We won: Appeal against Unfair Assessments Succeeds
On May 2nd, the Ramsey County District Court ruled in our favor in our appeal against the City of Saint Paul’s street maintenance assessment charges. In a 22 page written order, Judge Awsumb ruled definitively that charges assessed to properties under the Street Maintenance Service Program (SMSP) are non-uniform taxes thus requiring proof of special …
We won: Appeal against Unfair Assessments Succeeds Read More »
District Court Hears Appeal
More than 3 years after we filed our first Appeal against the City of Saint Paul’s Mill & Overlay program, our consolidated Appeal was heard in the Ramsey County District Court today. The hour long hearing was held virtually. Ben Loetscher of Ferdinand Peters appeared on our behalf, while Anissa Mediger appeared on behalf of …
Fair Streets St. Paul Organizing 2019 Mill & Overlay Appeals for Downtown and Others
We have received word that the City of St. Paul has started sending out initial invoices for its 2019 Mill & Overlay projects. As with the 2018 projects, the City’s policy of burdening property owners on thoroughfares with the vastly disproportionate costs of maintaining those streets for everyone is unfair and contrary to the law. …
Fair Streets St. Paul Organizing 2019 Mill & Overlay Appeals for Downtown and Others Read More »
Second Appeal: City on Notice
Following the City’s decision to approve the remaining four sets of assessments on September 28th, we have served our second appeal against the 2018 mill & overlay charges on the City clerk. This new appeal is from property owners on Franklin Ave., Prior Ave., Third St. and Western Ave. and comprises an additional 16 properties. …
City Approves Remaining 2018 Assessments
The city council has approved the remaining assessments for Franklin Avenue, Prior Avenue, Third Street, and Western Avenue. The assessments returned to the agenda for the 9/25/19 city council meeting. Here’s the video stream of the assessments being approved. The vote was originally laid over for a week at CM Prince and CM Thao’s request …
City holds closed-door meeting to consider current appeals
Yesterday, the city held a closed door meeting “to discuss pending litigation in First Baptist Church of St. Paul, et al v. City of Saint Paul and Christina Anderson, et al v. City of Saint Paul”. No further details were shared, but it’s likely that the city attorney has (finally) looked at the adverse decision …
City holds closed-door meeting to consider current appeals Read More »
Remaining assessments laid over by one month
The City Council has laid over votes on Franklin, Prior, Third and Western for a further month to September 25th. While the council did not share their reasoning for the layover, the most likely reason is to allow them to obtain a legal opinion from the city attorney, as we and Mr. Hoeschler urged at …
Council delays vote on Franklin, Prior, Third and Western assessments
The City Council has delayed a vote on the revised assessments for Franklin Ave., Prior Ave., Third Ave., and Western Ave by a week to August 28th. Simon Taghioff from Fair Streets St. Paul and our attorney Jack Hoeschler both spoke at the public hearing (video). Public Hearing: Mill & Overlay Unfair and Illegal Referencing …
Council delays vote on Franklin, Prior, Third and Western assessments Read More »
Carter announces 2020 budget – street funding takes center stage
Mayor Carter launched his proposed 2020 budget for St. Paul yesterday, and finding a sustainable way to fund our streets was a central theme. Referencing last week’s report from the city’s public works department, Mayor Carter accepted that “keeping street spending at the current rate would render more than half our roads undrivable in just …
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Victoria Street Assessment is now Fair Streets St. Paul
When we first started organizing to voice our objections to the mill & overlay assessments we and other residents on Victoria St. had received, we needed to put up a webpage, fast. We registered www.victoriastreetassessment.com. Today, our focus is on advocating for a fair and sustainable system to pay for much needed street maintenance throughout …
Victoria Street Assessment is now Fair Streets St. Paul Read More »
The Villager: St. Paul reduces street work bills
The latest edition of The Villager leads with two issues that underscore St. Paul residents’ current frustrations with their elected representatives – mill & overlay, and organized trash collection, both of which are now the subject of lawsuits against St. Paul. The mill & overlay article covers the city’s decision on June 19th to reduce …
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Appeal filed: St.Paul on notice
Today we filed our joint appeal against the 2018 Street Maintenance Program charges with the Ramsey County District Court, following official notice to the City Clerk on July 9th. 26 neighbors named on the appeal Although we had just 20 days following the City’s approval of our revised assessments to organize and file our appeal, …
Voting date set for 4 laid over projects
The City has set new Public Hearing dates for the four laid over projects on Franklin, Western, Third, and Prior. At its meeting on July 10th, the City scheduled all four projects for Public Hearings on August 21st at 5.30pm. Revised assessment rolls (detailing the new charges per property) were included on the agenda: Franklin Avenue (from TH …
