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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, September 17, 2012 Page 3 9. General Ordinances for Adoption 10. Presentations 11. Public Hearings 12. Business Items (Action Items) 13. Business Items—Presentations/Discussions a. Discuss Assessment Policy City Engineer Bloom introduced this item, one listed on the City Council's 2012 Work Plan; and since the first of the year having been under advisement of the Pub- lic Works, Environment and Transportation Commission (PWETC) for review of the existing policy and any suggested revisions. Ms. Bloom noted that the PWETC had held four (4) discussions of the policy, and had provided their recommendations as detailed in the Request for Council Action (RCA) dated September 17, 2012. Ms. Bloom reviewed the report and various at- tachments, including a DRAFT of the proposed Special Assessment Policy (At- tachment A); existing 2001 Special Assessment Policy in Summary (Attachment B); the City's pre-2001 Special Assessment Policy (Attachment C); the City As- sessment Summary (Attachment D) and a survey of peer communities in the metro- politan area for their assessment policies (Attachment E). Ms. Bloom addressed challenges presented by the existing policy; as well as the reformatting and reorganization of sections of the Policy as presented in DRAFT form (Attachment A). Ms. Bloom reviewed each section of the proposed policy and rationale for any recommended revisions by the PWETC and staff. Ms. Bloom ad- vised that a final review of the proposed policy by staff and the City Attorney re- mained pending. Special Benefit Test(Section 1) Under State Statute 429 Special Assessment provisions and benefits for property being assessed, Ms. Bloom reviewed the new appraisal provision to determine be- fore and after appraisal values for properties proposed to be assessed. At the request of Councilmember McGehee, Ms. Bloom confirmed that, as part of future feasibility reports, before/after assessment appraisals would be performed on properties being assessed, at a projected total cost of approximately $3,000 for resi- dential appraisals, and larger commercial parcels at $20,000 - $30,000, depending on their use. Ms. Bloom noted that these appraisal costs would be part of the engi- neering overhead or project costs; and that this was becoming standard practice in most cities to protect both the city and property owner. As an example, Ms. Bloom