City of St. Paul Park 

For assessments charged on a per linear foot basis (street, storm, curb, gutter) is calculated at 100% of the short side of your property as platted.  For assessments charged on a per unit basis (water, sewer) is calculated at per buildable lot. 

If I live on a corner, will I have special assessments for both streets?

Yes. Corner lots are assessed 100% of the short side plus 25% of the long side.   

How do I find out the amount of special assessments levied against a property?

The City of St. Paul Park will perform an assessment search for a fee of $25.00 per search.  Please submit a request for this service to:

City of St. Paul Park--Assessments
600 Portland Avenue
St. Paul Park MN 55071

Be sure to include the property's address and the $25.00, and a contact name and number in case there are any questions.  At this time, searches cannot be performed via Internet or over the phone. 

Can I get the special assessment information for free?

Yes! We have assessment books available at City Hall for residents to do manual searches.  You must know your Property ID number to do the search.  You can find that number on your Property Tax statement that is issued by the county.  The number has 14 characters, and almost always starts with R, with the remainder of the characters being numbers.  R12.027.22.12.0092 is a valid property ID number in the City of St. Paul Park.  You will be unable to look up the assessment information if you don't have this number. 

When are special assessment payments due?

Your property tax statement from the county will include an installment payment towards the balance of special assessments due for your property.  If you wish to pay off the remaining balance of the special assessment, you can do so at any time, but it's best to do so before November 15th in any given year.  After the 15th, the interest for the next year is added in a lump sum, and will not be pro-rated.  Unfortunately, the City cannot accept credit cards for assessment payments.

How can I find the assessed market value of a property?

The City only tracks special assessments levied against a property, such as the cost of street improvements.  To find the actual assessed market value of a property, you would want to contact the Washington County Assessor's Office.

What generates a special assessment?

There are three ways that can generate an assessment:  Developer requests infrastructure, planned street reconstruction project, or by owner petition.

Can the special assessment be deferred?

The City Council of the City of St. Paul Park will consider deferring special assessments for seniors, disabled, or military persons.  Also the City Council will consider deferring special assessments to unimproved land.  Forms and eligibility requirements can be found under Applications. 

Assessments--Possible vs. Pending vs. Levied
New 5/29/07

Possible--The time between when the city identifies a potential project and the time the city council orders a project may be as much as five years (5-year Capital Improvement Plan).  Typically, six months to a year before a project is ordered, the City Engineer will be directed to prepare a feasibility report.  A feasibility report is a project plan to identify the need and scope of the improvement, the estimated cost of the improvement and the estimated method of financing. 

Up to this point, the project is only being considered.  Assessments are only a possibility and are still not considered pending at this stage, even though the affected property owners may have been advised of a possible improvement in their area which could cause an assessment against their property. 

Pending--Once the city council held the public hearing for a particular project, and has determined, (by majority vote), that the project is necessary and in the best interest of the community, all the affected properties are considered to have a Pending Assessment status. 

Property owners that have received written notification of this public hearing are now legally required to disclose the property's possible assessment liability at the time of sale of the encumbered parcel. 

Levied--Once the City Council has held the assessment hearing and has adopted the assessment roll by majority vote, the status of the assessments will change from a pending assessment to a Levied Assessment status. 

Note:  In past years the City of St. Paul Park held its assessment hearing after the project was completed.  The pending assessment status wasn't given until the contract was awarded.