[Bunk]

Yes, this is a dumb policy that needs to be changed. There is no way that the basic replacement of a sidewalk should be considered a "local improvement" - it's just maintenance. Everything else of this nature, whether it's the repaving of the street in front of your house or water/sewer pipes is just paid out of general taxes.

However, in residential areas if it's a City initiated replacement it's 50/50 adjacent owners and City. On Commercial streets it's 75/25 adjacent owners and City.

There was Notice of Motion at Council by Alderman Carra, supported by the Mayor (passed) to re-examine this policy. It passed, but thus far the difficulty has been finding the necessary funding to replace it.

I have one of these special assessments (15 yr period) on my property taxes for a 100 year old sidewalk the City replaced about 3 years ago.

We're working on it...