This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. It is based on the facts and information available to the Commissioner as described below.

Facts and Procedural History:

For purposes of simplification, the information presented by the government entity that requested this opinion are presented in summary form. Copies of the complete submissions are on file at the offices of PIPA and are available for public access.

On May 18, 1995, PIPA received a letter from Willard Converse, Attorney for the City of Vadnais Heights, in which he requested an advisory opinion. The issue Mr. Converse raises in his letter is whether, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes Chapter 13, Vadnais Heights is required to calculate the amount of a pending assessment on a particular parcel of property when a member of the public so requests. A summary of the detailed facts surrounding the issue raised by Mr. Converse is as follows.

According to Mr. Converse, Vadnais Heights typically has one or more public improvement projects underway. Said projects have been initiated by property owners who petition the City to put in some form of public improvement. The City then orders a feasibility report in which the City Engineer advises the City Council as to whether the project is feasible. In his letter, Mr. Converse stated, "...Part of the feasibility report concerns the engineer's projection as to how the adjoining property owners will be assessed for the cost of the improvement. Such assessed cost is computed upon the basis of how much frontage the subject property has, its acreage, and a connection charge for each buildable lot that the engineer believes the parcel will ultimately have...."

Mr. Converse went on to say that if the project is approved, any projected assessment figures formulated by the Engineer between the time of the approval order and the time of substantial completion are called "pending assessments." He further stated, "...Only after the project is substantially completed and the cost known will the Council hold an assessment hearing at which time it will determine the exact amount of assessments and spread them of record with the County...." Mr. Converse explained that the engineer's projections are never the final assessment figures because the City will usually assess only some part of the cost of the improvement against the benefited property owners, and pay the rest out of general revenue. In addition, the City will usually set an assessment figure which is either more or less than the engineer first projected.

Mr. Converse also explained that his request for an advisory opinion came about because, "...Certain representatives of title companies and financial companies believe that the City is legally required to provide the pending assessment calculation for any parcel of property that they request...."

Issue:

Discussion:

The presumption in Section 13.03, subdivision 1, is that all government data collected, created, received, maintained, or disseminated by a government entity are public unless those data are otherwise classified. However, this presumption applies only to data which exist.

In the scenario involving Vadnais Heights, Mr. Converse states that the data being requested, pending assessments, do not exist. Mr. Converse also relates that both the feasibility reports, which include the engineer's original projections of any assessments, and the section maps for involved parcels, are data which do exist and are public data and are made available to any person who requests to see them. In addition, he adds, "...Title companies and financial institutions desire to know the assessment status of property which is in the process of being sold. There is no difficulty in informing the interested person of the amount of assessments that have been spread, as each one has been calculated and spread of record for collection...."

Mr. Converse's question is: does Vadnais Heights have a duty, under Chapter 13, to create data (pending assessments) which do not exist, when such data are requested by a member of the public? The answer is no. There is no provision in Chapter 13 that imposes a general duty on government entities to create data. Vadnais Heights may choose to create the data being requested however, pursuant to Chapter 13, Vadnais Heights is not required to do so.

While Chapter 13 does not require Vadnais Heights to create pending assessments, it is possible that another statute or ordinance, of which the Commissioner is unaware, does require the creation of such assessments. Therefore, the Commissioner must add that the conclusion reached in this opinion does not preclude Vadnais Heights from creating pending assessments if another statute or ordinance so requires.

Opinion:

Based on the correspondence in this matter, my opinion on the issue raised by Mr. Converse is as follows:

Chapter 13 does not impose a general duty on government entities to create data. In this situation, Vadnais Heights is not required, by Chapter 13, to create special assessments.

Signed:

Elaine S. Hansen
Commissioner

Dated: May 25, 1995