Join the Appeal.
If your property is along Franklin, Prior, Third or Western, there's still time to appeal your 2018 assessment. Join us, and we'll fight the City together.
Note: The appeal deadline for second half appellants was October 15th. While our appeal was filed on time and we can still add your name, there is a chance that the City will try to exclude you.
Our Appeal
Now that the City has approved our assessments, the only way to challenge them is to appeal.
A group of neighbors is challenging these assessments. We are excited to be working with Jack Hoeschler, an experienced attorney who has done a lot of work in this area of law, to fight the City's unfair, illegal system.
The appeal window is extremely short - just 20 days from when the city votes. Jack has already filed a joint appeal on behalf of 20 properties on the first four projects. When the City passes the assessments for your projects, he will appeal on behalf of those who join us as well.
We're asking folks on Franklin, Prior, Third and Western to express their initial interest in joining the second appeal now, so that we have time to co-ordinate and file that appeal before the new deadline on October 15th.
Meet Jack
Jack Hoeschler is an experienced attorney and the single most qualified person to fight these assessments on our behalf.
He is the same attorney who successfully challenged the City of St. Paul's previous Right of Way (ROW) assessment system in First Baptist Church of St. Paul v City of St. Paul, winning in the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2016 and forcing the city to change the previous system.
Just a few weeks ago, he won a ruling in the District Court in another case challenging the current system.
Read the Appeal
We've already filed our first joint appeal on behalf of 20 affected properties on Victoria St., Stryker Ave., Arlington Ave. and Forest St.
Why Should I Join Your Appeal?
For most people, it's not worth going it alone. Appealing is essentially filing a lawsuit. You need to understand the law, pay your own fees, and be willing and able to make your own legal arguments (or retain an attorney to do it for you).
That is why a joint appeal makes sense. We get to share the out-of-pocket costs and get the benefit of an experienced attorney to represent us who knows this specialized area of law and how to challenge these assessments.
If we are to be successful, we need a critical mass of neighbors to appeal together.
Every assessment needs to be appealed. If we are successful and your name is not on our appeal, you will not benefit from any refund.
Key Terms
What happens if I do nothing?
If you do nothing, you will lose your right to appeal and be assessed at the revised rate we were able to secure through our initial objections. For example, if you have a 60ft lot on Third St. and choose not to join our appeal, you'll still have to pay an assessment of $1,133.00.
Let's Do This Together.
If your property is along Franklin, Prior, Third or Western, and you're interested in appealing jointly with us, let us know and we can talk more.
If you’re interested in joining our appeal, you need to express your interest by August 20th. This is not a final commitment to appeal. It's an opportunity to have conversations as a group, read the documents, ask questions of Jack etc. You will need to make a final decision by the new filing deadline of October 15th, when everyone who wants to proceed will be asked to sign a formal retainer agreement.
Please note that after the new appeal deadline of October 15th, we will not be able to include you in our joint appeal and you will not benefit from any positive outcome we are able to secure.