§ 14.31.050. Review of petition application.

A.

District boundaries—Review by assessor and RSA director. After receiving an application for a petition to form a RIAD, the borough assessor or the assessor's designee, in consultation with the road service area director, shall determine whether the boundaries of the proposed district are proper. The boundary will be considered improper if:

1.

any property adjacent to the proposed district will be benefited by the proposed improvement and is clearly excluded for the primary purpose of enabling the included properties to meet assessment percentage and signature requirements of this chapter;

2.

the boundary covers a large, non-contiguous area, such as parcels unconnected by the roadway or property lines;

3.

the boundary includes too many parcels with the intention of diluting costs or minimizing the effect of delinquent properties; or

4.

such other grounds as may be established by regulation or administrative policy.

B.

Based upon the proposed district boundaries, the borough assessor shall inform the sponsor whether the proposed district may violate any of the restrictions on district formation in KPB 14.31.080.

C.

District boundaries—Deemed improper. In the event that the assessor determines the proposed boundary is improper, the boundary description shall be returned to the sponsor along with a written explanation describing why the proposed boundary has been deemed improper. The sponsor may modify and resubmit the boundary description to the assessor for approval as described in KPB 14.31.050(A).

D.

Initial staff report. Once the assessor approves the boundaries of the proposed district, assessing and road service area staff will prepare an initial report for the road service area (RSA) board to consider for approval of an order for the engineer's estimate regarding the proposed project. The initial staff report shall contain the following information:

1.

Sponsor's application, description of the subject road(s) and scope of the proposed project;

2.

Review of KPB 14.31.080(A)(3) and (4) restrictions on formation for the proposed project;

3.

Review of KPB 14.31.050(E) criteria for the proposed project;

4.

Any additional comments that may help the RSA board evaluate the project; and

5.

RSA staff recommendation for the proposed project.

E.

RSA Board—Approval to proceed with engineer's estimate. The RSA board shall review the staff reports for all RIAD applications timely submitted under KPB 14.31.040 no later than September 1 of each year, for construction in the following year. The road service area board shall consider the following factors in evaluating petition applications and determining whether to approve an order for an engineer's estimate:

1.

Whether the road is currently on the maintenance system;

2.

The number of petitions for projects received that year;

3.

The funds available in the RIAD engineer's estimate fund established under KPB 5.20.160; and

4.

Whether an application for district formation has been previously filed and whether conditions have changed that make the project more feasible than in past application years.

F.

RSA board—Administrative procedures. The RSA board may adopt administrative procedures for application of the factors set forth in KPB 14.31.050(E) by board resolution.

G.

Non-refundable filing fee. Upon receiving notice that the RSA board has approved an order for an engineer's estimate under KPB 14.31.050(E), the sponsor must submit a non-refundable filing fee as described in the borough's Schedule of Rates, Charges and Fees, before any additional efforts are made by the borough to proceed with the proposed district.

H.

Engineer's estimate. After the sponsor submits the non-refundable filing fee, the road service area director or designee shall obtain an estimate of the cost of the improvement proposed for the district, referred to as the "engineer's estimate." The borough assessor shall re-evaluate whether the proposed district may violate any of the restrictions on district formation in KPB 14.31.080 taking into account the estimated costs, and inform the sponsor if any violations have been identified.

I.

Sponsor's intent to proceed. If the sponsor wishes to proceed after receiving the engineer's estimate under KPB 14.31.030 (H), s/he must submit to the assessor a written notice of intent to proceed with the project.

J.

After the written notice to proceed is received from the sponsor, the assessing department shall provide notice of the proposed RIAD to all parcel owners within the proposed RIAD district by regular mail, at least 10 days prior to the RSA board's consideration of the resolution to approve the petition report and recommend a borough match under KPB 14.31.065. The notice shall include the following:

1.

A description of the special assessment district and proposed improvement;

2.

A map of the proposed improvement;

3.

The date of RSA public hearing; and

4

Notice that the legal description of parcels within the proposed district as of the date the RSA board approves the resolution will be used to determine assessments per KPB 14.31.080(C). Any action to replat parcels within the proposed district must be completed and recorded before the date the RSA board approves the resolution.

K.

If any changes are made to the proposed district boundary by the sponsor after the assessing department receives the sponsor's written intent to proceed with the project, the revised district shall be subject to all steps for preclearance and resubmission of the proposed district as provided in KPB 14.31.050. The sponsor will not be required to submit an additional filing fee.

(Ord. No. 2015-13 , § 1, 6-16-15; Ord. No. 2011-32, § 18, 9-20-11; Ord. No. 2009-05, § 2, 2-17-09; Ord. No. 2001-05, § 3, 4-3-01; Ord. No. 2000-19-08, § 2, 8-1-00; Ord. No. 99-45, § 1, 9-7-99; Ord. No. 97-32, § 2(part), 1997)