Non-Conforming Tax Forfeited Lot Sales

The City of Breezy Point is somewhat unique, even perhaps in Crow Wing County, in that there are numerous properties that have been tax forfeited. These properties take some time to work through the process before they can be offered for sale to others who wish to purchase them.

Breezy Point has lots that were platted that are not large enough to build on. Some areas have sanitary sewer access where lot size can be smaller. There are other areas without sewer which require significantly more property to build on. The lots that are too small for building are classified as non-conforming from a zoning perspective. The best use of these properties is to attach them to abutting property to create a buildable lot. In some circumstances abutting property owners would like a larger property.

After the county takes possession of tax forfeited properties, it goes through the statutory processes of disposition. One approach under law is commonly called the alternate sales procedure. The county determines if a property is non-conforming. If it is, they can offer the property to abutting landowners without going through all the hoops of a regular sale. This further supports abutting property owner acquisition and also supports the assembly of lots to make a property buildable.

This process involves notification to the city of a change in status of the property. Properties are designated Conservation (reserved) until the process of review has been completed. Changing the status to Non-Conservation allows the county to sell the property. The city, once notified, has 60 days to determine whether or not the property has a public purpose. The city is supportive of getting these properties back on the tax roles. To facilitate the process as quickly as possible the city has adopted a policy of staff review and approval to provide for the designation change. The city has streamlined the process so these properties can move to sale as quickly as possible.

Given the policy change, property owners who have an interest in an abutting tax forfeited property can contact the county to address the issue of purchase. If the property is determined to be non-conforming the county can request of the city a change to Non-Conservation. Once a property has been deemed Non-Conservation a property owner can work with the county towards acquisition of an abutting property.

Update on All Veterans Memorial

The City Council reviewed the plans for the All Veterans Memorial at the September meeting. Activity for the memorial has been accomplished and completed for this year with the physical area of the memorial being brought up to grade and sodded. No additional work is scheduled for this year.

The centerpiece of the memorial is a sculpture that will be erected next spring. The sculpture was created by Jeff Kreitz and is really something to see. I believe those who have seen it feel it is a very beautiful and impressive. It is a somewhat spiritual representation of a non-descript veteran with a purple heart. Further plans at this time are yet to be worked out for 2012 with all expenses to be paid through donations to the cemetery.

In discussing the project Cemetery Commission Chair Gary Bakken thanked all those who have participated in the project. He indicated there is a good deal of planning and fund raising activity is to be accomplished before moving on with construction for 2012.

The City Council approved the activities for 2011 and asked for an update on the project prior to construction in 2012.

Park Equipment

I am amazed and pleased to see the use of the Breezy Point Park. Each year we see increased activity. The Park and Recreation Committee has been looking at park needs and planning for the future. A good part of that planning has been involved with improvements to the city park but other areas are also considered as part of the Comprehensive Park Plan. A Capital Improvement Plan is in the discussion stages and the hope is this can be adopted in the near future as part of the plan.

Funds have been budgeted for capital purchases on an annual basis. This doesn’t mean that funds are spent in the context of use it or loose it. Capital funds that are not expended are placed in the Revolving Capital Fund. This provides for and allows the city to purchase or make improvements to the park system that may exceed the annual budget.

One goal of the Park and Recreation Committee is to make improvements on an annual basis. These improvements would hopefully be in keeping with need that has been demonstrated but there are also improvements that create new opportunities. One of these being considered is a fishing pier along the channel off of Breezy Point Drive. When looking at demonstrated needs we have many times exceeded the existing capacity of picnic tables, trash containers and park benches in City Park.

This has been identified as a need that the Park and Recreation Committee has addressed. They have recommended that four picnic tables, two trash containers and a park bench be purchased for an expanded area of City Park. The City Council concurred with that purchase and these have been placed on order. The low quote for these purchases was $4121.28 which includes freight. Keep in mind park equipment needs to be far more durable than household use so products are more expensive than you may think. The city did receive 4 quotes with the highest quote for the same equipment being approximately $7600. Given that range I think the value for dollars spent is high.

The city hopes to see the new equipment delivered in the near future.

Community Banners

There seems to be a communication thing going on everywhere. We see it in all the new technology such as iphones and Droids. There are tablets, Netbooks, Notebooks, and Mini’s of all kinds. MP3 players you can hardly see and Flash Drives that hold more megabits than most of us know what to do with. Digital camera used to be 3.2 megabits and now sport upwards of 19 megabits per picture. All this technology moves with creation and expansion that is at times hard to comprehend.

There is however another form of communication which is very straight forward and old fashion. It has been around in some form for centuries. It is the Sign. Signs take on a number of forms, electronic dynamic, lighted, sandwich board, poster board and banners. They proclaim just about anything you can imagine but generally revolve around advertising in some form. With signs in Breezy Point some level of tolerance was needed as to the extent of use. This was seen as a nuisance.

