BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council discussed how assessments are arranged and the possibility of spreading out the payments for property owners.
Last week’s discussion rose out of the construction to connect 15th Street South and Seventh Avenue South, which the council approved unanimously June 8.
City Engineer Jackie Lanning explained the proposed construction was brought to the council in 2019, “so all the figures in this resolution are outdated,” and was recommending that the council rescind Resolution 18-088 so Resolution 21-047 could be brought forward. The council approved rescinding Res. 18-088.
Lanning then explained Res. 21-047, which will connect a section of 15th Street South just off of Main Avenue South to a section of 15th Street South that runs west off of Medary Avenue South. It will also connect a section of Seventh Avenue South off of 12th Street South to a section of Seventh Avenue South that runs north off of 20th Street South. The connections will overlap each other near the dog park and a walking/biking trail.
Lanning said the construction will include water and sanitary sewer mains, grading, gravel, curb and gutter, asphalt street, storm sewer, detention pond, drainage channel and wetland mitigation.
“So, it’s been an ongoing design process,” Lanning said.
Assessments
“We do have three private properties located in yellow on the attached map,” Lanning said. The properties are along Seventh Avenue South, near the north end of the project to the east of Wildfire Cheer & Dance. The city owns the rest of the frontage property included in the project.
Lanning explained how the property would be assessed by footage and the estimated costs.
“The resolution necessity has the assessment being paid back over 10 years at 10% interest on the unpaid balance,” Lanning said.
The next step is to advertise for bidding in the upcoming weeks, start construction this fall and complete construction in the summer of 2022, she added.
Public comments
Jacob Mills said he was present to represent his mother, Joy Mills, who is one of the owners of the private property in the project.
“We are in support of the project. It will be a great connecting project,” Mills said, adding they had two questions about the assessments.
He pointed out they had received an estimate of the assessment the last time it was discussed, about three years ago. Since then, a TIF district has been added to the project and will contribute about $1.3 million funding to the project.
It wasn’t clear to him how the TIF funding might affect the assessments, Mills said.
“It seems like … the benefit from the TIF increment is going solely to the city and is not lowering any portion of the assessable costs,” Mills said, adding the private property is generating the increment, but the owners are also “paying a full, normal assessment.”
“It would seem to me that there should be some sort of an off-set, that it’s reducing those assessable costs,” Mills said.
His second question pertained to the timing of the payments.
“Timing is not in our control; you decide when the project happens, you decide how much the assessment is, you tell us when the bill is due. And it’s due – in full – when you tell us,” Mills said.
“To us, it would be much more palatable if that assessment is spread over time,” Mills said, adding that spreading out the payment is more important the larger the bill is.
“I wouldn’t want any private property owner to be put in a position where … perhaps have to sell property that you maybe inherited and can’t actually afford the assessment, have to borrow money or sell that property to fund that assessment,” Mills said.
He said he wasn’t looking for an answer that night or to slow down the process. He just wanted the council to be aware of it.
Robert Jones, who owns some of the property along the project, agreed with Mills, adding that the project has been in the works for several years, and the costs have “gone up and up and up and up.”
He was hoping the city would have some consideration on the time and interest rate for the assessments.
Councilor comments
Councilor Patty Bacon asked if the problems with the drainage plan have been cleared up.
The project will include a drainage channel that will flow from 15th Street South down to a detention pond, Lanning said.
Councilor Leah Brink referred to Mills’ comments, saying she thought the council should study it more.
“I would like more clarity on exactly how these things happen,” Brink said, adding that as a property owner, assessment letters are “a surprise letter that no one wants to get.”
She suggested the city figure out ways to better forecast which areas would be up for assessments.
“I wonder if there’s more we can do there to help the public understand that,” Brink said.
The future assessments that the city is planning are in the Capital Improvement Plan, City Manager Paul Briseno said, mentioning Western Avenue has been on the books for a while.
Delays are unfortunate, he said, mentioning working with multiple landowners and other circumstances that add costs.
City tax dollars are utilized for assessments, Briseno said, explaining it takes away from capital improvement projects.
“We have had a policy in the past that our special assessments is 10 years, at 10%, correct, Jackie?” he asked Lanning, who confirmed it.
Developers can and do get a lower rate than that, which the city encourages so “we’re not utilizing city tax dollars to finance these projects,” he added.
Other states have used a revenue bond, which allows 10 years, maybe 15-20 years, but the city’s credit would be utilized to obtain those bonds, Briseno said, adding he wasn’t sure if South Dakota law allowed it.
Briseno said City Attorney Steve Britzman could look into it and Public Works Director DJ Buthe was looking at other South Dakota communities.
Councilor Holly Tilton Byrne said she agreed with Brink’s points, and she wanted to see the topic on a study session for further discussion on Brookings’ policy and how the city does assessments.
Once more research has been done, a policy can be presented to the council, Briseno said.
Councilor Joey Collins asked about the timeline.
Lanning said the city would like to bid the project this summer, even by early July, start construction this summer and finish in 2022. Staff would like to do the drainage components in late fall when it’s dry and frozen – “that’s really ideal” – and it will allow the utilities to settle over the winter, so they can finish the curb and gutter next summer.
Bacon reminded the council there was an affordable housing project in relation to this construction.
“He’s already wondered why it’s taken so long for us to get this far and I’m just afraid we may lose him and that project if we keep pushing things out too far,” Bacon warned.
Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.
