3.90.040 LID initiated by petition

3.90.040 LID initiated by petition.

A. Petition. The petition for an improvement by special assessment shall be in a form prescribed by the manager or the manager’s designee and shall include a description of the improvement sought by the petition, an estimated cost of the project, and a description of the proposed boundaries of the proposed local improvement district. The original or a copy of the petition must be signed by the owners of properties who would collectively bear more than 50 percent of the projected cost of the assessment for the capital improvement. The petition when signed shall be filed with the borough clerk.

B. Review by Clerk. After the petition has been filed with the borough clerk, the clerk (after consultation with the manager or the manager’s designee) shall determine and report to the assembly whether the petition has sufficient and proper signatures.

C. Assembly Review. The assembly shall determine by resolution whether the petition has sufficient and proper signatures, and whether the improvement is necessary. If the assembly’s findings as to petition signatures and project necessity are in the affirmative, the assembly shall set a date for public hearing on the petition, allowing time for prior notice as set forth below.

D. Manager’s Report. Upon passage by the assembly of a resolution that the improvement is necessary and the petition has sufficient and proper signatures, the assembly shall request the manager or the manager’s designee to prepare a report to the assembly containing a plan specifying the properties to be assessed, showing the desirable extent of the proposed improvement, and giving an updated estimate of the cost of the proposed improvement. The report of the manager shall be presented to the assembly sufficiently in advance of the public hearing on the petition so that the cost estimate will be available for inclusion in the notices of the hearing.

1. Amount of Advance Notice. If special assessment bonds are to be issued, the notice of hearing shall be published at least once a week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation throughout the borough with the first published notice and mailing of such notice to be at least 60 days prior to the date of the hearing. If special assessment bonds are not to be issued, then notice of the hearing shall be published at least twice in a newspaper of general circulation, with the date of first publication and mailing of such notice to be not less than 60 days prior to the hearing date.

2. Published Notice. Published notice shall contain:

a. A general description of the improvements to be ordered and a description of the boundaries of the proposed local improvement district;

b. A statement of the estimated cost of the proposed improvements and the estimated proportion of such cost to be borne by the property specifically benefited thereby;

c. A statement that a map or plat showing thereon the lots, tracts and parcels of land which will be specifically benefited by the proposed improvement, the proposed assessment schedule and the proposed assessment against each lot, tract or parcel of land is on file for public inspection at the borough office;

d. The time, date and place of such hearing; and that the owners of any property within the proposed district may file with the borough clerk a written objection to the creation of such district and the ordering of the work to be done therein stopped until the time of the hearing.

3. Mailed Notice. Notice of such hearing shall be mailed to all owners within the proposed district according to the tax roll of the borough at the last address thereon. Mailed notice shall contain, in addition to the items required to be set forth in the published notice, the following:

a. A description of each lot, tract or parcel of land owned by the addressee of the notice, and the estimated assessment to be levied against such property;

b. The estimated payment schedule for such assessment;

c. A statement that the assessment proposed to be levied against each such lot, tract or parcel of land is an estimated amount and that when actual costs are known they will be assessed against all the real property in the local improvement district in accordance with the benefits received.

1. Any protests by owners of benefited properties must be filed with the borough clerk before the beginning of the public hearing on the necessity of the improvement. If written protests are filed by 50 percent of the number of property owners in the proposed district without regard to property value, the assembly shall not proceed until the protests have been settled to the satisfaction of at least 66 percent of the number of property owners in the proposed district. If a property owner has more than one lot or parcel of land within the LID, that property owner may only be counted once for purposes of this protest procedure.

2. The assembly may decrease the extent or value of the improvement, or may delete from the properties to be assessed those not benefited in whole or in part by the improvement. At the conclusion of the public hearing, the assembly by resolution shall determine whether or not to proceed with the improvements, hold another hearing thereon, subject to the same advance notice requirements as in the first instance, and so on until all the objections have been settled to the satisfaction of owners of at least 66 percent of the number of property owners in the proposed district.

3. If all the owners of affected property corresponding to the foregoing 66 percent agree in writing to any revised plan, there shall not be need to re-advertise or hold further hearings, and the assembly may proceed with the revised plan.

G. Assembly Action Creating LID. After the public hearing, if the assembly finds that the local improvement district should be formed, the assembly shall by ordinance find that the creation of such district is in the public interest, and set forth the following:

1. The boundaries of the LID;

2. Improvements to be acquired, constructed and installed;

3. The estimated cost of the improvements, which cost may include any of the cost elements listed in AS 29.46.110(a);

4. The estimated proportion of the cost to be borne by the property specifically benefited by the improvements, and the source of the money needed to pay the balance of the cost;

5. The formula to be applied in allocating costs among individual properties to be benefited by the improvements;

6. Appropriation of funds for the total cost of the project;

7. An order directing the work to be done;

8. If installment payments of the assessments are to be allowed, a statement of the allowable time to complete the payments, the required frequency of payments, and the rate of interest to be charged on the remaining unpaid balance;

9. Such other provisions as the assembly finds desirable and that are not inconsistent with AS 29.46.