Chapter 13.48 LOCAL IMPROVEMENTS

Whenever the city council shall provide for making local improvements, and for paying the whole or any portion of the cost and expense thereof, by levying and collecting special assessments on property specially benefited, the proceedings therefor shall be in accordance with the provisions of RCW 35.43.010, the Charter of Everett, and the provisions of this chapter and acts amendatory thereto. (Prior code § 13.48.010)

13.48.020 Modes of payment.

There shall be two modes of making payment for such portion of the cost and expense of any improvement provided for in this chapter as shall be payable by special assessments, to wit: “Immediate payment” and “payment by bonds.” The mode adopted shall be the mode petitioned for in case said improvement shall be made upon petition, otherwise the mode shall be such as the council shall direct in the ordinance ordering such improvement. (Prior code § 13.48.020)

13.48.030 Assessment roll.

As soon as possible after the taking effect of the ordinance providing for the creation of a local assessment district under the provisions of this chapter, and as soon as the commissioner of public works shall ascertain the cost and expense thereof, such commissioner shall cause to be prepared and certified to the city council an assessment roll, which shall contain the description of each lot, tract, parcel of land, or other property to be assessed, the amount to be charged, levied or assessed against the same, and the name of the owner thereof if known, but in no case shall a mistake in the name of the owner be fatal when the description of the property is correct. It shall be the duty of the city engineer to render such services as may be required of him by the commissioner of public works in carrying out the provisions of this chapter. In case the improvement is constructed directly by the city by the employment of day labor the said assessment roll may be made either before or after the completion of the improvement. If made before the improvement is completed said roll shall be based upon the estimated cost of such improvement made by said commissioner. If upon the completion of the improvement it is found that the actual cost thereof has exceeded the amount assessed therefor, a supplemental assessment roll based upon the amount of such excess shall be pre-assessed therefor, a supplemental assessment roll based upon the amount of such excess shall be prepared in the same manner as the original roll. If the assessment is made after the improvement is completed it shall be based upon the actual cost of the improvement. In case such improvement is made by contract upon competitive bids the basis of such assessment shall be the contract price of said improvement, including the fixed estimate. (Prior code § 13.48.030)

13.48.040 Mode of immediate payment.

Whenever the cost and expense of any improvement shall be payable by the mode of immediate payment, the city treasurer shall, upon receipt of such roll, publish a notice in the official paper of the city for ten consecutive daily issues or two consecutive weekly issues that the said roll is in his hands for collection, and that any assessment thereon or any portion of such assessment may be paid at any time within thirty days from the date of the first publication of such notice, without penalty, interest or cost, and that unless payment be made within such time such assessment or unpaid portion thereof will become delinquent. Upon delinquency a penalty of five percent shall attach and become a part of such assessment. Delinquent assessments shall bear interest at the rate of eight percent per annum until paid. Such delinquent assessments, with penalty and interest shall forthwith be collected, and the lien thereof be enforced in the manner provided by law and the charter and ordinances of Everett. (Prior code § 13.48.040)

13.48.050 Mode of payment by bonds.

Whenever the cost and expense of any improvement shall be payable by the mode of “payment by bonds,” the whole or any portion of any assessment levied on account of such improvement may be paid without penalty or interest within the first thirty days following the date of the first publication of the notice by the city treasurer that such assessment and assessment roll is in his hands for collection, and the unpaid balance, if any, may be paid in equal annual installments, the number of which installments shall be less by two than the number of years which the bonds issued to pay for the improvement may run, or the lien of any such assessment may be discharged at any time after the said thirty days by paying the entire unpaid portion thereof, with all penalties and costs attaching, together with all interest thereon to date of delinquency of the installment thereof next falling due. The first installment shall become due and payable during the thirty day period succeeding a date one year after the date of the first publication of said notice, and annually thereafter each succeeding installment shall become due and payable in like manner. If the whole or any portion of any assessment remains unpaid after the first thirty day period herein provided for, interest upon the whole unpaid sum shall be charged at the rate fixed in the ordinance providing for such improvement, and each year thereafter one installment, together with interest due upon the whole of the unpaid balance, shall be collected. Any installment not paid prior to the expiration of the thirty day period during which said installment is due and payable, shall thereupon become delinquent. All delinquent installments shall be subject to a charge for interest at the bond rate as herein specified, from the date of delinquency until the date of delinquency of the installment next falling due after the payment of such installment, and to an additional charge of five percent penalty levied upon both principal and interest due on such installment or installments. (Prior code § 13.48.050)

