New Assessments?

[etc]

I hear almost 20,000 new assessments went out last week. How come there is no anger in the press? How come Mohan didn't stop it? Could it NOT be an election year? Everyone's campaign in Amherst berated Grelick for the raise in assessments last November; where is the outrage now? Could it be that assessment equality is a NEW YORK STATE issue? Could these big- mouth local politicians have lied to get elected?

[atotaltotalfan2001]

I hear almost 20,000 new assessments went out last week. How come there is no anger in the press? How come Mohan didn't stop it? Could it NOT be an election year? Everyone's campaign in Amherst berated Grelick for the raise in assessments last November; where is the outrage now? Could it be that assessment equality is a NEW YORK STATE issue? Could these big- mouth local politicians have lied to get elected?

Do you know if anyone plans to raise the issue with Dr. Mohan? I'd like to hear what he has to say.

[Usually Right]

He already made a comment about it 3 weeks ago. It was on TV; Ch 2.. He saw a man coming out of his office who complained to Satish and the good Dr. said,


"assessments go up".

How's that for balls!

[BeansBeansTMF]

When's Dan Ward holding a "help with your assessment" meeting?

[left wing]

I hear almost 20,000 new assessments went out last week. How come there is no anger in the press? How come Mohan didn't stop it? Could it NOT be an election year? Everyone's campaign in Amherst berated Grelick for the raise in assessments last November; where is the outrage now? Could it be that assessment equality is a NEW YORK STATE issue? Could these big- mouth local politicians have lied to get elected?

Oh, surely not!

[forreason]

Our town is one of many (not all) that tries to maintain 100% value as required per NYS. I believe that the town receives a substantial amount of $ to maintain these values. You may not be "raised" every year do to the # of total properties or lack of sales in a specific area. They do have a website with a lot of available info (even people from Lancaster think so). I just asked for some info and received prompt answers to my questions. You have to look at what the real value of similar homes are in your neighborhood. My family's home went up approx. $24000. Regardless of the total assessed value of the town, it is the budget of the towns, school districts & counties that control the tax rate. The town has avg. less than 3%/yr for over 10 yrs (cannot say the same for school & county). It makes it much easier to compare properties at 100% than some towns, cities, etc. that have not kept up. Remember, these other areas still increase assessments, but provide an unrealistic value to quell controversy. My big question is that everyone questions the town budget, but what about the increases in school taxes?

[left wing]

Our town is one of many (not all) that tries to maintain 100% value as required per NYS. I believe that the town receives a substantial amount of $ to maintain these values. You may not be "raised" every year do to the # of total properties or lack of sales in a specific area. They do have a website with a lot of available info (even people from Lancaster think so). I just asked for some info and received prompt answers to my questions. You have to look at what the real value of similar homes are in your neighborhood. My family's home went up approx. $24000. Regardless of the total assessed value of the town, it is the budget of the towns, school districts & counties that control the tax rate. The town has avg. less than 3%/yr for over 10 yrs (cannot say the same for school & county). It makes it much easier to compare properties at 100% than some towns, cities, etc. that have not kept up. Remember, these other areas still increase assessments, but provide an unrealistic value to quell controversy. My big question is that everyone questions the town budget, but what about the increases in school taxes?

This is a very good question. Williamsville school taxes have gone up a heck of a lot more than the Town's. Everyone acts like these Town taxes have gone up so much but less than 3%/year over 10 years is less than the cost of living. The town also has to deal with increasing costs of gas, utilities, and everything else. Years ago, when I took a good look at my tax bill, I realized the Town was not the big problem. And each year, when I check, my conclusion is the same.

But, WE "got Satish!"

[farmall806]

A town gets $8.00 per parcel . Depending on how many parcels of land there are in Amherst , it could be a significant amount of money to the town. On the other hand, any costs associated with fighting the assessment challenges would have to be deducted from the $8.00 per parcel total.

