Minneapolis bills homeowners for street repairs: Reminder

Pot holes are turning into money holes.

​We were stunned to read a report from WCCO this morning about Minneapolis hitting up homeowners and businesses for upwards of $1,000 to repair pot holes in front of their property.

Weren't we just rejoicing over the Minneapolis City Council dumping an extra million dollars into this spring's pot hole repair program?

So we gave City Hall a call to ask, well, WTF?

We're breathing easier now. We forgot about a long-standing city ordinance that says if the road in front of your house gets repaired, the city gets to sock you with about a quarter of the cost. Either you pay cash, or they stick you on your property tax bill.

But the rule applies to general road resurfacing, not filling in pot holes. And there will be a lot of resurfacing this spring and summer across a swath of south and southwest Minneapolis, and property owners on those streets will be assessed for part of the cost.

Things aren't as bad as we thought they were.

​Not that this makes us happy. But it's a better situation than the one we read on WCCO.com CBS Minnesota:

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- After a rough winter, Minnesotans do not have to look very far to see potholes. Now, some homeowners and businesses are finding out that they need to chip in for the pothole repairs.

On a related note of interest to anyone still smarting from the Minneapolis property tax hike earlier this year: The City Council has approved a relief measure transferring $2.8 million to offset the levy by 1 percent next year.

Weirdly, though, the money is being transferred from a road repaving program.