13.48.060 Issuance of bonds.

At the expiration of thirty days after the date of the first publication of the treasurer’s notice referred to in Section 13.48.050 of this chapter, the city treasurer shall report to the city clerk the total amount of the assessment, the total amount paid to him to redeem the lots, tracts, parcels of land, or other property, from the assessment levied thereon, and the total amount unpaid on such assessment, whereupon the mayor and clerk shall issue the bonds on the local improvement district established by the ordinance providing for such improvement in an amount equal to the amount remaining unpaid on said assessment roll, as shown by such report. The bonds herein provided for shall not be issued prior to twenty days after the expiration of the thirty days above mentioned. Such bonds shall be in denomination of one hundred dollars each as far as practicable, provided that the city council may in the ordinance confirming the assessment roll designate any different denomination for such bonds. Such bonds shall be numbered from one upwards consecutively, and each bond and coupon shall be signed by the mayor and attested by the city clerk; provided however, that said coupons, instead of being so signed, have printed thereon the facsimile of the signatures of said officers, and each bond shall have the seal of the city impressed thereon, and shall refer to the improvement to pay for which the same shall be issued, and to the ordinance ordering the same. (Prior code § 13.48.060)

13.48.070 Term of bonds.

Such bonds by their terms shall be made payable on or before a date not to exceed twelve years from and after the date of the issuance of such bonds, which latter date may be fixed by resolution or may be fixed by the ordinance confirming the assessment roll. Such bonds to bear interest as may be provided by the ordinance ordering the improvement, not exceeding eight percent per annum, payable as provided in said ordinance, and each bond shall have attached thereto interest coupons for each interest payment. There shall be attached to each bond such number of coupons, not exceeding twelve, as shall be required to represent the interest thereon, payable annually, for the term of said bond. (Prior code § 13.48.070)

13.48.080 Form of bonds.

All bonds issued in pursuance of the provisions of this chapter shall be in substantially the following form:

LOCAL IMPROVEMENT BONDS, DISTRICT NO.
of the city of Everett, state of Washington.

No. ____________________________

N.B. This bond is issued by virtue of the provisions of the act of the legislature of the state of Washington, entitled “An act relating to local improvements in cities and towns, and repealing certain acts and parts of acts.” Approved March 17, 1911. Section 52 of which act reads as follows: “Neither the holder nor owner of any bond issued under the authority of this act shall have any claim therefor against the City by which the same is issued except from the special assessment made for the improvement for which such bond was issued, but his remedy in case of non-payment shall be confined to the enforcement of such assessment. A copy of this section shall be plainly written, printed or engraved on each bond so issued.”

Everett, a municipal corporation of the state of Washington hereby promises to pay to ________ or bearer $_____ lawful money of the United States, with interest thereon at the rate of ___ percent per annum, payable annually out of the fund established by Ordinance No. ____ of said city and known as local improvement fund district No. ___ of Everett, and not otherwise. Both principal and interest payable at the offices of the city treasurer of said city. A coupon is hereto attached for each installment of interest to accrue thereon, and said interest shall be paid only on presentation and surrender of such coupon to the city treasurer, but in case this bond is called for payment before its maturity each and every coupon representing interest not accrued at the time this bond is payable under such call shall be void. This bond is payable on or before the ____ day of _______, 19___ and is subject to call by the city treasurer of said city whenever there shall be sufficient money in said local improvement fund to pay the same, and all unpaid bonds of the series of which this bond is one, which are prior to this bond in numerical order, over and above sufficient for the payment of interest on all unpaid bonds of said series. The city council of said city as the agent of said local improvement district No. ___ established by Ordinance No. ___ has caused this bond to be issued in the name of said city as the bond of said local improvement district, the bond or the proceeds thereof to be applied in part payment of so much of the cost and expense of the improvement of ________ under said Ordinance No. ___ as is levied and assessed against the property included in said local improvement district and benefited by said improvement, and the said local improvement fund district No. ___ of Everett has been established for said purpose, and the holder or holders of this bond shall look only to said fund for the payment of either the principal or interest of this bond. A call for payment of this bond, or of any bond of the series of which this is one, shall be made by the city treasurer by publishing the same in the city official newspaper of such city, and when such call is made for the payment of this bond it will be paid on the day next interest coupon thereon shall become due after said call, and upon said day interest upon this bond shall cease. This bond is one of a series of ___ bonds aggregating in all the principal sum of $____ issued for said local improvement district, all of which bonds are subject to the same terms and conditions as herein expressed.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the city of Everett has caused these presents to be signed by its mayor and attested by its clerk and sealed with its corporate seal this ____ day of ________ in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and ____.

