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- Special Assessments FAQ 6
Special Assessments FAQ 6
Is a municipality empowered to
levy special assessments against a property which is currently outside
its corporate limits, to be paid at such time as it is annexed to the
municipality, or to charge a hook-up or other fee in the amount of those
special assessments at such time as the hook-up is made?
Wisconsin Stat. sec 66.0707(1) authorizes
a municipality to levy a special assessment on property in an adjacent
city, village or town, if the property benefits from the work or
improvement. However, such a levy must be approved by resolution of the
governing body of the municipality where the property is located.
Likewise, deferred special assessments
are authorized by sec. 66.0715(2)(a), Stats. However, there is no
mention of such deferrals with regard to assessments against property
outside the corporate limits of the assessing municipality that may
later be annexed and hooked up. In light of the specific statutory
requirement for obtaining approval of a special assessment levy against a
property in an adjoining city, village or town by the governing body of
that municipality, the validity of a deferred special assessment
against such a property without that approval is questionable.
An alternative method of recovering the
costs of extraterritorial improvements is to levy a hook-up charge (also
referred to as an initiation or connection charge) when a property is
annexed and connects to the water or sewer system. Under this approach,
main extensions are financed by (a) special assessment or (b) customer
contributions, with the customer contributions based on what would have
been specially assessed. Customers connecting within a specified time
(usually 20 years) to existing mains reimburse the contributors under
(b). Whether reimbursement of the municipality or utility for its costs
can be required of persons later connecting depends upon the facts and
the language of the municipal utility's rule.
The hook-up charge approach to
reimbursement has been approved by the Public Service Commission. See
Public Utilities 287. It therefore seems prudent to forego a deferred
special assessment approach and use a hook-up charge instead for
recovering the costs of public improvements abutting or benefiting
properties outside a municipality's corporate limits.