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City creates special-assessment district to fund Altru Sports Complex site work, council narrowly approves
Summary
The Council approved creation of a special-assessment district to cover $8.7 million of site work for the Altru Sports Complex as part of an $11.8 million site package. Council member Wasowski registered a lone dissent amid questions about sales-tax reliance and budget risk.
The City Council voted to create Special Assessment District Project 8933 to fund $8.7 million of paving, storm sewer, street lighting and site work tied to the Altru Sports Complex and related lots.
City staff said the total estimated site work is about $11.8 million, and the $8.7 million engineer’s report before the council would be financed in part by special assessment and in part with city funds including water, wastewater and stormwater enterprise funds and sales-tax allocations. Mr. Lieberman, city staff, told the committee that the special-assessment portion specifically covers paving, storm sewer, street lighting, earthwork and landscaping.
The special-assessment district boundaries cover four city-owned lots: the Altru Sports Complex site, the Hugo’s Raceway parcel, the lot for a proposed children’s museum and an associated stormwater pond lot. Council members asked whether the City would effectively be special-assessing itself. Lieberman said the North Dakota Century Code procedures require the same special-assessment process even when the city is the property owner and that the Special Assessment Commission will determine how benefits are apportioned among the lots.
Council members pressed staff on the financing breakdown and the use of sales tax. A staff presenter identified roughly $4.4 million coming from the three-quarter percent sales tax portion that benefits the complex and another $4.238 million from other sources in the district; other portions would be funded by enterprise funds for water, wastewater and stormwater. Staff said the city would special-assess itself over a 25-year period and that annual payments are projected to start around $400,000 and decline over time as principal is repaid.
Council member Wasowski said she would not support moving forward while the project was still over budget and voiced concerns about relying on sales tax for repayment. The motion to approve the engineer’s report and create the district passed after a roll-call “aye” vote; Wasowski registered the lone dissent.
Council directed the item to the Special Assessment Commission for benefit allocation and to follow the statutorily required steps before final bond sale and assessment.
