(A) In the exercise of its governmental authority and in order to promote the public health, safety, convenience, and general welfare, the city has constructed, operated, and maintained a storm sewer system, including mains, holding areas, and ponds, and other appurtenances and related facilities (the “facilities”). This chapter is adopted in the further exercise of the authority in the future, for the same purposes, and for purposes of financing the cost of building, constructing, reconstructing, repairing, operating, maintaining, enlarging, improving, or in any other manner obtaining, the facilities or any portion of them (the “facilities costs”).
(B) The facilities have heretofore been financed and paid for through the imposition of special assessments and ad valorem taxes. It is now necessary and desirable to provide an alternative method of recovering some or all of the future facilities costs through the imposition of charges as provided in this chapter.
(C) In imposing charges for the facilities (“facilities charges”), it is necessary to establish a procedure designed to make the charges just and equitable. Taking into account the status of completion of the facilities, past methods of recovering facilities costs, the topography of the city, and other relevant factors, it is determined that it would be just and equitable to assign responsibility for some or all of the future facilities costs on the basis of the expected storm water runoff from the various parcels of land within the city during a standard rainfall event. For purposes of this chapter, a standard rainfall event is defined as a ten-year rainfall of 24-hour duration, assuming Hydrologic Soil Group §B§ soils according to methods in the Hydrology Guide for Minnesota, published by the Soil Conservation Service.
(D) The City Council finds that assigning costs and making facilities charges based upon expected typical storm water runoff cannot be done with mathematical precision but can only be accomplished within reasonable and practical limits. The provisions of this chapter undertake to establish a reasonable and practical method for imposing the charges.
(Prior Code, § 51.02)