An assessment cap is a policy that limits how much a property's assessed value can increase in a single year, regardless of actual market value changes. Caps protect property owners from sudden, dramatic tax increases when real estate markets surge. For example, if a cap limits increases to 10% annually, a property that doubled in market value would see its assessed value rise gradually over several years. While caps provide tax stability for individual owners, critics argue they create inequities between long-term residents (with capped assessments) and new buyers (assessed at full market value), and can reduce municipal tax revenues during boom times.