Cited by

es not afford Housing First an independent cause of action to support its declaratory-judgment claim in Count I. That rule provides only that “[f]ees established by the municipality must be by legal means and must be fair, reasonable, and proportionate to the actual cost of the service for which the fee is 12 By the same token, Housing First’s citation of Country Joe, is likewise unhelpful because that decision also concerns an application of the Municipal Planning Act.

Paul, -62 (Minn. 2016) (concluding that “a revenue measure, benefiting the public in general” constitutes a tax rather than a “license fee”) (quotation omitted); Country Joe, -87 (Minn. 1997) (“When it has been apparent that a city’s true motivation was to raise revenue—and not merely to recover the costs of regulation—we have disregarded the fee label attached by a municipality and held that the charge in question was in fact a tax.

Additionally, we note that the Minnesota Supreme Court has explained that “[w]hen it [appears] that a city’s true motivation was to raise revenue—and not merely to recover the costs of regulation—we have disregarded the fee label attached by a municipality and held that the charge in question was in fact a tax.” Country Joe, (involving a city’s imposition of a road-connection charge, in addition to payment of the permit fee, as a condition of issuance of a building permit).

As a statutory city, Waconia has no inherent powers; it has only those powers “expressly conferred by statute or implied as necessary in aid of those powers .” Country Joe, Inc. v. City of Eagan , (citation omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted).

Paul , , 361-62 (Minn. 2016) (concluding that city's right-of-way assessment was a tax because it was a broadly assessed revenue measure that benefited the general public, not just those paying the assessment); Country Joe, Inc. v. City of Eagan , , 686 (Minn. 1997) (holding that a city's road unit connection charge was a tax because the "city's true motivation was to raise revenue" and benefit the public in general).

Woodbury is a statutory city, which means that it "has not adopted a home rule charter," Minn. Stat. § 410.015 (2016), and it "has no inherent powers beyond those expressly conferred by statute or implied as necessary in aid of those powers which have been expressly conferred," Country Joe, Inc. v. City of Eagan , , 683 (Minn. 1997) (citation omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted).

B. Express and Implied Authority The City of Woodbury is a statutory city; thus, it “has no inherent powers beyond those expressly conferred by statute or implied as necessary in aid of those powers which have been expressly conferred.” Country Joe, (quotation omitted); see Minn. S,tat.

at 365; see Country Joe, (concluding that a charge was a tax where it was not purely a regulatory or license fee, but was instead a revenue-raising measure that benefited the public generally); cf. Am.

Although broad, a municipality’s police power does not “extend[] to permit revenue raising measures.” Country Joe

supreme court distinguishes traffic impact fees from special assessments by noting that the “primary difference is that special assessments represent a measure of the benefit of public improvements on new or existing development, whereas impact fees typically measure the cost of the demand or need for public facilities as a result of new development only.” Country Joe, (quotation omitted).

at 786 (citing Country Joe, ).

In conducting that analysis, we examined the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision in Country Joe, in which it “recognized that a city may collect regulatory service fees under the police power provided that the fees are not general revenue-raising measures.” Id.

But the supreme court has “consistently rejected the argument that the general police power extends to permit revenue raising measures by municipalities.” Country Joe

Country Joe, , 687 n. 7 (Minn.1997).

v. City of Saint Paul, (motorcyclist injured in tip-over alleges city was negligent in failing to inspect and maintain street, creating the hazardous condition, and failing to warn of the dangerous condition); (landowners challenge city-imposed lateral benefit water fee); Country Joe, (home building contractors challenge city’s decision to impose road unit connection charge as a condition of issuance of building permits); (property owner challenges city's revocation of rental dwelling license);

See Country Joe, -87 (Minn.1997) (holding that when a city’s real motive is to generate revenue, rather than recouping the administrative costs of regulation, the fee is an illegal tax).