Legal Definitions - assessment for benefits

Definition: Assessment for benefits refers to the determination of the rate or amount of something, such as a tax or damages, that is imposed on property that benefits in some important way from a public improvement.

For example, a frontage assessment is a municipal tax charged to a property owner for local improvements that abut a street or highway, such as sidewalks, pavements, or sewage lines. This assessment is only levied on property in the immediate vicinity of the local municipal improvement and is valid only where the property assessed receives some special benefit differing from the benefit that the general public enjoys.

Another example is a special assessment, which is the assessment of a tax on property that benefits in some important way from a public improvement. This type of assessment is usually used to finance local improvements that benefit particular real estate or limited areas of land.

These examples illustrate how assessment for benefits is used to determine the rate or amount of a tax or damages that is imposed on property that benefits from a public improvement. This type of assessment is different from a general tax because it is only levied on property that receives some special benefit from the improvement.