(1) The Council may defer the payment of any special assessments on homestead property owned by a person who is 65 years of age or older, or who is retired by virtue of permanent and total disability, and the City Clerk is hereby authorized to record the deferment of special assessments where the following conditions are met; but nothing herein contained shall be construed to prohibit the determination of such a hardship on the basis of exceptional and unusual circumstances not covered by these standards and guidelines where the determination made by the City Council in a nondiscriminatory manner will give the applicant an unreasonable preference or advantage over other applicants:
(a) Any applicant must be 65 years of age or older, or retired by virtue of permanent and total disability, and must own a legal or equitable interest in the property applied for which must be the homestead of the applicant.
(b) The applicant and any other owner of the property who resides therein with the applicant shall not have an annual gross income in excess of the Section 8, low income limits in effect at the time of the application (as established by the Department of Housing and Urban Development). Income specified in the application should be the income of the year preceding the year in which the application is made, or the average income of the three years prior to the year in which the application is made.
(c) The applicant and any other owner of the property who resides therein with the applicant shall not have gross assets (excluding the homestead property) in excess of $50,000.
(d) The Assessor’s Market Value of the applicant’s homestead parcel shall not exceed $60,000.
(e) The limitations on an applicant’s assets and property market value may be adjusted on an annual basis upon recommendation of the City Administrator and motion of the City Council.
(f) Unless otherwise provided under the resolution adopting the assessment, all such deferred assessments shall bear interest at the rate of two percent above the city’s borrowing rate.
(g) This procedure shall not apply to any assessment of $100 or less.
(2) The deferment shall be granted for as long a period of time as the hardship exists and the conditions as aforementioned have been met. However, it shall be the duty of the applicant to notify the City Clerk of any change in his status that would affect eligibility for deferment.
(3) The entire amount of deferred special assessments shall be due within 60 days after the loss of eligibility by the applicant. If the special assessment is not paid within 60 days, the City Clerk shall add thereto interest at two percent above the city’s borrowing rate from date assessments were adopted through December 31 of the following year and the total amount of principal and interest shall be certified to the County Auditor for collection with taxes the following year. Should the applicant plead and prove, to the satisfaction of the Council, that full repayment of the deferred special assessment would cause the applicant particular undue hardship, the Council may order that the applicant pay within 60 days a sum equal to the number of installments of deferred special assessments outstanding and unpaid to date (including principal and interest) with the balance thereafter paid according to the terms and condition of the original special assessment.
(4) The option to defer the payment of special assessments shall terminate and all amounts accumulated plus applicable interest shall become due upon the occurrence of any one of the following:
(a) The death of the owner when there is no spouse who is eligible for deferment.
(b) The sale, transfer or subdivision of all or any part of the property.
(c) Loss of homestead status on the property.
(d) Determination by the Council for any reason that there would be no hardship to require immediate or partial payment.
(5) Notice of the special assessment deferral shall be filed by the City Clerk with the Anoka County Recorder as provided by law. Failure to record such notice, however, shall not affect the validity of the special assessments.
(6) Any person, firm, entity or corporation who shall provide false information in application for a deferral under this provision or shall violate any term or condition contained herein shall be guilty of a misdemeanor as defined by state law.