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12 General vs. Special Benefits Article XIIID, Section 4(a) of the California Constitution requires any local agency proposing to increase or impose a benefit assessment to "separate the general benefits from the special benefits conferred on a parcel." The rationale for separating special and general benefits is to ensure that property owners subject to the benefit assessment are not paying for general benefits. Property may be assessed to fund improvements to the extent of the special benefits conferred by the Improvements; but general benefits are not assessable. Accordingly, a separate estimate of the special and general benefit is given in this section. Article XIIID never defines the term "general benefit." The definition of special benefit in Section 2(i) includes the statement that general enhancement of property value does not constitute special benefit. General benefit may be described as "an indirect, derivative advantage" resulting from the improvements. One infers from Article XIIID that all benefit is either general or special. In other words: Total = General + Special Benefit Benefit Benefit There is no widely accepted or statutory formula for quantifying the amount of any general benefit that is identified. In this Report, the general benefit is first identified, generously estimated, and then budgeted so that it is funded, as required by Proposition 218, by sources other than the Assessment. A formula to estimate the general benefit is listed below: General Benefit to Real Benefit to Real Property Inside Benefit to Benefit Property Outside the + the Assessment District that is + the Public Assessment District Indirect and Derivative at Large Special benefit, on the other hand, is defined in the California constitution as "a particular and distinct benefit over and above general benefits conferred on real property located in the district or to the public at large". A special benefit is conferred to a property if the property "receives a direct advantage from the improvement (e.g., proximity to setback landscaping)." In the Maintenance District, as noted, properties have close and unique proximity, views of and access to the Improvements, and uniquely improved utility and desirability from the Improvements, and other properties and the public at large do not receive such benefits because they do not have proximity, access to or views of the Improvements. Therefore, the overwhelming proportion of the benefits conferred to property is special, and only minimal general benefit is conferred on property outside the Maintenance District or to the public at large. City of Pleasanton Landscape Maintenance District No. 1993-1, Windsor Engineer's Report, Fiscal Year 2023-24