The process to use special assessments is fairly involved. The following is a summary of the procedure:
Initiation of proceedings
The proceedings may be initiated by the Council OR by a petition of affected property owners.
Preparation of a feasibility report on the improvement
The City Engineer (or other competent person) must prepare a report on the proposed improvement. The report must include the estimated cost of the proposed improvement, and whether it is necessary, cost-effective, and feasible.
Notice of Public Hearing on the improvement
A public hearing must be held on the proposed improvement. The City must publish notice of the public hearing to consider the proposed improvement. It must be published twice with the notices appearing at least one week apart. At least three days must elapse between the last publication and the date of the hearing. The City must also mail notice to each property owner in the proposed assessment area at least 10 days prior to the hearing.
Public Hearing on the improvement
At the hearing, the Council should give interested people a chance to voice their concerns, whether or not they are in the proposed assessment area. When a petition signed by 100 percent (100%) of the landowners requests the improvement, the Council may order the improvement without a hearing.
Ordering the improvement and the preparation of plans
If the Council began proceeding because of a petition signed by the owners of at least 35 percent of the property abutting the improvement, the Council can pass a resolution to order the improvement with a majority vote. However, it the Council initiated the proceedings, a four-fifths majority vote of the Council is needed to pass the resolution. After the resolution is passed, the city engineer should prepare the necessary plans and specifications. The Council should decide how the improvement will be done, and if necessary, issue a call for bids.
Accepting Bids and Awarding Contract
Once the improvement has been advertised for bids, on the designated date and time of the bid opening, bids may be opened in the presence of two or more representatives of the City. The bids then may be tabulated before the meeting at which time they are received, considered, accepted by the Council and Council will then order the improvement.
Preparation of the proposed assessment roll
The City Engineer (or other qualified person) must calculate the proper amount to be especially assessed against each property that will benefit from the improvement. The proposed assessment roll must be available for public inspection in the city clerk's office.
Notice of the public hearing on the proposed assessment
The city must publish a notice of the hearing in the official city newspaper. The publication must occur at least once, not less than two weeks before the hearing. The notice must include the following information:
- Place, time and date of the hearing
- Overall project description
- Total cost of the improvement
- Area to be assessed
- Description of appeals procedure
- Any deferment options
The city must also mail notice of the hearing to each property owner at least two weeks before the hearing date. The mailed notice must contain the following:
- Amount of the assessment for the individual parcels
- Possible pre-payment provisions
- Interest rate on the assessments
Public hearing on the proposed assessment
The purpose of this hearing is to give affected property owners an opportunity to express their concerns on the actual special assessment levy.
Approval and certification of assessment rolls
After the public hearing, the Council must approve the assessment rolls in their final form so that the city can certify them to the Washington County auditor. If the adopted assessment differs from the proposed assessment, a designated representative of the city must mail the property owner notice of the new amount.
Issuance of obligations to finance the improvement
Most cities use one of three types of bonds to finance special assessments: improvement bonds, improvement warrants, or temporary improvement bonds.
Levying and collecting assessments
The city must certify the assessments to the county auditor this may be done either by certifying the entire assessment roll all at once, or by certifying each yearly amount annually.
