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Taxes and Fees
Lancaster received a correspondence from the NYS Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) advising them of the benefit of assessing property at 100 percent market value. Wanting more information, Town Assessor Christine Fusco contacted ORPS and had a representative address the board at the last Town Board meeting.
Patricia Valvo, Real Property Analyst from the New York State Office of Real Property Services addressed the board on the benefit of returning to assessing property at full market value (100%). For 2007, Lancaster property is assessed at 95 percent market value.
The town felt there was no need to conduct a reassessment and were satisfied with all property values being bumped up 5 percent.
Valvo declared that the town should consider moving forward with an updated assessment program. In that light, she and Fusco have been working together to contract the services of an outside appraisal firm through the bidding process to determine scope and costs.
Supervisor Robert Giza asked Valvo whether going to 100 percent market value assessment had any impact on county taxes or school district revenues and state aid, as he was led to believe.
Valco answered that to her knowledge there were no impacts to either. “It is what it is, namely, an attempt to get every property owner to pay his or her fair share of property taxes.”
Fusco interjected that she was unaware of any impacts to the school district; “whether we are at 100 percent or at 95 percent, as we are this year.” “ By being at 100 percent, you distribute the tax burden fairly among all taxpayers.”
“We don’t want to go back to the 80 percent level as we were in 2005. That’s when the disparity becomes the greatest, where some properties appreciate more than others and some get hit with a big tax increase if you delay going to 100 percent market value.”
Town Attorney Richard Sherwood then interjected: ‘So you want to be at 100 percent so that everyone pays their fair share…because some properties appreciate faster than others, and some depreciate. Some will appreciate at 5 percent, some at 10 percent and others stay the same or even decrease in value.”
Valvo cautioned the board that they didn’t want to have happen what occurred in 2005, where there was long period of time when properties were not assessed and where some properties appreciated significantly. “You were at a 78 percent equalization rate. The change was dramatic for some property owners when you went to 100 percent. The change would not be so dramatic if reassessment were done now. Furthermore, an equalization rate does not reflect true market value.”
Once again it was asked whether it would be easier for a school managing a budget and better for receiving state aid if the town assessed at 100 percent market value. As no definitive answer was forthcoming, there will be a future meeting with all vested parties present for the purpose of coming to an understanding and a determination.
Valvo also advised the board on the plus side of going to 100 percent market value in that the town receives $5 per parcel from the state. The last time, the town received $83,000. It should also be mentioned that the assessment program cost the town over $100,000 in hiring an appraisal firm to help the town assessment office.
Valvo informed that board that when all the bids came in from the appraisal firms, when the scope and costs are determined, the board can then determine whether they want to pursue the program.
In closing Supervisor Giza declared: “You what it is (problem)? The public hears we are going to do this and they get all upset. They don’t understand the hypothetical issues involved in the planning. They think we are hiding something, playing a shell game. If they would just settle down.”
Comments
In theory, assessing at 100 percent market value does level the playing field. In reality, the market value of a home is not established until the sale of that home. Before the final roll was established in the 2005-2006-assessment program, disgruntled property owners not satisfied with the “comparables” process had an opportunity to challenge their assessments at an appeal board – often times getting assessment relief.
Public mistrust was fueled during the last assessment process when it was discovered that commercial property values in town decreased by 18 percent and that many businesses receiving IDA’S were perceived as receiving special treatment.
© Copyright 2008 by Speakupwny.com
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