The City may make such public improvements as are authorized by section 3.10 of this Charter and by law.
Public improvements may be paid for in whole or in part out
of general funds, proceeds from the sale of bonds, the revolving public
improvement fund, or special assessments on benefited property which
may be evidenced by special tax bills. In case payment is to be made
in whole or in part by special assessments or special tax bills, the
City shall in no event be liable for the part to be so paid. Tax bills
may be purchased by the City out of any funds available for such purpose.
All public improvements, except emergency work or repairs requiring
immediate attention and work to be performed by the City's employees,
shall be done by contract after due public notice inviting sealed
bids. Bids shall be opened at the time and place designated in the
notice and the openings of said bids shall be public.
Plans and specifications for a public improvement shall not
limit the materials to be used to those of any particular producer
or manufacturer, but shall be arranged so as to permit materials and
processes to enter into competition.
Contracts shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder, provided
that any and all bids may be rejected. All such contracts shall provide
for the posting of a bond by the contractor insuring the faithful
performance of the work and the payment of all labor and materials
used in the work. Before any such contract becomes effective, it shall
be confirmed by ordinance of the Council.
[ Ord. No. 3859 § 1, 9-22-1980]
All proceedings to make any public improvements, including the
purchase, condemnation, sale, transfer or exchange of land, except
emergency work or repairs requiring immediate attention, ordinary
maintenance work, work to be paid for out of general funds of the
City for which specific provision was made in the budget, or work
to be paid out of the proceeds of a bond issue, shall be initiated
by the adoption of a resolution by the Council declaring the necessity
for such improvement, stating the nature thereof, the probable cost,
the method of payment thereof, and the date for a public hearing.
Any error of inaccuracy in the estimate of cost as compared with the
actual cost of the work shall not affect the validity of the proceedings,
or of any assessments made, or of special tax bills issued to pay
for such work. When payment is to be made by special tax bills or
other evidence of assessments upon real property or out of the revolving
public improvement fund, the resolution shall specify the proposed
method of assessment.
Upon the adoption of such resolution, the Council shall hold
a public hearing thereon not less than ten (10) nor more than thirty
(30) days thereafter. A copy of such resolution together with notice
of the date of public hearing shall be published for two (2) consecutive
issues in a newspaper of general circulation in the City. If the costs
of such public improvement are to be paid in whole or in part by special
tax bills or other evidences of assessment upon real property, copies
of the resolution and notification of the date of hearing thereon
shall be mailed to the last-known address, according to City records,
of the owners of all property against which it is proposed to levy
such assessments.
After such hearing, the Council may determine that it is or
is not in the public interest that such improvements or any part thereof
be made.
Should the Council determine, after public hearing, to proceed
with the improvement or any part thereof, it shall cause the plans
and specifications for the proposed improvement to be prepared and
bids taken thereon. If a bid is to be accepted, the Council shall
by ordinance authorize the improvement and confirm the improvement
contract. Said ordinance shall specify the method of payment of the
cost of the improvement.
When any portion of the cost of an improvement is to be paid
by special assessments or special tax bills, the ordinances authorizing
the improvement shall specify the portion thereof to be so paid, the
boundaries of the district within which property is to be so assessed
and the basis on which assessments will be made.
Upon the completion of a public improvement the payment for
which is to be made in whole or in part by special tax bills, the
Council shall by ordinance direct the issuance of such bills. The
tax bills so authorized shall be a lien upon the property charged
therewith, which lien shall continue for ten (10) years from date
of issue, unless sooner paid, except in the case of tax bills payable
in installments, the lien of which shall not expire until one (1)
year after the date of maturity of the last installments and except
in the case of tax bills upon which suit is instituted, the lien of
which shall continue until the final determination of the litigation.
There shall be no priority among special tax bills issued under
this Charter, regardless of the date of such bills. They shall be
payable to the party entitled thereto at the office of the Director
of Finance or at some bank or trust company in the City of St. Louis
or St. Louis County, Missouri, at the option of the party so entitled.
They shall be promptly registered in the office of the Director of
Finance and delivered to the person entitled thereto.
All tax bills authorized hereunder shall be assignable and they
shall be prima facie evidence of what they contain and of their own
validity, and no informality or clerical mistake in any of the proceedings
shall be a defense thereto. Such tax bills shall mature at such times
and bear such rate of interest as the ordinance directing the issuance
thereof may prescribe.
At the request of a property owner, made thirty (30) days prior
to the issuance of the bills, a tax bill may be made payable in annual
installments, not exceeding ten (10). Such tax bills shall provide
that if any annual installment, or the interest thereon, is not paid
when due, then all of the remaining installments shall, at the option
of the holder of the tax bills, become immediately due and payable.
The owner of property charged with the payment of such tax bill, or
the owner of any interest therein, shall have the privilege of paying
the whole of any tax bill in full at any time, or, on any annual installment
payment date, of paying in full one (1) or more of the remaining installments
not of maturity date.
If any special tax or special assessment shall fail to be valid
in whole or in part, or if for any cause, mistake, or inadvertence
the amount assessed shall not be sufficient to pay the cost of such
improvements, the Council shall have the authority to cause the assessment
to be reassessed and to be enforced.
There is hereby created the revolving public improvement fund.
Such fund may be maintained from the following sources:
(1)
Appropriations from general revenues.
(2)
Proceeds from bond issues.
(3)
Collections of special assessments or special tax bills and any interest
thereon levied or issued for public improvements previously paid for
out of the revolving public improvement fund.
(4)
Proceeds from the sale of special tax bills.
(5)
Any other source permitted by law or ordinance.
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Whenever the Council shall authorize payment of the cost of
any public improvement or purchase of tax bills out of the revolving
public improvement fund, any special assessment or special tax bills
and the interest thereon that may be levied and collected on account
of such improvement or the proceeds from the collection of such tax
bills and interest shall be credited to and paid into such fund.
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The Council may make further provisions by general ordinance,
not inconsistent herewith, for special assessments, the issuance of
special tax bills, the manner and basis of assessment, the collection
thereof, and all matters incidental thereto.