[atotaltotalfan2001]

This is a very good question. Williamsville school taxes have gone up a heck of a lot more than the Town's. Everyone acts like these Town taxes have gone up so much but less than 3%/year over 10 years is less than the cost of living. The town also has to deal with increasing costs of gas, utilities, and everything else. Years ago, when I took a good look at my tax bill, I realized the Town was not the big problem. And each year, when I check, my conclusion is the same.

But, WE "got Satish!"

So, would you be happier if Williamsville schools had Satish?

[left wing]

So, would you be happier if Williamsville schools had Satish?

Is that a serious question? I would be happier if ANYPLACE else had Satish.
My primary concern is how much damage he will do to the Town before the public and the press figure out that he does NOT know what he is doing. Should be about budget time, I think.

No one has answered my question, WHAT $108M company would hire someone with NO EXPERIENCE to run it? What happens to the "government should be run like a business" line?

[amherstfirst]

It might take a few years before people catch on. It will be when Mohan uses up all of the Town's Fund Balances instead of bonding projects, and still has not cut the ten million promised and taxes take a big hit. Only then will he try to borrow money only to find that the Town's credit rating drops so low it costs too much in added interest to borrow.....sounds a bit like Erie County to me....Joel Jr.!!!

[atotaltotalfan2001]

Is that a serious question? I would be happier if ANYPLACE else had Satish.
My primary concern is how much damage he will do to the Town before the public and the press figure out that he does NOT know what he is doing. Should be about budget time, I think.

No one has answered my question, WHAT $108M company would hire someone with NO EXPERIENCE to run it? What happens to the "government should be run like a business" line?

So it's okay for the school system to have someone who wants to cut costs and taxes, but not someone who wants to do the same in the town? Not a very nice statement as regards all those hard working school district employees.

Here is my point (finally): You hate Satish for campaigning for the kinds of changes that you, apparently, would like him to make in the Williamsville School District instead. Yet, the spending habits of Williamsville schools and the town are nearly identical.

The only difference is that school districts employe a lot more people who are considered "professionals." That drives payroll way up. Oh, and they do get paid for in-service training etc.

If Amherst, for whatever reasons, employed the same number of professional employees as school districts, its taxes would reflect that. You don't spend wiser; you just don't have as many reasons to spend.

[WNYresident]

Is that a serious question? I would be happier if ANYPLACE else had Satish.
My primary concern is how much damage he will do to the Town before the public and the press figure out that he does NOT know what he is doing. Should be about budget time, I think.

No one has answered my question, WHAT $108M company would hire someone with NO EXPERIENCE to run it? What happens to the "government should be run like a business" line?

Why would anyone consider allowing people to keep thier own money damage?

What company would hire..... The local government/county/state hire completely incompetent people on a weekly basis. Why would you even bring that up.

[left wing]

I know some of you think Susan Grelick was incompetent. But she most certainly was not. She did a lot to cut costs over the years. The result is, there is not a lot of operating costs to cut, say what you will.

Almost all the department heads have master's degrees - this makes them "professionals. Yet, half of them make no more than a classroom teacher with the same degree and years of experience.

The damage I see Mohan doing is to the Town operations. He is ready to throw out a financial software package that the Town researched and had started to implement and has spent good money on, and which is WORKING, because HE doesn't understand it! Meanwhile, he is now looking at other packages - more money, more delays, and more wasted time. If the system had been implemented as planned, it might have been possible REASONABLY to eliminate some positions as this program cuts time processing things.

The Town is facing more union grievances than it has ever had. There are people who WILL be suing the Town for a variety of reasons, thanks to the way Mohan has handled some things.

Having totally alienated the unions, he will have a much tougher time getting concessions than the Town used to. The unions have largely been fairly cooperative in terms of being reasonable (spare me the hysteria about clothing allowances and longevity.) How about the one health care payor that saved the Town $2.5M?

Meanwhile, he plans to buy and renovate that church. Does anyone really believe that that place can be operated without increasing costs? Utilities? Maintenance? Not to mention staff and equipment?

[WNYresident]

He is ready to throw out a financial software package that the Town researched and had started to implement and has spent good money on, and which is WORKING, because HE doesn't understand it!

What is the name of the package?

Can anyone confirm this?