The city had undertaken a sign ordinance a couple of years ago to address the issue. In working with the requirements it found some unintended consequences. Certain activities were prohibited in use of banners and temporary signs and they were ongoing compliance issues. These generally involved signs for non-profits and community events. After considerable discussion at the Planning Commission a recommendation was made for a change in the ordinances.

This change provides for signs and banners with the following language:
Non-profit and civic organizations may display, without permit, a banner or temporary sign to advertise a specific or single day event. Said advertisement may be displayed seven (7) days prior to the event, and must be removed within twenty-four (24) hours of the conclusion of the event. Advertisements shall not be placed on the public right-of-way. Permission of the property owners must be obtained prior to the display of the banner or temporary sign.

With this change we hope to encourage community activity and remove barriers to those events that promote Breezy Point in a positive way.

All Vetrans Memorial

The City Council reviewed the plans for the All Veterans Memorial at the September meeting. Activity for the memorial has been accomplished and completed for this year with the physical area of the memorial being brought up to grade and sodded. No additional work is scheduled for this year.

The centerpiece of the memorial is a sculpture that will be erected next spring. The sculpture was created by Jeff Kreitz and is really something to see. I believe those who have seen it feel it is a very beautiful and impressive. It is a somewhat spiritual representation of a non-descript veteran with a purple heart. Also to be included will be a couple of granite benches. Further plans at this time are yet to be worked out for 2012 with all expenses to be paid through the sale of pavers and donations to the cemetery.

In discussing the project Cemetery Commission Chair Gary Bakken thanked all those who have participated in the project. He indicated there is a good deal of planning and fund raising activity is to be accomplished before moving on with construction for 2012.

The City Council approved the activities for 2011 and asked for an update on the project prior to construction in 2012.

New Market Value Aid

For 2012 there has been a change in the law that deals with Homestead Credit. This will affect homeowners and cities in slightly different ways. The outcome is somewhat difficult to predict when it comes to final taxes as the tax system has many variables that contribute to what your final property tax bill is.

So how this worked in the past was a city would make the general levy to set taxes. The county would then tell the state how many homestead properties there are within that jurisdiction. The state would appropriate a dollar amount for each homestead property and the county would reduce the levy by the amount of the state appropriation. The reduced levy was then spread across all taxpaying properties. Your tax statement would show a line account of Homestead Credit which reduced your overall taxes. This was followed with a payment by the state to each city for the amount of the homestead credit as an Aid payment to each city.

This sounds like a good approach to reduce property taxes and worked for a number of years until the state started to have fiscal problems. To balance the state budget they decided they wouldn’t make the Homestead Credit Aid payment to the cities at all making cities deal with the shortfall. After a couple of years the program was funded again for a few years with another fiscal crisis that required the program be eliminated in some cities where the state felt the city had adequate tax base to deal with the lack of Aid. Again the cities had to deal with the shortfall. The program took another hit where only a portion of the Aid payments were being paid to those jurisdictions that still received payments. With the budget arrangements made in this last legislative session the program will see a final reduced payment being made.

For 2012 the program is reinvented. Homeowners will see an exclusion of Market Value of their property. What this means is the Market Value will be reduced according to a formula prescribed under state law. Homesteaded property owners with Market Values under $413,800 will see a minimum of $30,400 reduction plus an additional 9% reduction for market values above $76,000. How this works is if you have a $100,000 home there is a deduction of $30,400 made from Market Value making the value $69,600. The difference then of $24,000 (100,000 – 76,000) is multiplied by 9% for an additional reduction in value of $2,160. The Market Value for this home becomes $67,440. The tax capacity is then calculated based on the reduced market value. The tax capacity at 1% in prior years is $1,000. For 2012 the Tax Capacity will be $674.

So with this change, a slight shift of tax burden occurs to non-homestead, commercial and industrial properties. How this will affects taxes will depend on the number and value of Homestead properties and the extent of other properties within a jurisdiction. We can only wait and see what the outcome will bring.

Win-Win

Sometimes surplus property can be a blessing to another. We all know the adage that the one mans junk is another’s treasure. In Breezy Point we didn’t have junk but did have something of value to another organization that was needed. What we are talking about was AED’s. These are Automatic External Defibulators. These units provide a shock to people to help restart their heart in the event of a heart attack. The police department carries these units. The ones that were surplus were useable but needed batteries. They also were not compatible with the systems used by North Medical. The city was able to replace these with newer units making these units surplus.

The city was contacted by a non-profit organization called Lets Go Fishing. This organization has started a Brainerd Lakes Area Chapter about 2 years ago. They have a pontoon boat and take seniors and others fishing who would not otherwise be able to do this. They take 14 out at a time twice a day Monday through Friday, May through September. Given the type of clientele they serve they wanted to carry AED units without the resources to pay for them. They had focused their fishing on Gull, Rice and Bay Lakes but will now start on Pelican as well.