EVERETT
By______________________Mayor
Attest: __________________________
City Clerk.

(SEAL)

COUPONS—NUMBER AND FORM: There shall be attached to each bond such number of coupons, not exceeding ten, as shall be required to represent the interest thereon payable annually for the term of said bonds, which coupons shall be in substantially the following form: ________

No. ________ $______

On the ____ day of __________ Everett promises to pay to the bearer at the office of the city treasurer $____ being one year’s interest due that day on bond No. ____ of the bonds of local improvement fund, district No. ____ of Everett, and not otherwise, provided, that this coupon is subject to all the terms and conditions in the bond to which it is annexed, and if said bond be called for payment before maturity hereof then this coupon shall be void.

(Prior code § 13.48.080)

13.48.090 Bond register.

The city clerk shall keep in his office a register of all bonds issued, in which he shall enter the local improvement district for which the same were issued, and the date, and amount, and number of each bond, and the term of payment. (Prior code § 13.48.090)

13.48.100 Local improvement fund.

The ordinance providing for any improvement or the ordinance confirming any assessment roll shall create a special fund to be called local improvement fund district No. ____ into which shall be placed all sums paid on account of such assessment, together with all interest and penalty thereon, and in the event of a sale of bonds by the city all premiums and accrued interest on bonds issued for such improvement. Out of such fund shall be paid the entire cost and expense of such improvement. (Prior code § 13.48.100)

13.48.110 Penalty and interest.

A penalty of five percent shall attach to and become a part of all assessments for local improvements or installments thereof, immediately upon the same becoming delinquent. All such assessments and installments thereof shall become delinquent if not paid prior to the expiration of thirty days from the date of the first publication of the treasurer’s notice upon any such assessment or installment. Any assessment or unpaid balance thereof payable by the mode of immediate payment shall, from and after the date of such delinquency, bear interest at the rate of eight percent per annum until paid.

The city treasurer shall give notice of the time of payment of each installment upon any assessment payable by mode of payment by bonds. (Prior code § 13.48.120)

13.48.120 Foreclosure.

A. Whenever, on the first day of January, of any year, commencing with the first day of January, 1928, two installments of any local improvement district assessment shall be delinquent, or the final installment thereof shall have been delinquent for more than one year, the city, on or before the first day of December of such year, shall proceed, through its regularly constituted officers as hereafter more particularly designated, with the foreclosure of all such delinquent assessments or installment or installments thereof, as the case may be, by proceeding in the Superior Court of Snohomish County in an action brought in its own name.

B. It shall not be necessary to bring a separate suit for each separate lot, tract or parcel of land or other property, or for each separate local improvement district, but all or any part of the property so delinquent under any or all assessment rolls or local improvement districts in the city may be proceeded against in the same action and all or any of the owners or persons interested in any of the property so delinquent may be joined as parties defendant in a single action to foreclose, and all or any liens for such delinquent assessments, or installment or installments thereof, may be foreclosed in such proceeding. Such proceedings shall be initiated by filing with the clerk of the said Superior Court a certificate of the city treasurer of the city setting forth a description of each such separate lot, tract or parcel of land or other property upon which such assessments, or installment or installments are delinquent, the date of the delinquency and the amount thereof, including penalty and interest thereon, the name of the owner thereof or that such owner is unknown as appears upon the assessment roll, the number and date of the passage of the ordinance authorizing the improvement, the number and date of the passage of the ordinance confirming such assessment roll, and the number of such local improvement district; all such lots, tracts and parcels of land or other property may be included in one certificate; such certificate shall be prepared by the city treasurer once each year prior to the first day of December.

