Abstract
Special assessments are a familiar funding mechanism for public improvement projects in many real estate markets. Knowing how to appropriately allocate the assessment amount across affected properties requires consideration of how the improvement projects will benefit the individual properties. This paper stresses the use of relative, rather than absolute, benefit analysis in allocating the cost of public improvement projects across affected properties. Specifically, it considers whether before and after appraisals of the properties involved in a special assessment are necessary to accurately spread the costs of the improvement project to each property in proportion to the benefits received.