They contacted the city to inquire about the units and the city council agreed to provide for the donation. The organization will be responsible for the batteries and maintenance of these units but don’t have the larger cost to purchase them. This is a win-win situation for all involved. We are fortunate to be able to provide surplus property to an organization that can use it and potentially save lives in the process. The organization benefits in obvious reasons. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Can you Camp in Breezy Point?

There has been history in Breezy Point with camping throughout the city. At one time the city allowed camping to occur throughout the city. This became problematic with constant recreational fires, loud partying, and lack of sanitary facilities. The city reacted with a ban on camping, sort of.

The code continued to provide for camping in the more rural areas of the city with large parcels of property, 5 acres or more. This is on property with or without a structure. This is called Temporary Camping. Camping within the camping clusters is also allowd.

The code didn’t provide for camping in your backyard. Camping in any lot within the city wasn’t allowed but there were problems. The issue was the code had provided for “Limited Camping”. This allowed camping on a temporary basis on a residential lot for up to 14 days at a time and no more than 30 days in a calendar year. So what’s a residential lot? This wasn’t defined specifically. The zoning code provides for this as a lot zoned for residential use. This takes us back to allowing camping almost everywhere, at least in those areas zoned residential.
The Planning Commission looked at this a number of different ways. They had proposed allowing for camping in all residential lots, essentially clarifying the code in that way. They looked at allowing camping by permit for camping on vacant lots. They addressed the issue of allowing camping for those parties that have taken out a building permit to do construction. They also looked at camping only on residential lots with structures. In the end the ordinance was clarified and approved by the city council.

What is now in place allows camping on residential improved lots. These are lots with residential structures. This camping would be for a period of 14 days continuous or up to 30 days in a calendar year. They also allow camping by owners of up to 6 months cumulative time on a lot where construction is occurring. That is a building permit must be issued and the camping activity needs to meet appropriate setbacks. Parking an RV on the street in front of the property will not be allowed. Parking an RV along the side of the property so it is off the street and back from the road would be acceptable. The construction type of request was fairly common and under the past rules not allowed. With this change we have a way to allow property owners to improve their property while living on the site.

These provisions took a good deal of time spent looking at the issues towards resolution and getting final approval. I believe we now have some workable rules regarding Camping in Breezy Point.

Expectations

As the budget cycle begins anew the city is looking at managing with limited resources and expenses. Last year the city not only held the line with the levy, it decreased it. The budget was tight but we have managed to hold the line with frugal expectations and actions. After the budget and levy were adopted the city received news that the amount of taxes to be expected was not in the cards as a tax appeal reduced expected revenues by $117,000. This prompted further tightening of our expenses. A lot of credit goes to employees who understand the issue and have found ways to make do or do without.

This next year prompts additional concern in managing with what we have. There is a general call to keep taxes at a rate no higher than the levy for 2011. As needs become apparent we shift resources and wrestle with how to manage going forward. Some goals may need to be forsaken and others will continue. Roads will be plowed and sanded but other areas may see less attention.

The budget is probably the largest policy document the city undertakes in a given year. It meters out all aspects of operations and expectations. It holds departments accountable and gives direction. The budget becomes the roadmap for the 2012 future.

A draft budget is being prepared and will be presented to council members at a workshop session to be held on August 16th. At that time council will look at what has been proposed and what is needed. A preliminary levy has to be certified to the county auditor no later than September 15 so will be acted on at the September 6th meeting. This preliminary levy amount can not be exceeded but can be reduced. The final levy is accomplished in December.

Any suggestions or points of concern are encouraged and should be directed to your council members. Every year the budget seems to be difficult but this year seems to be more difficult than in the past. With property values being reduced even holding the levy equal to last year may prompt increases to some property owners as values shift. It is the goal of the city to do what we can to lessen the impact but also keep services intact.

Retroreflectivity

Have you seen the new regulatory signs along our roadways? You may not know that these are new, unless you drive by them at night. You’ll know it’s a new sign as the reflection from your headlights will be very bright. Some say it almost blinds you. I don’t know about that but do know you can tell the difference.

What has happened is the federal government has changed the standards for signage for any public street, highway or bicycle trail open to the public. The new standard deals with retroreflectivity as many signs were difficult, at best, to see in the dark hours. Due to age the reflective qualities of older signs are greatly diminished. With this new approach, signs will need to meet new standards for reflectivity on an ongoing basis.

Meeting the new requirements requires the city adopt a policy concerning the maintenance of signs. What this means is signs need to be reviewed for night time visibility (reflective qualities) and replaced when they no longer meet the requirements. Doing this involves the adoption of a policy concerning how this will be achieved.

