Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 80, § 1 (2026)

Assessment of cost of public improvements

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 1. Whenever a limited and determinable area receives benefit or advantage, other than the general advantage to the community, from a public improvement made by or in accordance with the formal vote or order of a board of officers of the commonwealth or of a county, city, town or district, and such order states that betterments are to be assessed for the improvement, such board shall within six months after the completion of the improvement determine the value of such benefit or advantage to the land within such area and assess upon each parcel thereof a proportionate share of the cost of such improvement, and shall include in such cost all damages awarded therefor under chapter seventy-nine; but no such assessment shall exceed the amount of such adjudged benefit or advantage. The board shall in the order of assessment designate as the owner of each parcel the person who was liable to assessment therefor on the preceding January first under the provisions of chapter fifty-nine.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 19 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1924–2024 · leading case: Emerson Coll. v. City of Boston, 462 N.E.2d 1098 (Mass. 1984).

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Emerson Coll. v. City of Boston, 462 N.E.2d 1098 (Mass. 1984). “G. L. c. 80, § 1. Special assessments may be imposed for local improvements which enhance the value of real property, provided the assessments are not in substantial excess of the benefits received.”

Gudanowski v. Town of Northbridge, 458 N.E.2d 1207 (Mass. App. Ct. 1984). · cites it 3× “The first proposed amendment alleged that the assessments were invalid due to the town’s failures to record an order, a plan and an estimate, and to assess the cost of the improvements, within the respective time periods set forth in G. L. c. 80, §§ 1 and 2. The second proposed…”

Tomaselli v. Beaulieu, 967 F. Supp. 2d 423 (D. Mass. 2013). “See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 80, § 1 (Assessment of cost of public improvements).”

Malone v. Commonwealth, 389 N.E.2d 975 (Mass. 1979). “80, § 1, a State or municipal board may impose betterment assessments when "a limited and determinable area receives benefit or advantage, other than the general advantage to the community” from public improvements. Such assessments have been levied upon a broader class of…”

Morton v. Town of Hanover, 682 N.E.2d 889 (Mass. App. Ct. 1997). “We observe that the determination of the value of a benefit to particular land as required in c.”

Berriault v. Wareham Fire Dist., 274 N.E.2d 786 (Mass. 1971). · cites it 3× “” There may also have been failure to comply with the procedural requirements of G. L. c. 80, § 1 (as amended through St. 1933, c.”

Cohen v. Price, 173 N.E. 690 (Mass. 1930). “It is the contention of the defendants that the provisions of G. L. c. 80, §§ 1, 2, 17, relating to the assessment of betterments are repugnant to the mode of assessment described in St.”

Town of Winthrop v. Winthrop Hous. Auth., 541 N.E.2d 582 (Mass. App. Ct. 1989). “Compare G. L. c. 80, § 1; c. 83, §§ 14, 15 & 17. See Exeter Realty Corp.”

Stepan Chem. Co. v. Town of Wilmington, 391 N.E.2d 1247 (Mass. App. Ct. 1979). “The judge ruled that the board’s actions "in making the assessment upon the plaintiff pursuant to the order of July, 1973, are in violation of [G. L. c. 80, § 1, and G. L. c. 83, §§ 14, 15] and are therefore void.”

California Vill. Corp. v. Town of East Longmeadow, 343 N.E.2d 427 (Mass. App. Ct. 1976). “The bill appears to allege that the orders required by G. L. c. 80, §§ 1 and 2, were not made and recorded within the time limitations set by those sections, and for that reason the assessments were “improper, inequitable, and illegal.”

Filoon v. City Council, 147 N.E. 670 (Mass. 1925). “So far as the record discloses, there was no error or illegality in the assessment upon a portion rather than upon the entire area of the petitioners’ lot, the betterment act (G. L. c. 80, § 1) providing that, “Whenever a limited and determinable area receives benefit or…”

Union Street Ry. Co. v. Mayor of New Bedford, 149 N.E. 46 (Mass. 1925). “344, Part III, §§ 1, 2, and G. L. c. 80, §§ 1, 16. Assessments of the nature here involved are in “legal character, a tax.”

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