The City of El Reno shall have the power to construct or cause to be constructed special improvements consisting of curbing, and curbing and guttering, grading, paving or surfacing of streets, including surface drainage of such streets and disposition of same by storm sewers; storm sewer systems constructed separately from paving; sanitary sewer systems; water distribution facilities; and street lighting. Said city shall have the power to assess the cost of such improvements against the property benefited; provided that, except as provided by this charter or the statutes of the State of Oklahoma, no such construction shall ever be done against the protest of the owners of more than fifty (50) percent in area of the land to be benefited by such improvement; provided further that the owners of all property benefited by any such improvement shall be given the right to be heard on the manner of apportionment of benefits to be derived from such improvement, and the right to protest on the apportionments and assessments of such benefits when same have been done contrary to the provisions hereof.
Likewise, the City of El Reno shall have the right to construct or cause to be constructed sidewalks, together with the incidental excavating and leveling necessary for such construction; provided that, in lieu of the right of protest against such sidewalk construction, property owners shall be given the right to construct such sidewalk at their own expense within a thirty-day period prior to the commencement of such construction by or under the direction of the city.
All assessments for improvements covered in this article, and each installment thereof, and the interest thereon, are hereby declared to be a lien against the lots and tracts of land so assessed, from the date of the passage of the ordinance levying the same, co-equal with the lien of other taxes and special assessments and prior and superior to all other liens against such lots or tracts of land; and such liens shall continue as to all unpaid installments of assessments and interest until such assessment and interest thereon shall have been paid, but unmatured installments shall not be deemed to be within the terms of any general covenant of warranty.
[Amended 2-7-1989 by resolution, approved at election 4-4-1989]
The City of El Reno shall have the power to issue bonds to obtain money to finance all improvements mentioned in this article, and such bonds shall be known as improvement bonds, shall be negotiable in the State of Oklahoma and shall never become a general obligation of the City of El Reno but shall be issued against the assessments to be derived from the owners of the property benefited by such improvements. Such bonds may be sold by the City of El Reno at public sale or may be delivered to the contractor upon completion and acceptance of the work, but such bonds shall never be disposed of by said city at less than their par value. Such bonds may run for any period not more than ten (10) nor less than three (3) years.
Such bonds may be sold in a manner consistent with the provisions of 62 O.S. § 354 (1963) or any amendment thereof.
[Amended 2-7-1989 by resolution, approved at election 4-4-1989]
All estimates and assessment rolls to be compiled by the city engineer in proceeding hereunder shall be based upon two prices, one to be the estimated cash cost of the improvement, and a second and higher price to be the cost when paid for by the method of extended annual payments; and the extended payment price shall exceed the cash price by an amount to be determined by the council of the City of El Reno, subject to the limitations specified herein, and which difference shall be known as the cost of financing and shall be delivered to the purchaser of the improvement bonds. The cost of financing the different improvements shall in no case exceed the limitations imposed by state law in 62 O.S. § 354 (1963) or any amendment thereof.
[Amended 2-7-1989 by resolution, approved at election 4-4-1989]
Improvement bonds of the City of El Reno shall draw interest. The process of the sale of said bonds and the amount of interest that they shall bear shall be determined by compliance with the procedures set forth in 62 O.S. § 354 (1963) or any amendment thereof. Whenever the City of El Reno issues said bonds, the city shall set out in the ordinance or resolution providing for the issuance of the bonds and in the printed bonds for the said combined purposes the amount authorized to be excluded for each purpose as set out in each proposition submitted and approved by the electors; and said bonds may be designated general obligation bonds or as may be determined by the city council. When one or more issues of bonds, including a combined bond issue referred to herein, except funding or refunding bonds, shall be made or ordered by the city, the proper officers shall, before selling such bonds, cause at least ten (10) days' notice to be given of the time and place, when and where bid therefor will be received. Such notice shall be signed by the city clerk and shall be published once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a legally qualified newspaper published in said city. Provided that the date mentioned in such notice for the sale of such bonds shall not be less than ten (10) days after the first publication thereof. Provided, however, that in the event a municipal corporation has by separate propositions voted bonds for two (2) or more purposes, the proper officers shall set out in such notice of sale whether the bids will be received for a combined bond issue for all such purposes as one unit, or whether bids will be received for separate bond issues for each purpose. All bonds shall be sold to the bidder who will pay therefor par and accrued interest, and who will stipulate in his bid the lowest rate of interest which such bond should bear. And upon the acceptance of such bid or bids, the bonds shall be issued in accordance herewith and shall be delivered to said purchaser upon payment of the purchase price thereof. Provided that each bidder shall submit with his bid the sum in cash or its equivalent, equal to two (2) per cent of his bid; and upon the acceptance of any bid, such deposit shall become the property of the city selling said bonds and shall be credited for the purchase price thereof upon the understanding that, if the purchaser shall fail for five (5) days after tender of the bonds to pay the balance of the purchase price, said sale shall be thereby annulled, and said deposit shall be in such event retained by the city and credited to the account for which such bonds are being issued and shall be used accordingly. Provided that no tender of the bonds shall be valid until after the expiration of the period of contestability as now provided by applicable state law. All other deposits shall be returned. This city shall sell such bonds and shall have the right to reject all bids and readvertise the bonds for sale. Provided, however, that no funding or refunding bonds issued hereunder shall bear a higher rate of interest than the indebtedness which is funded or refunded. Provided that the provisions of this act shall not apply to the sale of bonds issued by a vote of the people to the United States government or any agency thereof; and the governing board of this city is hereby authorized to sell such bonds to the United States government or any agency thereof at a private sale for a sum of not less than par with accrued interest added; and the governing board shall fix the rate of interest which said bonds shall bear which shall not be a larger rate of interest than that authorized by the electors voting at the bond election.
