HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980 08-07 City is seeking payment on deferred assessments THE REVIEW City1sseeking pon deferred assessments
By eET-SY BECKER Others were in the $12,000 to from the then-village telling him deferred, she said, and none many were for smaller amounts.
Staff Writer Ma pie wood $15,000 range. he wouldn't have to pay until the found the deferment in paper But, she already had received
land was developed or sold. work.on the house.
In 1959 the Maplewood City Still others were much one$1,000 payment.
Council started allowing proper- like you're hiding things off in smaller. Many were for $150 for Neither has occurred. City Attorney Don Lais recom- "They have known the assess-
ty owners deferments on paying the weeds." water hookups that haven't been mended she talk to her lawyer.
assessments for street and utili- used yet. GREAVU ADVISED him he ments were out there," she said.
' ty improvements. Greavu responded: "wnere could apply for a senior citizen's On Monday,Mrs. Aurelius said "They've just been waiting for
were you 15 years ago? You Under the program, the defer- deferment. ,that of appeals that had come in, the city to call them in."
Today, the city has close to know, hindsight is great. But ments continue until the land Toenjes, who told the council —
$800,000 in outstanding deferred that's why were in the state changed hands or if its status he was 70 that day, retorted: "1
£,, , assessments. City fathers ex- we're in tonight." changed, for example, by rezon- don't want that. I'm not a basket
\, pressed their regrets last week ing for instance. case.
that the program was ever initi- Councilman Earl Nelson, who
ated, was city engineer in the late City Clerk Lu Aurelius said the "I'd like a deferment for a
.' 1950s, attributed the policy to city didn't charge any interest on couple more years. I've got part
BUT AS PART of their five- °soft-heartedness." deferred assessments until 1978 of it for sale. Give those birds a
year review of deferments, they when it initiated a seven percent chance. ,;
voted to call in $392,461 of the Councilwoman Fran Juker, a charge.
deferments. Citizens have until relative newcomer, asked why I don't want to take it out of
Aug. 21 to appeal or ask for a the city started deferments. Nel THE COUNCIL SET the fig- my hard-earned savings to pay
V) continued deferment. son explained that years ago,the ure at eight percent for the as- for water and sewer I can't even
s. Said Mayorsanitary sewer and water lines sessments it called in last week. use."
John Greavu: "It's
were installed across large uncle-
, getting to the point where I don't veloped tracts of land. In a report to the council, The outstanding assessments '
want to ever defer (payments) Finance Director Dan Faust said for Toenjes' approximate 3.5
again." IT "CREATED a big night- that roughly $400,000 might be acres are around $9,100. He ex-
mare" for landowners, he said. earned from the outstanding plained that he's unable to hook
Resident Chuck Ackerman, So the deferments came into use. deferments over the next 15 up to sewer and water because
1895 Myrtle St., stated: "These years. his home is below street level.
things (deferments) don't seem Some of the deferred asses-
like a good thing to me. It seems ments were as much as $25,000. But that didn't placate the citi- One woman contended she
zens who came to last week's shouldn't have to pay any assess-
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meeting to speak against the went because a title search on
assessments. her home that she bought a few
Herb Toenjes Sr., 1966 years ago didn't reveal any
McMenemy Road, said he didn't deferred assessments.
feel he should lose the defer- THERE HAVE been three
ment. He read from a 1961 letter owners since the assessment was