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House Research Department Updated: September 2008 <br />Special Assessments Page 12 <br /> <br /> <br />• Utilities for residential rental property under court administration <br />• Remedying a municipal building code violation <br /> <br />Other statutes and some city charters also authorize the collection of a charge using the special <br />assessment process even though there is no increase in the property’s market value (the benefit <br />test) because it is a convenient way to collect the charge and if it remains unpaid, becomes a lien <br />on the property.39 <br /> <br /> <br />Data: Sources of Special Assessment Data <br />There are two primary sources of statewide data on special assessments: Department of Revenue <br />data and State Auditor data. <br /> <br />Department of Revenue (DOR) data. The DOR annually receives an Abstract of Tax Lists from <br />the 87 county auditors. The abstract contains the total special assessment amount due and <br />payable for that year for each taxing jurisdiction within the county. In general, the special <br />assessment amounts listed in the abstract are the collective amounts for all special assessments <br />that appear on that year’s property tax statements for the taxable property on which these <br />assessments are imposed. It includes the amount of service charges collected as special <br />assessments by the local governments although those amounts cannot be separated from the <br />special assessments for local improvements. The abstract does not, of course, include special <br />assessments imposed on tax-exempt property, since it itemizes only taxable property. <br /> <br />State Auditor data. The State Auditor publishes annual reports that contain the revenues, <br />expenditures, and debt of all Minnesota cities and counties. These reports are based on the <br />financial audits of the governmental entities. The only special assessments reported separately in <br />the financial audits are those that are deposited in their general governmental funds. Special <br />assessments may also be deposited in local government enterprise funds (for services such as <br />utilities, housing, and sewers), but they are not listed separately in the auditor’s reports. <br /> <br />Differences Between the Two Source Documents <br /> <br />The statewide special assessment totals from the State Auditor data are significantly greater than <br />those amounts reported in the Abstract of Tax Lists. The table on the following page compares <br />the total city special assessment amounts from the two sources for each five-year time period <br />from 1970 to 2006. Since cities are the primary users of special assessments, the table compares <br />only that category of local government. Without doing a comprehensive survey (which is not <br />possible at this time), it would be difficult to reconcile the two sources of data. However, a <br />discussion of the possible reasons for these differences follows the table. <br /> <br /> <br />39 For example, Minn. Stat. § 89.56, subd. 3 (Commissioner of Natural Resources may collect unpaid charges <br />for tree pest control through special assessment process).