The City of El Reno shall have the power to enforce collection of all assessments for improvements made hereunder by an action to secure judgment and foreclosure and sale of property for delinquent assessments the same as is now provided by the general statutes of the State of Oklahoma, and specifically by 11 O.S. 1961, §§ 81-113, 151 and 152, or, as regards water distribution facilities, 11 O.S. 1961, §§ 330.1 — 330.14, or as may be provided hereafter by law.
The City of El Reno shall have the power to establish and create a special improvement guarantee fund to be used to guarantee the payment when due of all improvement bonds issued according to this article, and shall have the power to appropriate into such fund any balance remaining in any fund of a district heretofore constructed, and which balance is not needed for the payment of any bonds or interest thereon remaining unpaid in such district, and any similar unneeded balance that may accrue in the future, together with the funds provided for in Section 39 of this charter. Such special improvement guarantee fund may be invested in any security provided by law for the investment of sinking funds of the City of El Reno, and may also be used as a revolving fund for the investment in special improvement warrants issued in payment for labor or material during construction of any improvement constructed hereunder, under such rules and restrictions as the council of this city shall by ordinance provide. When such funds shall equal an amount which is in excess of twenty (20) per cent of all the improvement bonds outstanding, issued or with reasonable certainty to be issued, under this article, such excess may be invested in improvement bonds or general obligations of the United States Government, or be appropriated into the general fund of the city, as the council may direct.
The manner of apportioning benefits and determining the amount of assessments for the different kinds of improvements mentioned herein shall be as follows:
On any improvement to the surface of a street including storm sewers when constructed with such improvement, and excepting sidewalks, such apportionment and assessment shall be made according to the method now provided by 11 O.S. 1961, Section 101, or as may be provided hereafter by law.
For street lighting and sidewalks, such apportionment and assessment shall be made to the property fronting and abutting thereon, and in the case of sidewalks the approaches thereto from the curb lines at street intersections shall be apportioned and assessed against the abutting corner lot.
For storm sewers constructed separately, for sanitary sewers, and for water distribution facilities, such apportionment and assessment shall be made to any lot, tract or parcel of land in the proportion that the area of such lot, tract or parcel of land bears to the area of all the land, exclusive of streets, alleys or other public ways, served and benefited by such improvement.
The city engineer shall in all cases make the apportionment and assessments, and same shall be approved by the council of the city, and if necessary reviewed and adjusted by it.
The City of El Reno shall have the power to let the contract for any such improvement complete in place, or may contract for the purchase of the materials and make the installation of same by direct labor of its own forces.
The method and manner of constructing any improvement included in this article, and which method and manner is not otherwise provided for herein, shall be fully provided for by ordinance or ordinances duly enacted by the council of the City of El Reno, consistent herewith and otherwise complying with the statutes of this state in such cases made and provided. Such ordinances shall be published in full in a newspaper of general circulation within the city on two successive Thursdays in case of a daily newspaper, or in two successive issues in case of a weekly newspaper. The council shall have power to determine the fees to be paid to engineers for services in connection with special improvements.
Neither the authority, jurisdiction or rights of such council as to all things attendant upon proceedings for the construction of any special improvement now granted by said existing statutes, or which shall be granted by future statutes, nor any existing right as to higher judicial authority now granted or to be granted to the City of El Reno, with reference to the manner of constructing and collecting assessments for improvements in general, shall ever be forfeited or abrogated by this article, and all such existing or future rights shall be deemed to be of full force and effect and applicable to all proceedings made and had hereunder, when not inconsistent herewith.