[Winona Online Democracy]
Many years ago I was City Attorney for Goodview. I had to plan the
assessment of all its property for the development of sewer and water. The
standard method of assessing at that time was to base it on the frontage of
each lot. At corner lots we took only one side (usually the narrowest) and
for triangular lots (there are some in Goodview) we averaged the frontage
based on the total area of the lot. All of the considerations you mention
were considered at hearings where individual citizens were allowed to
comment. There is an appeal process to the courts, if the city at the
hearings does not come up with an equitable solution. That process,
however, can get expensive. Many of the solutions you all have suggested
can be suggested at hearings. The hearings are required by statute. I
don't remember the numbers of the statutes, but they are quite comprehensive
and, in general, fair to all.
Duane M. Peterson
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed Thompson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2000 2:29 PM
Subject: Re: [Winona] Response to the mayor's question
> [Winona Online Democracy]
>
> At 11:12 PM 8/29/00 -0700, Wendy D. wrote:
> >I think it would be asking a lot of a homeowner to cover the full cost of
> >repairing the street in front of her home. Seems fair to charge a
percentage
> >to her. If there were other ways to charge which would ask the supposed
users
> >to pay, that would seem more fair. An extension of the sales tax beyond
> >dredging to pay a portion would be fine with me.
> >The proposal to extend Bundy Blvd north seems good to me. How to pay for
it?
> >My first impulse was to ask Corey to pay a chunk. Maybe he could pay for
some
> >of the hidden costs as well, like for the unemployment checks to the
Tri-Mac,
> >UBC, and Fleet Farm workers who earn a living wage right now (sarcastic
> >humor).
>
>
> Let's be careful not to confuse residential streets with those serving
> commercial purposes. Both provide benefit to the community as a whole, and
> thus the costs should be borne to some extent by the entire community
> through taxes.
>
> However, street improvements leading into a commercial or industrial
area
> (e.g. extension of Bundy Blvd. north of Hwy 61) also provide a specific
> economic benefit to those businesses, so it seems reasonable that they
> should be asked to pick up a larger piece of the cost. This is rarely the
> case, in contrast, for improvements to residential streets (e.g. Wabasha
> street near WSU) unless they are just being put in or have really been
> allowed to deteriorate. Only in the minds of city planners and tax
> assessors (who claim street improvements increase the value of a house,
even
> though you can't actually sell it for any more than you could before) is
> this seen as a benefit to the homeowner. For far too many people, street
> improvements lead primarily to increased traffic, noise, and dirt.
>
> Let me play devil's advocate here (yes, I know there are holes in this
> reasoning, but it makes for good discussion): if the street in front of
your
> house is used 99% by other people and only 1% by you, should you be
expected
> to pay more than 1% of its upkeep through specific assessments in addition
> to the taxes you already pay for the "community" part mentioned above?
>
> Ed Thompson
>
>
>
>
> Ed's witty saying for this week:
> If it's called "tourist season", why can't we shoot them?
>
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