HomeMy WebLinkAboutA1. Supplemental Commission Memo - Create Arterial Collector Street District
Commission Memorandum
Supplemental Memorandum: August 28, 2015
REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor and City Commission
FROM: Anna Rosenberry, Administrative Services Director
SUBJECT: Public Hearing, Consideration of Protests, and Adoption of
Resolution No. 4640 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF BOZEMAN, MONTANA, CREATING THE ARTERIAL AND
COLLECTOR STREET SPECIAL DISTRICT FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING
THE CONSTRUCTION, IMPROVEMENTS, AND MAINTENANCE OF
TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES RELATED TO ARTERIALS AND
COLLECTOR STREETS.
MEETING DATE: August 31, 2015
AGENDA ITEM TYPE: Action
RECOMMENDATION: Conduct a public hearing and determine whether valid protests have
been received from property owners representing less than 10% of the annual assessment amount
and if so, Adopt Resolution No. 4640.
BACKGROUND: This memorandum supplements the memorandum provided as part of the
Commission packet materials earlier this week regarding Resolution 4640, a resolution to create
the Arterial and Collector Streets Special District (the “District”). This memorandum addresses
written protests and support letters received by the City during the required 60-day public
comment period and provides additional information on amendments to Resolution 4640.
As required by law, the City mailed 13,085 notices of passage of the Resolution 4603 (a
Resolution of Intent to Create the District) along with a cover letter and protest forms to 16,308
properties that are liable to be assessed for the costs of the District. The proposed method of
assessment for the District is based on the assessable area of each lot or parcel, expressed in
square feet. See Section 7 of Resolution 4603. As such, the protest threshold (see below) is to be
calculated by taking the total estimated costs of the District as expressed in square feet and
dividing it by the square footage of properties that submitted protests which comply with
Montana law.
Protests:
The City received 743 protests forms for city properties during the 60-day protest period. Protest
forms submitted to the City can be viewed here. They are grouped by week of submission. The
total assessable square footage of the District is 195,639,784. Of the protests received, regardless
of compliance with state law, the total assessable square footage protesting amounts to
9,391,179. This is 4.8% of the total square footage to be assessed and represents 4.8% of the
estimated costs of the District’s improvements.
Pursuant to 7-11-1008(5), MCA:
(5) (a) At the hearing provided for in 7-11-1007, the governing body shall consider all protests.
(b) If the protest is made by the owners of property in the proposed district to be assessed for:
(i) 50% or more of the cost of the proposed program or improvements, in accordance with the method or
methods of assessment, further proceedings may not be taken by the governing body for at least 12 months;
or
(ii) more than 10% but less than 50% of the cost of the proposed program or improvements, in
accordance with the method or methods of assessment, and if the governing body decides to proceed with
proposing the district, the governing body shall order a referendum in accordance with 7-11-1011.
(c) In determining whether or not sufficient protests have been filed in the proposed special district to
prevent further proceedings, property owned by a governmental entity must be considered the same as any
other property in the district.
(d) The decision of the governing body is final and conclusive.
(e) The governing body may adjourn the hearing from time to time.
The City provided protest forms for properties owned by individuals, properties owned by an
entity (LLC, corporations, etc.) and properties created as a condominium. For properties created
as a condominium, 7-11-1027(5), MCA, provides specific procedures that must be followed:
(5) An owner of property created as a condominium may protest against the method of assessment or vote
at an election of the special district only through a president, vice president, secretary, or treasurer of the
condominium owners' association who timely presents to the secretary of the special district the following:
(a) a writing identifying the condominium property;
(b) the condominium declaration or other condominium document that shows how votes of unit owners
in the condominium are calculated;
(c) original signatures of owners of units in the condominium having an undivided ownership interest in
the common elements of the condominium sufficient to constitute an affirmative vote for an undertaking
relating to the common elements under the condominium declaration; and
(d) a certificate signed by the president, vice president, secretary, or treasurer of the condominium
owners' association certifying that the votes of the unit owners, as evidenced by the signatures of the
owners, are sufficient to constitute an affirmative vote of the condominium owners' association to protest
against the method of assessment.
Of the total protests received, 209 were for properties created as condominiums. Many of these
were submitted in a manner that did not comply with the statutory requirements. The total square
footage for condominiums which submitted protests regardless of compliance with the statutory
requirements is 1,322,114, representing 0.7% of the estimated costs of the District’s
improvements.
Support:
The City received 114 support letters totaling 951,334 square feet. This amounts to 0.5% of the
estimated costs of the District’s improvements. Support forms are located here. These are
organized by the week they were submitted. In addition, Montana law indicates the protest form
mailed by the City “must specify that if it is not returned, the owner's lack of action must be
construed as support of the creation of the special district.” 7-11-1008(2)(c), MCA. The form
sent to properties owners by the City contained this statement. As such, properties representing
94.7% of the estimated costs of the District’s improvements did not return protest forms. The
Commission must construe this as support for creation of the District.
We have not included “invalid protest” forms to be support for the District.
Other public comment:
The City also received public comment in conjunction with a support or protest. If a returned
protest or support form contained a supplemental document containing public comment we
placed it here. Other public comment may appear on the protest/support forms.
Summary of Protest and Support:
Protests and Support Count % of Sq Ft
Properties Eligible to Protest 16,308 100.0%
Protests Received (see below) 743 4.8%
Support Forms Received 114 0.5%
Did Not Return Form = Support 15,451 94.7%
Total Support 15,565 95.2%
Amendments to the Resolution:
Resolution 4640, as provided to you in the staff memorandum for creation of the District,
contains two locations where information must be added should the Commission move to adopt
the resolution thus creating the District:
Consideration of the protests:
o OPTION 1: In consideration of the protests, if you consider only those protest
forms complying with the statutory requirements to be valid.
The 4th recital on page 1 of the Resolution should be amended to read:
“WHEREAS, 493 protests were filed within the protest period and such
protest represent 3.9% of the total estimated costs of the District in
accordance with the method of assessment provided for in the Resolution
of Intent.”
o OPTION 2: In consideration of the protests, if you consider all protest forms
received to be valid.
The 4th recital on page 1 of the Resolution should be amended to read:
“WHEREAS, 743 protests were filed within the protest period and such
protest represent 4.8% of the total estimated costs of the District in
Protest Forms Received Count % of Sq Ft
Protest – Valid, including Condos 493 3.9%
Protest – Invalid 41 0.2%
Protest – Invalid Condos 209 0.7%
Total Protest Forms 743 4.8%
accordance with the method of assessment provided for in the Resolution
of Intent.”
The first section of the Resolution (Public Hearing; Protests) should be amended to
indicate it is Section 1.
Also, in Section 1, the Commission will need to determine whether sufficient protests
have been filed to prevent the Commission from creating the District.
Report compiled on: August 28, 2015