Service-Type Special Assessment Sample Paper

Service-type special assessment is a term used in the US to mean a unique charge that the government unit uses to charge against the real estate parcels which would cater for a particular public project. The charge is mainly levied in a particular geographic area which is basically known as the Special Assessment District (SAD) (Casey, Donoghue, & Doheny, 1955).

Full cost of the service could only be charged to the property owners of real estates once they have been identified as having received the unique and direct “benefit” from the public project (Yinger, 1998). These charges are in most cases levied during installations of sewer lines, installation of drinking water lines, concreate paving of the streets. Special levies are made for purposes such as installation of parking structures, fire protection and police services, street lighting. The full charges are also levied to the owners only in cases where permission has been granted by the local or state government statutes (Yinger, 1998).

The full charges can only be levied after a formal court action which acts as a remuneration that a unit in the government demands some charges from the property owners so as to fund a public project catering for a specific area (Casey et al 1955).

The general populace may be charged especially when their parcels of land are in one way connected to the public improvement where the special assessment has to be levied. These properties may include the dams and parking structures (Casey et al 1955). In a case of a dam, the properties located within a watershed or a floodplain of the dam are connected by the way water drains from the entire water shed into the dam and the flooding that might occur downstream. Since the area of the watershed are quite large, there is a possibility that some of the portions of the watershed can be located in government unit. In this case, all the properties connected to the lake/dam depending on how water flow will be included. They thus have to pay for it even if they are not benefiting directly from the project.

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