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Moorhead council approves special-assessment resolution covering 18 public-improvement projects
Summary
The Moorhead City Council held its annual consolidated assessment hearing and voted to adopt a resolution assessing property owners for 18 completed and recent public-improvement projects after hearing from staff and receiving a small number of inquiries.
The Moorhead City Council voted Tuesday to adopt a single resolution levying special assessments for 18 public-improvement and petition projects completed over the past several years.
City staff said the annual consolidated hearing combined capital improvement program and petition projects for convenience and that 453 assessment hearing notices were mailed to affected property owners. In response, staff reported five telephone inquiries, two counter visits to city offices, one email and one written letter expressing dissatisfaction with project timing.
“9 is actually from projects that were completed long ago and had deferred assessments,” a city staff member told the council during the hearing, describing a mix of deferred plats, final wear-course work on recent subdivisions, sanitary sewer replacement petition work and six typical street capital projects built over the last two years.
The council opened the public hearing, received no in-person challenges, closed the hearing and then moved to adopt the bundled resolution. Council Member Heather Niesemeyer moved to close the hearing; Council Member Deb White seconded. A motion to approve the resolution was made and seconded; the measure passed on a voice vote.
Under the consolidated approach, staff said, some assessments were tied to prior deferred work after a plat (Prairie Parkway second edition) was completed this year and therefore required assessment adjustments. Staff also said one property owner had questions stemming from a purchase agreement with a developer that was separate from the city’s assessment process; staff advised that as a separate contractual matter.
Council members asked no further questions after staff summarized the mailed notices and the limited public response. The council recorded no roll-call vote in the meeting record; the resolution was approved by voice vote.
The resolution will allow the city to finalize billing for those projects and proceed with the assessment collection steps identified in city policy. The council did not specify dollar amounts for the assessments during the meeting; staff said questions about calculation and payment methods had been the main inquiries received from property owners.
The hearing and adoption complete the city’s annual consolidated assessment cycle for the listed projects. Interested property owners were advised to contact city staff for details about individual assessment calculations and payment options.
