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�� �� SECTION I: GENERAL POLICY STATEMENT The purpose of this assessment policy manual is to set forth a guide of policies and procedures to be followed by the City of Lauderdale in making improvements and charging special assessments to finance such improvements. Minnesota State Statutes, Chapter 429, provides that a municipality shall have the power to make public improvements such as sanitary sewers, storm sewers, water source and distribution facilities, street improvements including grading, curb & gutter, surfacing, sidewalks and street lighting. The various procedures that a municipality must follow in regards to financing public improvements are well defined within the law. The special assessment is a device used to finance these public improvements desired by a particular neighborhood or area. The beginnings of use of the special assessment dates back over three hundred years. It has now grown to be an essential and reliable source of municipal revenue. A. CHARACTERISTICS AND APPLICATIONS Special assessments are defined by three distinct characteristics: They are compulsory charges used to finance particular public improvement programs. The special assessments are charged only against those particular parcels of property deemed to receive some special benefit from the program. The amount of the assessment bears some relationship to the value of the benefits received: (a) the assessment must be confined to property specially benefited; and (b) the amount of the assessments must not exceed the special benefits. In theory, special assessments are frequently regarded as more equitable than property taxes because a more direct benefit is received from the improvements undertaken. Also, special assessments are only imposed on real estate, and they are never levied upon personal and/or movable property.