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Assessments: Not a special feeling Page 1 of 3 StarTribune.cam MINNEAPOLIS -ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA • Assessments: Not a special feeling By JEAN HOPFENSPERGER and MARY JANE SMETANKA, Star Tribune staff writers January 27, 2008 John Gina never asked for a new road in front of his hobby farm in Eagan, or for a new water and sewage extension_ But he's now facing a $77,000 special tax assessment to pay for both services, which he insists he doesn't need. ¶"The city wanted to build a road to Mary Jo Copeland's home [for children], so a road was built through my property," said Gina, a retired Minneapolis schoolteacher. "Now we have a road leading to a dead end that serves their properties -- and they haven't even built anything yet." Special assessments, by law, are supposed to provide a financial benefit to the homeowner that is roughly equal to the cost of the fee they pay, Cina said, "but nothing has changed for me." And the high-profile orphanage envisioned by Copeland, one of the state's best-known advocates for the poor, still exists only on paper. Each year, tens of thousands of Minnesota homeowners like Cina are told that they must pay a special assessment fee for roads, sidewalks, sewers and other services that directly affect their property. The use of these assessments, paid by both homeowners • and commercial entities, jumped from $197 million in 1995 to $291 million in 2005, according to the state auditor's office. The increase during that decade was $39 million more than inflation. While Cina's fee is unusually high, it points to the tension between homeowners -- many already worried about rising property taxes -- and their cities and suburbs struggling to pay for new development and road repairs. Special assessments are one way cities are plugging holes created by stagnant state aid to cities and skyrocketing construction costs, experts said. While most homeowners monitor their property taxes with great interest, special assessments are "a great unknown to most taxpayers," said Bob DeBoer, director of policy development at the Citizens League, a public-policy research group based in St. Paul. No government agency tracks which cities or townships require their citizens to pay the highest or lowest assessment fees. Most homeowners who get the notices in the mail simply pay them quietly, though those who contest them can and do get some relief. "There's never a public discussion about special assessments, but there's always debates about property taxes," DeBoer said. • A new Citizens League report shows that between 2001 and 2006, St. Paul topped the list of cities with the highest special assessments at $133 million, followed by Minneapolis with $63 million. Next came two cities that are still building new roads and sewers: Maple http://www.startribune.com/templates/Print This Story?sid=14446556 1/28/2008