Hey yaksplat, thanks for sharing.
Got my tax bill today. Some things are clear, some not so much. I was fortunate to have received copies of tax bills from two other Town of Lancaster taxpayers who are equally confused; and angry at Poloncarz. I can tell you this:
Like you all three of us saw an overall tax bill increase between 5.41 to 5.92% - based on different property assessments.
Like you we all experienced a 12.3% increase in the county tax. If you examine your tax bill the tax amount due is based on the tax rate X your current assessment. It is the county tax rate determination that escapes me – as the market value rate has been set according to a more realistic 100% market sales rate.
I have to talk to an assessor to find out what formula is being used that led us to pay such a high increase – highest I have experienced in years. I well understand our drop in the level of assessment (equalization rate has dropped from 85 to 77), but still.
In the Buffalo News article on the confusion involved, the following was written:
Erie County's tax levy has risen every year since 2004.
A property tax rate only reflects the dollar amount in taxes charged for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.
When the county executive and legislators talk about a lower county tax rate, they are referring to the “full value tax rate,” which is $4.71, down 13 cents from last year.
That sounds like a big decrease. After all, the county tax rate hasn't fallen by that much in nearly 20 years.
But the "full value tax rate" is the rate the county would charge property owners assuming all homes are assessed at what they are really worth.
In reality, few properties have assessments that match their true market values.
Cheektowaga, by comparison, has a county tax rate of $5.45 this year. That seems a lot better than Elma's, but Cheektowaga's state equalization rate fell from 93 to 85. So those residents saw their county tax rate grow by nearly 9%.
To complicate matters further, the county also tacks additional charges onto tax bills for certain community college fees and Erie County Board of Elections operations.
Confusing indeed. I would also love to hear someone question the town board at the next meeting for clarification.
BTW - Why is the county rate based on property market value when all residents of a municipality share equally in the services provided by the county?