Opinion ID: 1899941
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: assessment formula

Text: The formula adopted by the board for the special assessment provided for the cost of the project to be apportioned on the basis of the current assessed valuation of the subject property adjusted to take into account the proximity of the property to the parking facility and a factor reflecting the number of parking spaces needed by the property. The proximity factor was arrived at as a result of personal observations of an ad hoc committee appointed by the Westport first selectman. This committee concluded that property within a radius of 500 feet of the parking area would be benefited by it and recommended that the benefited area be divided into six zones, each to be given a numerical value representing the distance of the property from the facility. One half of the cost of the project was to be apportioned on the basis of the proximity factor multiplied by the current assessed valuation, the other half on the basis of the parking factor. In the case of the plaintiff's property, the parking factor was given a value of zero. Therefore, the plaintiff was not assessed for any benefit conferred by the mere presence of additional parking spaces. The factor that was included in the plaintiff's assessment, the current assessment for property tax purposes adjusted for proximity to the facility, bears a reasonable relationship to the benefits conferred. See Embree v. Kansas City & L. B. Road Dist., 240 U.S. 242, 250, 36 S. Ct. 317, 60 L. Ed. 624 (1916); 70 Am. Jur. 2d, Special or Local Assessments §§ 89, 97. There is no error.