2016-05-09-minutes-public-works-study-session

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council should, therefore, have all available information. After the LID is formed, any expenditures already incurred will either be assessed against the LID properties, if the LID is carried forward and the LID project is constructed, or paid for by city funds, if the LID is halted, for whatever reason. Therefore, once an LID is formed, the LID assessments should either be levied before the project is initiated or be levied after the project is completed. Local improvement districts are almost always controversial. Some property owners within the LID will object to its formation and will object to the LID assessment. If an LID is formed by the resolution method, property owners may divest the city of its power to proceed. (RCW 35,43. 180) hey can do this by gathering protests signed by the owners of property within the LID who are subject to 60 percent or more of the total costs of the LID improvements. The city council should be prepared, however, to deal with an LID in which 59 percent or 50 percent or even 40 percent of the property owners in the LID have protested. !tis helpful to have a study session before going into the formation process to adopt a policy to deal with protests which do not reach the statutory minimum. The adoption of a policy with regard to the acceptance of protests is only one of a number of policies which should be adopted by the city when it is dealing with LIDs. As discussed more fully below, policies should be adopted for city staff interaction with property owners, language in the notice that exceeds minimum statutory requirements, handling of public records requests, adoption of a hearing agenda, etc. These considerations are dealt with in the following section. o he Final Asssssment Roll Hearing 1, The Property Owner's Day in Court— Preliminary Considerations A. The Record — Looking Toward Appeal In order to know what steps must be taken in conjunction with the final assessment roll hearing, it is essential to have a basic understanding of the manner in which our courts evaluate an assessment roll appeal. Some of these basic considerations are fisted below. When a Superior Courtjudge is assigned the task of evaluating an assessment appeal, he or she engages in a different task than when a regular civil or criminal trial is conducted. Usually, when a judge is in trial, he or she is called upon to listen to witnesses, evaluate the contents of documents, and engage in a general fact finding search. At the conclusion of the trial the judge may be required to enter findings of fact and make conclusions of law based upon those facts. In such trials the judge is the primary decision maker with respect to any disputed facts. However, the judge's role in an assessment appeal is entirely different. The appeal from the confirmation of an assessment for local improvements is a special right created by statute. Since assessment appeals are special in nature, they are governed by a number of specfic rules of iaw and presumptions. From the perspective of those participating in the final assessment roil 'nearing the most important rules to keep in mind relate to the scope and standard of review that is used by a judge if an assessment appeal is filed. The most important case dealing with these matter is Abbenhaus v. City of Yakima, 89 Wn.2d 855, 576 P.2d 888 (1978). Local and Road Improvement Districts Manual for Washington State Sixth fdNon 61