Star Tribune Sun, 27 Jan 2008 06:14:28 GMT
Not a special feeling
Thousands of Minnesota homeowners get letters in the mail each year telling them they owe a tax many never knew existed. They're called special assessments, and cities are using them more and more. John Cina 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 Cina, 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.
[[keywords: LandUse;PropertyTax;Metro;]]
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