Home City Gov't Departments Finance Special Assessment FAQs      

Q. If I live on a corner, will I have special assessments for both streets?
A. No. Assessments are levied to a property only for the street that is used in the address. For instance, City Hall is on the corner of 80th Street and Hemingway Ave. It would be assessed only for improvements to 80th Street, though, since the street address for City Hall is 7516 80th St. S.

Q. How do I find out the amount of special assessments levied against a property?
A. The City of Cottage Grove will perform an assessment search for a fee of $20.00 per search. Please submit a request for this service to:

City of Cottage Grove - Assessments Division
7516 80th St. S.
Cottage Grove, MN 55016
Be sure to include the property's address and the $20.00, 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.

Q. Can I get the special assessment information for free?
A. Yes! We have assessment books available at City Hall for residents to do manual searches. You must know your Property ID number, though, 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. For example, R15.027.21.23.0053 is a valid property ID number in the city of Cottage Grove. You will be unable to look up the assessment information if you don't have this number.

Q. When are special assessment payments due?
A. 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 must 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.

Q. How would I find the assessed market value of a property?
A. 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 at (651) 430-6104 or go to their website at www.co.washington.mn.us.