C. Upon the filing of such certificate, the city treasurer with the assistance of the city attorney and such other assistance as the city council may provide, shall proceed with such foreclosure action to judgment and the property shall be sold, all as provided in RCW Chapter 35.50, as now amended or as the same may hereafter be amended.

D. Provided however, that this chapter shall not be deemed to affect pending foreclosure actions, but that such actions now pending for the foreclosure of delinquent local improvement district assessments shall be completed under and pursuant to the ordinances and statutes existing at the time of the institution of such actions. (Prior code § 13.48.140)

13.48.130 Call and payment of warrants.

A. It shall be the duty of the treasurer to call and pay in numerical order such outstanding warrants against any particular improvement fund as he may be able to pay with the money on hand credited to such fund, and if not sufficient to pay the whole of the next succeeding outstanding warrants he shall call in and pay such portion thereof as shall exhaust the amount of such fund.

B. Whenever the city treasurer shall pay a portion of any warrant, as above provided, he shall endorse upon such warrant the date and amount of such payment, and take a receipt from the holder thereof showing the number and description of such warrant, and the date, and amount so paid, which receipt the city treasurer shall return with his report to the city clerk as a voucher for the money so paid. (Prior code § 13.48.150)

13.48.140 Local improvement contracts or day labor.

A. The city council shall order any improvement provided for herein to be made by the city by the employment of day labor or by contract. If the cost of any improvement is less than five hundred dollars the council may provide in the ordinance ordering such improvement that said improvement shall be made by the city directly by the employment of labor. In all other cases the commissioner of public works shall advertise for bids for making such improvement. All bids shall be made in duplicate, be securely sealed, and shall be filed with the city clerk. Notice calling for such bids shall be published in the city official paper at least two times, more than five days before the letting of such contract. At the time of publishing said notices specifications for said improvement must be on file in the office of the commissioner of public works subject to public inspection. All bids shall be accompanied by a certified check payable to the order of the city clerk or a bid bond issued by a responsible surety company for a sum not less than five percent of the amount of the bid, and no bid shall be considered unless accompanied by such check or bid bond. At the time and place mentioned in said notice said bids shall be opened by the city council and the city council may:

First: Let the contract for making such improvement or any part thereof to the lowest responsible bidder, or Second: Reject any or all bids, or Third: Reject any and all bids and direct said commissioner of public works to re-advertise for bids for all or any part of such improvement.

B. In case no satisfactory bid is received for making an improvement ordered, as provided above, said improvement shall be made by the city by day labor under the supervision of the commissioner of public works. All local improvements made under the provisions of this chapter shall be constructed under the supervision of the commissioner of public works.

C. If any bidder fails to enter into such contract in accordance with his bid within ten days from the date at which he is notified that he is the successful bidder, the check or the bid bond accompanying his bid shall be forfeited to the city and the proceeds of said check or bid bond shall be placed in the local improvement fund, and the commissioner of public works shall re-advertise for bids for such work. (Prior code § 13.48.160)

13.48.150 Contract bond.

Before any contract for the making of any improvement shall be binding against the city, the contractor shall enter into a bond with the city in a sum not less than seventy-five percent of the contract price for said improvement. Said bonds shall contain such conditions and be of such form as the city council shall require. (Prior code § 13.48.170)

