from some burden. Tax limited to real property Only certain property can be specially assessed. The "property" to be assessed must be real estate as opposed to "personalty". Personalty is a taxation term which means personal property. Examples of personal property include the machinery, equipment, furniture and fixtures which a person or corporate entity may own. Summary of special assessment components In summary, when a government unit funds a public project that directly, uniquely and specifically "benefits" (increases) the value of certain parcels of real estate it may levy a charge against each specifically benefitted property as compensation for the benefit. Properties designated to be specially assessed are assembled into a geographic area with clearly defined boundaries. This geographic area is termed a Special Assessment District. Unique Aspect In some states, sometimes one government unit can levy a special assessment against another. This is true in cases where the public's health, safety and welfare are being promoted by the project (e.g. repairs to a dam). Refer to specific state statutes for details. A special assessment is not an ad valorem property tax The property tax most citizens are aware of is known as an ad valorem tax. This tax is used to fund general or day-to-day government operations. An ad valorem tax is commonly levied on both real and personal property. A property tax is based upon a property's market value. The ad valorem tax levy is based upon a millage rate which never varies from parcel to parcel. The foundation principles for ad valorem taxes are that each property is valued according to its market value (equity) and that each property is taxed based upon a single millage rate that applies to everyone (uniformity). Special assessment levies are not ad valorem property taxes even though they may be collected on a property tax bill. A special assessment is based strictly upon the concepts of "need" and "benefit." Special assessments require a finding that the public improvement is "needed" for a reason consistent with the law which permits the special assessment and that each property specially assessed receives a unique, measurable and direct benefit from the public improvement that was needed. The basic idea is, if government funds make a property more valuable, the government has the right to get money back from a property owner. This contrasts significantly with an ad valorem tax which is extracted to fund government