The City may make such public improvements as are authorized by section 3.10 of this Charter and by law.
Public improvements may be paid for in whole or in part out of general funds, proceeds from the sale of bonds, the revolving public improvement fund, or special assessments on benefited property which may be evidenced by special tax bills. In case payment is to be made in whole or in part by special assessments or special tax bills, the City shall in no event be liable for the part to be so paid. Tax bills may be purchased by the City out of any funds available for such purpose.
All public improvements, except emergency work or repairs requiring immediate attention and work to be performed by the City's employees, shall be done by contract after due public notice inviting sealed bids. Bids shall be opened at the time and place designated in the notice and the openings of said bids shall be public.
Plans and specifications for a public improvement shall not limit the materials to be used to those of any particular producer or manufacturer, but shall be arranged so as to permit materials and processes to enter into competition.
Contracts shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder, provided that any and all bids may be rejected. All such contracts shall provide for the posting of a bond by the contractor insuring the faithful performance of the work and the payment of all labor and materials used in the work. Before any such contract becomes effective, it shall be confirmed by ordinance of the Council.
[ Ord. No. 3859 § 1, 9-22-1980]
All proceedings to make any public improvements, including the purchase, condemnation, sale, transfer or exchange of land, except emergency work or repairs requiring immediate attention, ordinary maintenance work, work to be paid for out of general funds of the City for which specific provision was made in the budget, or work to be paid out of the proceeds of a bond issue, shall be initiated by the adoption of a resolution by the Council declaring the necessity for such improvement, stating the nature thereof, the probable cost, the method of payment thereof, and the date for a public hearing. Any error of inaccuracy in the estimate of cost as compared with the actual cost of the work shall not affect the validity of the proceedings, or of any assessments made, or of special tax bills issued to pay for such work. When payment is to be made by special tax bills or other evidence of assessments upon real property or out of the revolving public improvement fund, the resolution shall specify the proposed method of assessment.
[1]
Editor's Note—Ord. No. 3859, amending § 9.3, was approved at an election held April 7, 1981.
Upon the adoption of such resolution, the Council shall hold a public hearing thereon not less than ten (10) nor more than thirty (30) days thereafter. A copy of such resolution together with notice of the date of public hearing shall be published for two (2) consecutive issues in a newspaper of general circulation in the City. If the costs of such public improvement are to be paid in whole or in part by special tax bills or other evidences of assessment upon real property, copies of the resolution and notification of the date of hearing thereon shall be mailed to the last-known address, according to City records, of the owners of all property against which it is proposed to levy such assessments.
After such hearing, the Council may determine that it is or is not in the public interest that such improvements or any part thereof be made.
Should the Council determine, after public hearing, to proceed with the improvement or any part thereof, it shall cause the plans and specifications for the proposed improvement to be prepared and bids taken thereon. If a bid is to be accepted, the Council shall by ordinance authorize the improvement and confirm the improvement contract. Said ordinance shall specify the method of payment of the cost of the improvement.
When any portion of the cost of an improvement is to be paid by special assessments or special tax bills, the ordinances authorizing the improvement shall specify the portion thereof to be so paid, the boundaries of the district within which property is to be so assessed and the basis on which assessments will be made.
Upon the completion of a public improvement the payment for which is to be made in whole or in part by special tax bills, the Council shall by ordinance direct the issuance of such bills. The tax bills so authorized shall be a lien upon the property charged therewith, which lien shall continue for ten (10) years from date of issue, unless sooner paid, except in the case of tax bills payable in installments, the lien of which shall not expire until one (1) year after the date of maturity of the last installments and except in the case of tax bills upon which suit is instituted, the lien of which shall continue until the final determination of the litigation.
There shall be no priority among special tax bills issued under this Charter, regardless of the date of such bills. They shall be payable to the party entitled thereto at the office of the Director of Finance or at some bank or trust company in the City of St. Louis or St. Louis County, Missouri, at the option of the party so entitled. They shall be promptly registered in the office of the Director of Finance and delivered to the person entitled thereto.
All tax bills authorized hereunder shall be assignable and they shall be prima facie evidence of what they contain and of their own validity, and no informality or clerical mistake in any of the proceedings shall be a defense thereto. Such tax bills shall mature at such times and bear such rate of interest as the ordinance directing the issuance thereof may prescribe.
At the request of a property owner, made thirty (30) days prior to the issuance of the bills, a tax bill may be made payable in annual installments, not exceeding ten (10). Such tax bills shall provide that if any annual installment, or the interest thereon, is not paid when due, then all of the remaining installments shall, at the option of the holder of the tax bills, become immediately due and payable. The owner of property charged with the payment of such tax bill, or the owner of any interest therein, shall have the privilege of paying the whole of any tax bill in full at any time, or, on any annual installment payment date, of paying in full one (1) or more of the remaining installments not of maturity date.
If any special tax or special assessment shall fail to be valid in whole or in part, or if for any cause, mistake, or inadvertence the amount assessed shall not be sufficient to pay the cost of such improvements, the Council shall have the authority to cause the assessment to be reassessed and to be enforced.
There is hereby created the revolving public improvement fund. Such fund may be maintained from the following sources:
(1) 
Appropriations from general revenues.
(2) 
Proceeds from bond issues.
(3) 
Collections of special assessments or special tax bills and any interest thereon levied or issued for public improvements previously paid for out of the revolving public improvement fund.
(4) 
Proceeds from the sale of special tax bills.
(5) 
Any other source permitted by law or ordinance.
Whenever the Council shall authorize payment of the cost of any public improvement or purchase of tax bills out of the revolving public improvement fund, any special assessment or special tax bills and the interest thereon that may be levied and collected on account of such improvement or the proceeds from the collection of such tax bills and interest shall be credited to and paid into such fund.
The Council may make further provisions by general ordinance, not inconsistent herewith, for special assessments, the issuance of special tax bills, the manner and basis of assessment, the collection thereof, and all matters incidental thereto.