13.48.160 Local improvement contracts.

During the time allowed in any contract for the completion of any work the commissioner of public works shall, when requested in writing by the contractor at the end of any month during which said request has been made, issue an estimate of the work completed during such month, or completed and for which no estimate has been issued, and upon completion of the work said commissioner shall issue a final estimate of such work, such estimate shall be filed with the city clerk and he shall certify the same to the city council. Said final estimate shall include in addition to a statement of the amount of money due the contractor, a statement of the amount of money expended for abstracts, advertising and engineering expenses prior to the date set for the completion of the contract. All engineering expenses incurred after said date shall be borne by the contractor as a penalty for failure to complete the work within the specified time. All contracts for local improvements shall provide that at least fifteen percent of the amount due on estimates shall be retained to secure the payment of laborers who have performed work thereon, and materialmen who have furnished material therefor, and such laborers and materialmen shall have thirty days after the work has been completed to file a claim against such fifteen percent so reserved for labor done or material furnished. Provided however, that where in any improvement or work the contract price shall exceed two hundred thousand dollars but ten percent shall be reserved on estimates in excess of said sum, or where the aggregate of previous estimates equals or exceeds said amount. No contract shall be considered as completed until the commissioner of public works shall file his final estimate and approval of such work. No contract for the making of any public improvement under this chapter shall be assigned, transferred or sublet, except for materials, in any manner without first having endorsed thereon the consent of the commissioner of public works and the sureties on the contractor’s bond, and no transfer or assignment thereof shall in any wise affect such bond or the liability of the sureties thereon, and any assignment or transfer of any such contract without such consent and waiver endorsed thereon, except by operation of law shall make the same null and void as to any further performance thereof by the contractor, or his assigns, without any act on the part of the city council. If any such contract shall for any reason become ended or void, or shall be abandoned, the city council may re-let such contract, or complete the same as the agent and at the expense of such contractor and his sureties. No assignment, transfer, abandonment or surrender of any such contract, nor any change in any such contract, nor any extension of time in which to complete any such contract, shall ever operate to release sureties on any bond provided for in this chapter. Any contractor desiring an extension of time for the completion of any work under any contract shall make a written application to the commissioner of public works for such extension of time, and shall state in such application the reasons for such extension, and the commissioner of public works may grant an extension of time if, in his judgment, such contractor is entitled to the same. No extension of time shall be valid unless endorsed on such contract. (Prior code § 13.48.180)

13.48.170 Payment of contract.

In any local improvement district upon the written request of the contractor the city clerk shall not later than the twenty-fifth day of the following month deliver to the contractor money or warrants in an amount equal to eighty-five percent of such estimate issued by the commissioner of public works as provided in Section 13.48.160 of this chapter. In ease warrants are issued they shall be drawn against the local improvement district fund under which the work is being done and shall bear interest at the rate of four percent per annum from date to the time fixed in the proposal for the completion of the contract, plus not to exceed one hundred eighty days allowed for the approval of the assessment roll and issue of bonds, beyond which the city shall not allow interest. Said warrants shall be redeemed either in cash or by local improvement bonds authorized to be issued in said local improvement district. This section shall apply to all local improvements where the district has heretofore been created but for which no advance warrants have been issued prior to the effective date of this chapter, and any improvement hereafter provided for in any local improvement district. This chapter shall not apply to local improvement districts heretofore formed where advance warrants have been all or partially issued. (Prior code § 13.48.190)

13.48.180 Payment of day labor improvements.

Whenever any local improvement is made in whole or in part directly by the city by day labor, the city council may provide for the issuance of local improvement warrants upon the local improvement fund created by the ordinance ordering the improvement, in payment of the cost of such improvement. Said warrants shall bear interest at a rate not to exceed eight percent per annum from the date of issuance, and shall be payable only out of the said local improvement fund when the assessments are paid or the local improvement bonds sold. The cost of such improvement shall be paid for the first instance from such fund as the city council in the ordinance ordering the improvement shall direct, such fund to be reimbursed from the local improvement fund when the assessments are paid or the local improvement bonds sold. (Prior code § 13.48.200)

13.48.190 Notice of installments.

Whenever any installment of an assessment payable by the mode of payment by bonds shall become due and payable the city treasurer shall publish a notice thereof in one issue of the official newspaper, the date of said publication of which shall be at least thirty days prior to the date of the delinquency of such installment. Such notice shall be practically the same form as the notice that the assessment roll is in the treasurer’s hands for collection. In all cases of assessments or installments thereof becoming due and payable, the city treasurer shall mail a notice thereof to the owner of the property assessed when the post office address of the owner is known, but failure to mail the same shall not be fatal when a notice is published as required by this section. (Prior code § 13.48.210)

