and one (1) collector-arterial intersection per mile. Section 13. That Section 22-95 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: (a) In case of such election to pay in installments, the assessments and interest shall be payable in not less than two ( 2 ) nor more than twenty ( 20) installments . The first installment shall be payable in not less than thirty (30) days nor more than five (5) years and the last in not more than twenty (20) years. Interest on the assessments shall be payable on the unpaid balance from thirty (30) days after the date of final publication of the assessing ordinance until the assessments are paid in full . The amount of each installment, the number of installments, the payment dates, the rate of interest payable and all other particulars pertaining to payment by installment, including any collection fee to be collected by the municipal or county treasurer, shall be established by the City Council in the ordinance making such assessments. The rate of interest on the assessments shall equal : the highest interest rate payable on the bonds issued to pay the cost of the improvements. (b) The owner of any property charged with an assessment payable in installments may at any time, if not then in default on the payment of any sum due on account, prepay the entire remaining principal balance together with interest accruing to the next installment due date. Upon the sale of any property encumbered by an assessment lien established under the provisions of this Chapter, the seller of such property shall disclose in writing to the purchaser thereof the amount of said lien, the amount of any future installment payments, the interest rate on the assessment and the dates upon which such installment payments are due. Unless the seller of the property prepays the entire remaining principal balance and accrued interest on the assessment, such sale shall be conclusively considered to be a waiver of the seller's right to any refund as an assessed property owner under the provisions of §22 -85 ( a ) ( 6) or §29-111(c) . (c) Failure to pay any installment, whether of principal or interest, when due, shall cause the entire remaining principal balance and accrued interest to become due and collectible immediately. The entire remaining principal balance and accrued interest shall draw penalty interest at the rate of one and one-half (1 1/2) percent per month or fraction of a month until the day of sale. At any time prior to the day of sale, the owner may pay the amount of all unpaid installments together with accrued interest thereon and penalty interest, and shall be restored to the right to pay in installments in the same manner as if default had not occurred. In the event that the failure to pay any installment when due is attributable to an act or omission of the city or county which is inconsistent with the procedures set forth in this Chapter or with the usual and customary collection practices of the county, the Financial Officer shall have the discretion to waive or otherwise adjust the amount of penalty interest due hereunder; provided, however, that any such waiver shall not restore to the owner any right which has been waived under the provisions of §22-94. Section 14. That Section 22-96(b) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: (b) Upon the expiration of the thirty (30) day period, the Financial Officer shall deliver to the municipal or county Treasurer the local assessment showing all payments and the date of each payment, certified by the Financial Officer under the seal of the city and attested by the City Clerk with the warrant for collection. The municipal or county Treasurer shall issue a receipt. The municipal or county Treasurer shall pay to the Financial Officer the amount collected on such assessment roll less his or her fee for collection on the first day of each and every month in the same manner as general taxes are paid by the municipal or county Treasurer to the city. Section 15. That Section 22-111(a) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: (a) For the purpose of paying all costs specified in §22-85 as may be assessed against the property specially benefited and not paid by the city, special assessment bonds of the city may be issued as of such date and in such form as may be prescribed by the City Council . The bonds shall bear the name of the district and shall be payable in a sufficient period of years after such date to cover the period of payment, but subject to call as soon as hereinafter provided, in such convenient denominations as may be determined by the City Council . Section 16. That Section 22-111(c) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: (c) The bonds shall be payable out of the money collected on account of the assessments made for the improvements or from the proceeds of refunding bonds. All money collected from such assessments for any improvements shall be applied to the payment of the bonds issued until payment in full is made of all the bonds, both principal and interest. If a reserve fund has been established for the district and any balance remains in the reserve fund after the bonds have been paid in full and the city has been fully reimbursed for costs associated with the district, any such balance shall be distributed proportionally to the assessed property owners in the district. For the purposes of this provision only, the term "assessed property owners" shall be construed to mean the then current property owners, unless an assessment has previously been paid in full , in which event it shall mean the party having made final payment of the assessment. The bonds may be used in payment of the cost of the district as herein specified or the City Council in its discretion may sell the bonds to pay such cost in cash. The bonds shall be negotiable in form and shall be in either registered or bearer form. The bonds shall bear interest at such rate as may be fixed by the City Council and payable semiannually. If such interest is evidenced by coupons, the coupons shall bear the facsimile signature of the City Clerk. Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 7th day of February, A.D. 1989, and to be/peesented for final passage on the 21st day of February, A.D. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk 1989. Passed and adopted on final reading this 21st.4day, of February, A.D. Mayor A TE City Clerk