Section 42 Challenging the Claimed Benefit

• Library: Tax Law 2009

Generally, counsel will attack the validity of a special assessment based on the benefit it is supposed to confer. The burden is on the taxpayer to establish that the taxpayer’s property was not benefitted; the taxpayer will enjoy no success if the argument is limited to the fact that the improvement was not direct or immediate. Lakewood Park Cemetery Ass’n v. Metro. St. Louis Sewer Dist., 530 S.W.2d 240 (Mo. banc 1975). At the same time, counsel should not be discouraged from an attempt to show that the special assessment resulted in no benefit. In fact, it may be that the “improvement” actually...