13.48.200 Items of cost.

In making an estimate of the cost and expense of any improvement, as provided in this chapter, the commissioner of public works shall include therein the estimated cost and expense of the engineering and surveying necessary for said improvement, to be done by and under the direction of the city engineer, and also the cost of ascertaining the ownership of the lots and parcels of land included in the assessment district, and the cost of advertising and publishing all notices required to be published, and also shall add as a charge against each description of property appearing upon the assessment roll the following sum, to wit: In case of immediate assessment the sum of one dollar per description, in case of assessment payable in five annual installments the sum of two dollars, per description, in case of assessment payable in ten annual installments the sum of three dollars, per description; which sum in a particular case will be the charge of the cost of the accounting, clerical labor, books and blanks incurred by the city clerk and city treasurer in connection with such assessment. (Prior code § 13.48.220)

13.48.210 Subdistricts authorized.

Whenever the city council shall provide for the construction of any trunk sewer, or sewerage and drainage, or trunk water main, it may divide the territory to be served thereby into subdistricts. The construction of such improvement may be made under separate contracts for such subdistrict thereof, and the city council may levy assessments in each subdistrict and issue bonds to be paid by the collection of assessments against property in each subdistrict independent of any subdistrict; provided however, that such subdistrict shall be set forth in said ordinance providing for such improvement, and when it is proposed to pay any portion of the cost of such improvement from the general fund such ordinance shall specify approximately the amount to be apportioned to such subdistrict. (Prior code § 13.48.230)

13.48.220 City contribution to be specified in ordinance.

Every ordinance ordering any improvement herein provided for, shall declare what, if any portion of such cost and expense shall be borne by Everett, out of any of its general fund, and shall direct that the remainder of such cost and expense be assessed against the property within said district in the manner provided by law. (Prior code § 13.48.240)

13.48.230 Improvements by day labor—Supervision.

Whenever any improvement is made directly by the city by the employment of day labor, such improvement shall be made under the supervision and control of the commissioner of public works, and he is authorized to employ all necessary labor and to purchase all necessary supplies for the purpose of making such improvement. (Prior code § 13.48.250)

13.48.240 Disposition of bonds.

In the event that the bonds provided for herein are not issued to the contractor said bonds shall be sold in such manner as the council may direct; provided however, that such bonds shall not be sold for less than their par value and accrued interest. (Prior code § 13.48.260)

13.48.250 Segregation—Resolution—Making.

All segregations on parcels of an LID shall be made by resolution of the city council. (Ord. 297-74 § I, 1974)

13.48.260 Segregation—Requirements.

All segregations of a parcel of land in a confirmed LID assessment roll shall not be considered until the following requirements have been met:

A. A written request for segregation of a parcel of land in an LID has been received by the city engineer which shall be accompanied by satisfactory evidence of ownership of said parcel of land as the city attorney may direct; and

B. A forty dollar fee for each new description that will be entered on the supplemental LID roll has been received by the city treasurer;

C. Assessment installment payments are current on the parcel of land to be segregated except when otherwise directed by city council in a special provision written into the resolution segregating the parcel of land;

D. In addition to the forty-dollar fee for each description, actual costs, including salary-related benefits, of public works department engineering and clerical time to process the segregations shall be paid prior to approval of the segregation by the city council. A deposit of estimated costs as determined by the city treasurer toward the actual cost shall be required to be paid prior to commencing segregation proceedings. (Ord. 1072-84 § 1, 1984; Ord. 297-74 § II, 1974)

13.48.270 Segregation—Supplemental assessment roll.

A supplemental assessment roll of the segregated parts shall be delivered to the city treasurer who shall proceed to make the segregation ordered. (Ord. 297-74 § III, 1974)

13.48.280 Segregation—Interest of city.

A segregation shall not be made unless the city council has determined that said segregation is in the best interest of the city. (Ord. 297-74 § IV, 1974)

13.48.290 Segregation—Resolution—Contents.

The resolution shall describe the original tract, the amount and date of the original assessment, and shall define the boundaries of the divided parts and the amount of the assessment chargeable to each part. (Ord. 297-74 § V, 1974)

13.48.300 Segregation—Statute adopted by reference.

The provisions of RCW 35.44.410 are adopted by reference. (Ord. 297-74 § VI, 1974)

13.48.310 Segregation—Single-family residences.

No segregation shall be made to the individual lots of a single-family residential subdivision and no segregation shall be made to individual units in a single-family residential condominium. (Ord. 1072-84 § 2, 1984; Ord. 297-74 (part), 1974)