(A) (1) Authorization for pre-payments. Whenever the City Council shall, pursuant to M.S. Ch. 429, as may be amended from time to time, adopt an assessment roll setting forth special assessments for improvement projects, then each property owner so assessed thereon, shall be entitled to pre-pay all or part of the assessment in accordance with the conditions set forth herein.
(2) Partial pre-payment conditions. Whenever a property owner so assessed desires to make a partial pre-payment of the assessment, he or she may do so by making payment to the City Treasurer at any time prior to certification of the assessment on the property to the County Auditor, with interest at the then applicable rate accrued to the date of payment, except that no interest shall be charged on any partial pre-payment paid within 30 days from the adoption of the assessment roll by the City Council. After certification of the assessment to the County Auditor no pre-payment shall be permitted, except that the owner may at any time prior to November 15 of any year pre-pay to the Treasurer of the city the whole assessment remaining due, except that the installment and interest in process of collection on the current tax list shall be paid to the County Treasurer.
(3) Time limitation. The City Administrator is hereby authorized and directed to select the final date upon which pre-payments shall be accepted by the City Treasurer in a manner so as to allow a reasonable length of time to extend all remaining unpaid assessment amounts into installments with interest such that the roll may be submitted to the County Auditor on or before October 10 of the current year as required; however nothing contained in this section or this division (A) shall be construed to require the city to provide more than 30 days for the whole or partial prepayment of an assessment prior to certification. The City Administrator is hereby further directed to give written notice to each property owner so assessed of the final date upon which whole or partial pre-payments will be accepted, however failure by the owner to receive the notice shall not, in any way, invalidate the assessment proceedings. The notice shall also be posted at City Hall.
(4) Effective date. This division (A) shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage by the City Council and after its publication in the official newspaper of the city. The ordinance codified herein was published on 4-25-1977.
(B) (1) Generally. The City Council may, at its discretion and pursuant to M.S. §§ 435.193 through 435.195, as may be amended from time to time, defer the payment of certain special assessments in accordance with the guidelines and procedures set forth in this division (B).
(2) Eligibility. Any person 65 years of age or older or any person retired by virtue of permanent and total disability may apply, by September 30 of each year, for the deferral of payments of special assessments levied against real property for public improvements because of undue hardship if the following conditions are met.
(a) The applicant must be the fee simple owner of the property or must be a contract vendee for fee simple ownership. An applicant must provide either a recorded deed or contract for deed with the application to establish a qualified ownership interest as required herein.
(b) The property must be the applicant’s principal place of domicile and classified on the city’s and county’s real estate tax rolls as the applicant’s homestead.
(c) The applicant’s adjusted gross income combined with the adjusted gross income of all other joint tenants, tenants in common or contract vendees in title to the property may not exceed 50% of the median income of the county for the family size designated as established by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Adjusted gross incomes shall be those filed for federal income tax purposes.
(d) The principal amount of the assessment exceeds $2,000.
(e) In the case of a person retired by virtue of a permanent and total disability, verification of the disability by a medical doctor shall be submitted with the application. The verification may include, but is not limited to, the required designation by the Federal Social Security Administration.
(f) Be willing to provide the city with such information as the city may require to make a proper determination as to eligibility, including, but not limited to, providing copies of the applicant’s state and federal income tax returns.
(g) Nothing contained herein shall be construed to prohibit the determination of hardship on the basis of exceptional and unusual circumstances not covered by the conditions set forth herein. However, any determination shall be made in a nondiscriminatory manner and the City Council shall not give the applicant an unreasonable preference or advantage over other applicants.
(3) Interest on deferred assessment. All deferred special assessments shall be subject to, and charged annually, the initial interest rate adopted at the time the assessment was originally levied the interest shall be payable in full upon termination of the deferred status.
(4) Annual review. The City Council shall annually review all deferments previously made. The procedure shall be similar to that used for the consideration of a new application. A determination shall be made concerning hardship and whether the deferment shall be continued or whether immediate full or partial payment shall be made.
(5) Termination of deferred status. Deferred special assessment payments, plus applicable interest, shall become payable in whole effective upon the occurrence of any one of the following events:
(a) Sale of property. The subject property is sold, transferred, subdivided or, in any way, conveyed to another by the fee owner who was qualified for deferral status;
(b) Death of owner. The death of the fee owner who was qualified for deferral status unless a surviving spouse is eligible for the deferral benefit provided hereunder;
(c) Nonhomestead property. The subject property loses its homestead status for any reason; and
(d) No hardship. The City Council determines that there would be no hardship to require an immediate or partial payment of the deferred special assessment and accrued interest.
(6) Effective date. This division (B) shall be effective from and after its passage and publication in the official newspaper of the city. The ordinance codified herein was published 6-7-2007.
(Ord. 5, passed 4-18-1977; Ord. 75.1, passed - -2007)