1.2relating to municipalities; authorizing municipalities to establish street
1.3improvement districts and apportion street improvement fees within districts;
1.4requiring adoption of street improvement plan; authorizing collection of fees;
1.5proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 435.
1.6BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7    Section 1. [435.39] MUNICIPAL STREET IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS.
1.8    Subdivision 1. Definitions. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms
1.9have the meanings given them.
1.10(b) "Governing body" means the city council of a municipality.
1.11(c) "Improvements" means construction, reconstruction, and facility upgrades
1.12involving: right-of-way acquisition; paving; curbs and gutters; bridges and culverts and
1.13their repair; milling; overlaying; drainage and storm sewers; excavation; base work;
1.14subgrade corrections; street lighting; traffic signals; signage; sidewalks; pavement
1.15markings; boulevard and easement restoration; impact mitigation; connection and
1.16reconnection of utilities; turn lanes; medians; street and alley returns; retaining walls;
1.17fences; lane additions; and fixed transit infrastructure, trails, or pathways. "Fixed transit
1.18infrastructure" does not include commuter rail rolling stock, light rail vehicles, or
1.19transit way buses; capital costs for park-and-ride facilities; feasibility studies, planning,
1.20alternative analyses, environmental studies, engineering, or construction of transit ways;
1.21or operating assistance for transit ways.
1.22(d) "Maintenance" means striping, seal coating, crack sealing, pavement repair,
1.23sidewalk maintenance, signal maintenance, street light maintenance, and signage.
1.24(e) "Municipal street" means a street, alley, or public way in which the municipality
1.25is the road authority with powers conferred by section 429.021.
2.1(f) "Municipality" means a home rule charter or statutory city.
2.2(g) "Street improvement district" means a geographic area designated by a
2.3municipality within which street improvements and maintenance may be undertaken and
2.4financed according to this section.
2.5    Subd. 2. Authorization. A municipality may establish by ordinance municipal
2.6street improvement districts and may defray all or part of the total costs of municipal
2.7street improvements and maintenance by apportioning street improvement fees to all of
2.8the parcels located in the district.
2.9    Subd. 3. Uniformity. The total costs of municipal street improvements and
2.10maintenance must be apportioned to all parcels or tracts of land located in the established
2.11street improvement district on a uniform basis within each classification of real estate.
2.12    Subd. 4. Adoption of plan. Before establishing a municipal street improvement
2.13district or authorizing a street improvement fee, a municipality must propose and adopt a
2.14street improvement plan that identifies and estimates the costs of proposed improvements
2.15and maintenance for the following five years and identifies the location of the municipal
2.16street improvement district. Notice of a public hearing on the proposed plan must be given
2.17by mail to all affected landowners at least ten days before the hearing and posted for at
2.18least ten days before the hearing. At the public hearing, the governing body must present
2.19the plan and all affected landowners in attendance must have the opportunity to comment
2.20before the governing body considers adoption of the plan.
2.21    Subd. 5. Use of fees. Revenues collected from property in a district from the
2.22fee authorized in this section must be placed in a separate account and be used only
2.23for projects located within that same district and identified in the municipal street
2.24improvement district plan.
2.25    Subd. 6. Collection; up to 20 years. (a) The ordinance adopted under this section
2.26must provide for the billing and payment of the fee on a monthly, quarterly, or other basis
2.27as directed by the governing body. The governing body may collect municipal street
2.28improvement fees within a street improvement district for up to a maximum of 20 years.
2.29    (b) Fees that, as of October 15 of each calendar year, have remained unpaid for at
2.30least 30 days may be certified to the county auditor for collection as a special assessment
2.31payable in the following calendar year against the affected property.
2.32    Subd. 7. Notice; hearings. A municipality may impose a municipal street
2.33improvement fee provided in this section by ordinance. The ordinance must not be voted
2.34on or adopted until after a public hearing has been held on the question.
2.35    Subd. 8. Not exclusive means of financing improvements. The use of the
2.36municipal street improvement fee by a municipality does not restrict the municipality from
3.1imposing other measures to pay the costs of local street improvements or maintenance,
3.2except that a municipality must not impose special assessments for projects funded with
3.3street improvement fees.