[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Sanford
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 8-2-2022 by Order No. 22-253-01]
The City of Sanford hereby establishes certain development districts
as outlined in the articles contained within this chapter.
[Adopted 8-2-2022 by Order No. 22-253-01]
A development district pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A. § 5223
is hereby created, known as the Midtown Mall Maintenance District
(the "District") and a development program for the District (the "Development
Program") is adopted by the City Council. The District is defined
as City Tax Map K29-63, K29-64, K29-65 and K29-66 all as officially
on file with the Assessor as of April 2022 and as further called out
on Exhibit A, attached hereto.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Said Exhibit A is included as an attachment to this chapter.
The privately owned properties that benefit from the Development
Program are located at Tax Maps K29-63, K29-64 and K29-65. These three
properties are those which will benefit directly from the City's
maintenance of the public parking area located in area identified
on City Tax Maps as K29-66.
A maintenance assessment pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A. § 5228
shall be assessed upon the privately owned properties within the District
that benefit from the activities undertaken pursuant to the Development
Program. The purpose of the Development Program is to reduce the public
cost of maintaining and operating the public facilities within the
District that primarily serve to benefit the private property owners
within the District. Such maintenance and operating costs shall include
the following activities to repair, maintain, or operate the public
facilities within the District:
A.
Winter maintenance. Annual contracted labor and material costs to
plow, sand, salt, clear, haul and generally maintain the public areas
within the District necessary because of winter conditions and keeping
public areas generally free of ice and snow.
B.
Utilities. Annual utility costs to operate lighting of public areas,
maintain and repair lighting equipment and wiring, and other maintenance
and repair of underground and aboveground utilities.
C.
General maintenance and repair. Annual contracted labor and materials
to maintain and repair public areas within the District necessary
for general maintenance of the public area within the District.
D.
Capital projects. Capital improvements may be required as part of
maintenance activities and may include improvement, repair, and other
associated maintenance to the public areas within the District. Capital
projects may include repayment of financial obligations and financing
costs when necessary.
For purposes of administering the maintenance assessment, a
maintenance fund account is hereby established. Maintenance and operating
costs shall be caused to accumulate in the maintenance account until
such time that they are repaid through the collection of the annual
maintenance assessment. All revenue collected through the assessments
shall be paid into the account to offset the maintenance costs as
identified above and approved by the City on an annual basis. For
the first year of the District, the assessed amount will be calculated
and divided among the benefitted properties according to the formula
outlined below and assessed in the next annual warrant to the tax
collector. Going forward, actual accumulated maintenance costs shall
be totaled once per year immediately following the closing of the
City's fiscal year and shall be apportioned to the properties
in the District according to the formula below.
A.
The maintenance assessment shall be calculated according to the following
formula:
(1)
In the third year of the District, sixty percent (60%) of the annual maintenance costs shall constitute the total maintenance assessment, subject to the above note regarding the first year of the assessment. The remaining forty percent (40%) of the annual maintenance costs shall be paid for by general fund taxation. This forty percent (40%) general fund responsibility is meant to acknowledge that parties other than those who own the properties identified in § 109-3 hereof may benefit from the City's maintenance activities, up to forty percent (40%). Notwithstanding the amount identified above and for the purpose of providing a phased-in approach for the first two years of implementation, the total maintenance assessment will be 1/3 of sixty percent (60%) of the annual maintenance costs and for the second year of implementation, the total maintenance assessment will be 2/3 of sixty percent (60%) of the annual maintenance costs.
B.
The maintenance assessment shall be apportioned among the benefitted
properties according to the following formula:
(1)
The total annual maintenance assessment shall be divided among the three properties identified above in § 109-3 according to the assessed value for each respective property as of the most recently available valuation confirmed by the City Assessor. The assessed value of each respective property is the City's measure for the relative benefit each property receives from City's maintenance activities because: a) Access to free parking is of value to the businesses operating on the properties and translates into assessed property values; and b) No specific parking spaces are reserved for any of the three properties identified above in § 109-3.
The maintenance assessment shall be collected in the same manner
as municipal taxes. The municipal Tax Collector shall have all the
authority and powers by law to collect the maintenance assessment.
If a property owner within the District fails to pay any maintenance
assessment or part thereof by the dates required, the City has all
the authority and power to collect the delinquent maintenance assessment
vested in the City by law.
