During the long and difficult Janesville city council meeting held this past Monday night, the council was voting on the installation of new curb and gutter on an entire street where some of the properties had new curb work done about 16 years ago. A discussion arose about whether to rebate those properties for the previous work if the properties had changed ownership hands since then.
I was blown away when Councilman Tom McDonald made the suggestion to shortchange a few homeowners of pro-rated special assessment rebates for the work if they purchased the home after the previous owner (seller) paid the special assessment before the sale. The lifespan of curb, gutter and sidewalks is about 45 years under normal conditions.
As often the case, the condition of the sidewalks, curb and gutter surrounding a home may not be a top consideration by the purchaser when buying a home. But it is a top consideration of the sellers when they have to pay up the special assessment in full before they can sell their home. You can better believe most sellers consider all recent improvements they paid for when establishing the sale price of their property. Sidewalks, curb and gutter are among those added costs embedded into the sale price.
In Wisconsin as in many other states, payment and credit on special assessments run with the property, not with the owner. If McDonald had his way, it appears homeowners would be entitled to rip out the curb and sidewalks and take it with them to their new home. Why not if it “runs” with the homeowner and not the land? Or, if the special assessment rebate runs with the homeowner, would the city chase down the previous owner to rebate them the credit?
If this is the brand of ‘outside the box' thinking we can expect from our council members in the future, homeowners in Janesville who think their property rights are under seige now haven’t seen nothing yet.
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