In Breezy Point the City Council adopted a policy concerning the maintenance of signs. The policy provides that in meeting the law we will replace signs on a routine planned basis. This helps to minimize costs. Inspections will be used to determine if a sign meets the standards but the policy also provides that signs must be replaced on a periodic basis. It is anticipated that the duration of sign use would be 10-12 years. All signs would be replaced on this schedule, at a minimum.

This effort is not cheap. Each sign, like stop signs, cost about $100 per sign to replace. Eliminating signs that don’t provide benefit keeps our costs down. Under the policy some signs will be eliminated. Keeping the costs in check is also being done with a phased approach to installation. All regulatory signs need to be replaced by January of 2015. All overhead guide and street name signs will be replaced by January 2018.

The city has an inventory of all signs within the city. We have started the process of replacement and an annual budget has been prepared to address these replacements. To meet the ongoing needs of replacement our annual cost will be about $5,500. This mandate has increased our sign budget dramatically over the past when we only replaced stolen or damaged signs. Safety is important and we understand the need for change but given economic conditions it’s a tough time to make this transition but necessary.

Given the new approach to signage we’ll be safer and hopefully we won’t get lost in the dark of night.

Variances

I’m sure it wasn’t the top of your agenda but if you needed to address a variance from zoning regulations you have been out of luck for about two years if you lived in a city. The good news is the legislature finally found a solution that was adopted in state law to solve the problem.

What had happened was there was a court ruling concerning a variance request in the city of Minnetonka. Variances in the past were considered when a “hardship” existed. The hardship had to be with a situation that exists with the land and can not be created by the applicant or a former owner. The hardship can not be economic in nature. The courts ruled that a “hardship” means there is no other use of the property rather than the traditional or former approach to the definition.

Counties on the other hand have a different standard in state law, that of “practical difficulty”. Essentially the definitions are the same but with counties they continued to have the ability to grant variances. The legislature finally determined that the standard of “practical difficulty” could be used for cities making that change in state law.

Cities now have the ability to grant variances under the statues regardless of how local ordinances are written. It is always helpful however to eliminate confusion in the code provisions by having the local ordinances match state law, even though state law supersedes local codes. The Planning Commission reviewed their code provision regarding the change in state law and made some minor modifications to it. With that recommendation the City Council approved the change in the code. Ordinance 11-09, 3rd Series was adopted and now the city is in conformance with state law regarding the issuance of variances.

All that being said the granting of variances is not something the Planning Commission (as the Board of Review) takes lightly. As stated at the start the conditions for a variance are rather strict. The new “practical difficultly” is no different that the old “hardship”. The conditions must run with the land and not be self imposed or economic in nature. A variance can not be granted for a use. Variances are typically for setbacks or other specific requirements of the code.

The granting of a variance is a process and an outcome. Requesting a variance requires a fee be paid and a public hearing held. Property owners within 350 feet of the property are mailed notice to comment on the proposal. After reviewing the facts and hearing from the public the Planning Commission makes a determination. If a variance is granted a document is recorded that runs with the land providing for the deviation in zoning requirements.

Just because we now have the authority doesn’t mean they are easy to come by. If you are thinking about one, contact city staff to discuss your proposal and whether or not the granting is feasible. Only the Planning Commission can approve or deny a request.

Impacts

The current state of the Minnesota shutdown is a bit perplexing. Both sides have dug in their heels and are firmly entrenched in their point of view. It seems they are looking to be winners if their side prevails but really there are no winners in all of this. Legislators have a job to do and it seems they are just spinning their wheels. Part of being a leader is looking at compromises or finding solutions to get the job done.

The shutdown may save some money with the lack of payrolls but it also costs money for the actions necessary to work through the layoff process. It costs the state (and some local governments) funds to pay unemployment compensation. It costs us all in the inaction of moving forward. Services have been halted and some unexpected outcomes come into play.

In Breezy Point the only inconvenience I have heard about is the beach closing on Pelican Lake. This popular spot is fenced and the gates are closed. We fortunately have our liquor licenses on a calendar basis so there aren’t concerns with these but the state gives final approval on almost all liquor licenses.

The city gets very little money from the state so that isn’t really an issue at this point. Local Government Aid and Market Value Homestead Credit were removed from our revenue sources a few years ago. The city receives Police Aid from the state and we’re hoping this revenue source isn’t cut with their budget discussions and final legislation.

Aside from that the impact on the City of Breezy Point is only in terms of our need to work with state agencies or secondary impacts with others we work with who rely on them. I hope for all our sakes that the issues are resolved soon. A prolonged shutdown isn’t in anyone’s best interest nor is it good for the State of Minnesota. We have a reputation as having good government but right now that concept is questionable.