Assessments for Minneapolis Residential Road Work?
Steve Brandt at the StarTribune has an article up about the progress of repaving in Minneapolis. While Rybak seems to think the city has hundres of millions of dollars for the Timberwolves and Vikings, we also have streets dating back to 1961 in need of some serious work.
The article included a great graphic illustrating the state of our city’s streets:
I see the Cooper neighborhood among the list of streets near the bottom of the city’s list (last major work was 30 years ago, and last sealcoat was 30 years ago, which may explain the potholes bike commuters navigate night and day around here).
It looks like the city charges assessments for residential street and sewer improvements (among other things), so I’m curious what that kind of money we’re talking about here. I don’t see any work in my neighborhood planned for 2012 (Linden Hills, Near North, & Armatage and some select streets this year) or in the future yet but I suppose it’s just a matter of time.
Actually, it looks like Brandt providing some insight into the potential cost:
This mill-and-overlay technique costs the owner of a typical residential lot just over $1,100. But at 15 to 20 miles of such work annually, it will take the city 31 to 42 years to resurface all its residential streets, an unsustainable pace considering that the resurfacing is expected to last only 10 years.
I suppose having a corner lot may make this hurt a bit more.
February 15th, 2012 at 8:00 am
I don’t think you get charged any extra for having a corner lot. My former boss in St. Paul had his street redone last summer, and he lives on a corner as well (so do I). He said he was only assessed for the frontage that faces the street where his home is addressed, so not the side. One can hope that’s how it’s done in Minneapolis as well.
February 16th, 2012 at 7:44 am
I was assessed, live in Hale neighborhood. Cost me a cool $1,000 for my standard city lot, which is not on a corner (.11 acre). They do assess more for a corner lot here in Minneapolis. You had an option to pay in full, or else they automatically take $200/year for 5 years with interest. I will try and find the literature I received from the city about this process. Major streets (e.g. Chicago Ave) have a much more expensive assessment. Commercial property also pays a much higher rate.