Joint appeal planned – Hoeschler takes our case
After extensive consultation with our neighbors over the past few days, we are are moving ahead with a joint legal challenge to the City of St. Paul’s mill and overlay policy. This is not a step we’ve taken lightly. From the beginning, our preferred path to resolution has been through constructive engagement with the city. …
Star Tribune: St. Paul cuts street repair bills, but some still question fairness
The Star Tribune has reported on the city’s decision to reduce our street assessments (June 22nd 2019, pp. B1-B2). The city didn’t announce how it had arrived at the reduced rates at the council meeting on June 19th. According to the Star Trib, the cost of federally required ADA-compliant curbs was the primary driver for …
Star Tribune: St. Paul cuts street repair bills, but some still question fairness Read More »
City reduces assessments
After 2 months of closed door discussion, the City of St. Paul has presented its proposed revisions to the 2018 Mill & Overlay assessments. Acknowledging moving testimony from residents, the City took the following action: New assessment rolls with reduced rates were presented for the four laid over projects (Stryker, Forest, Victoria, Arlington), which were …
Pioneer Press: City Council lowers street assessments
The Pioneer Press has covered the City Council’s June 19th decision to reduce our street assessments: Homeowners will still pay half the cost of mill-and-overlay projects through direct assessments, but St. Paul will cover the ADA curb cuts — and those were a big part of what was driving up the bills. One couple said …
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Vote delayed again – resolution expected June 19th
At yesterday’s City Council meeting, the vote was laid over for a further two weeks to June 19th. Council President Amy Brendmoen said that they have “reached a resolution” on the Mill & Overlay issue but needed the additional time to “correct the record”. The delay will give the Council time to get the Mill …
Vote delayed again – resolution expected June 19th Read More »
Vote Laid Over to June 5th
At the City Council meeting on May 22nd, the Mill & Overlay votes for the remaining four projects were laid over again to June 5th. Council President Brendmoen stated that discussions were ongoing with Public Works on a way forward and that they hoped to have those discussions completed by then. As we’ve noted previously, …
District Court: Street Maintenance Program is Illegal
In a significant blow to the City’s current Street Maintenance Service Program, the District Court has just ruled that the new program is no different to the old one. The City’s previous Right of Way (ROW) assessment scheme was struck down by the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2016. That’s how we got the current Street …
District Court: Street Maintenance Program is Illegal Read More »
Voting Delayed by Further 2 Weeks
Earlier this week we spoke with Councilmember Rebecca Noecker for a progress update on the Mill & Overlay issue. CM Noecker confirmed that the City Council intends to address the inequity this policy has created, and that she, along with Council President Brendmoen and their colleagues, are in discussions behind the scenes with Public Works …
Star Tribune: Massive Street Repair Bills Rile Homeowners
The Star Tribune has published an in-depth article on the front page of its print edition and website! St. Paul homeowners push back after getting massive street repair bills; City Council takes a new look at how best to pay for the maintenance after Minnesota Supreme Court threw out previous system. https://t.co/tvlwOOTAyL pic.twitter.com/ISJKOtemfE — Star …
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The Villager: St. Paul Takes Closer Look at Assessments
We made the front page of this week’s issue of The Villager newspaper! In an article titled “St Paul takes closer look at assessments for street work”, Jane McClure reported on the City Council’s decision to postpone the assessments for the 4 projects which had not been voted through for 30 days to reconsider the …
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April 10th Meeting: Voting Delayed to May 8th!
At its April 10th Council Meeting, the City Council was due to vote on the 4 projects (Victoria, Stryker, Arlington, and Forest) that had been held over from the original April 3rd meeting. Councilmember Noecker, President Brendmoen, and Councilmember Busuri moved to hold over the votes for 30 days to May 8th (watch the video). …
Pioneer Press: Mill & Overlay Bills Landing at Residents’ Doors
The Pioneer Press just covered our story. The article is well worth reading. It includes a useful account of how we got here in the first place (this new policy only came about due to the First Baptist Church case which forced the City to change the previous ROW assessment system in 2017). It also …
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3rd April Council Meeting & Public Hearing
Thank you to everyone who has participated so far – whether you filed a written objection on our website or contacted your Councilmember. We collected over 60 written objections ourselves, an incredible response given the small number of properties we reached overall. We submitted all the written objections we received in person at the meeting …