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Thread: New assessments coming to Amherst

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    Member gorja's Avatar
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    New assessments coming to Amherst

    Amherst property owners, prepare for new assessments


    If you're one of the 44,000 property owners in the Town of Amherst, don't toss aside a letter from the town you'll be receiving as early as Saturday. It contains an important number - your new assessment.

    And Town Assessor David C. Marrano has just one question for you: Does that number accurately reflect the price you could realistically sell your property for?

    It's an important question, because it determines how much you pay in property taxes.

    "The law's very clear," said Marrano. "You pay your fair share of the tax levy based on the market value of your property."


    The town has embarked on its 2017 Assessment Equity Project, a townwide reassessment of properties, with the mailing Friday of preliminary notices. Every property is reviewed, from the smallest home to the largest commercial property.

    The reassessment will result in some people's tax bills going up. But some owners' taxes will decrease, while others' will stay the same. The town's goal is to have one-third of property owners fall into each category after a reassessment.

    Amherst last conducted a townwide reassessment in 2009, and they're recommended every four years. Some towns, including Aurora, Colden, Concord, Marilla, the Town of Tonawanda and West Seneca, had not done reassessments since the 1980s as of 2015, according to the state Department of Taxation and Finance.

    Over time, the assessed value of a property can drift higher or lower than what a buyer is willing to pay for it, depending on the market. A reassessment seeks to correct that discrepancy.

    "If we're not continually reviewing that, you have assessment inequity," Marrano said.

    For more- https://buffalonews.com/2017/02/17/a...w-assessments/
    I'm of the view that reassessment is the only equitable way for the residential taxpayers to pay their fair share.

    Georgia L Schlager

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    I wonder if you're view will change when Lancaster does their reassessment , you open up that letter , and find out your property tax assessment has taken a substantial increase??

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    Member gorja's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by joe d. View Post
    I wonder if you're view will change when Lancaster does their reassessment , you open up that letter , and find out your property tax assessment has taken a substantial increase??
    We've gone through a couple of them.
    Are you saying that if you have an assessment that is substantially lower than you can sell your home for and someone in another part of town has an assessment substantially higher than they can sell their home for is fair?

    Georgia L Schlager

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    That's why there is a simple process to challenge your assessment if you think it's too high. It's an inexact science at best. Why not just scrap the whole thing and go to a townwide income tax. Oh wait that's not fair either.

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    Quote Originally Posted by grump View Post
    That's why there is a simple process to challenge your assessment if you think it's too high. It's an inexact science at best. Why not just scrap the whole thing and go to a townwide income tax. Oh wait that's not fair either.
    Wouldn't even call it science but I think they are useful tools.

    You would think that formulas could be created and more data captured that would improve the output of assessments. Going further, you would thing 'government' would open source this formula/code so that it can be improved upon so there wouldn't be the need to hire outside companies like GAR Associates in the process.

    Amherst is spending $600k on this and hopes $100k comes from the state. So I think it's safe to say that cities/towns in New York State spend 10s of millions on assessments over say a 15 year span. I find it hard to believe that public and open source software can't be created for that amount of money.

    The benefit to homeowners is they would be able to see exactly the metrics used to evaluate their home and their neighbors. I think transparency would go a long way towards acceptance and allow residents to make even more informed decisions about development inside of their towns.

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    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    I find it hard to believe that public and open source software can't be created for that amount of money.
    The group of politically connected people would lose a revenue source.

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    Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
    The group of politically connected people would lose a revenue source.
    Has nothing to do with my statement. But ya.

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    Among the problems is that any estimate regarding the fair market value of a property is just that, an estimate, unless every property in the jurisdiction is sold in an arms length transaction during the reassessment period. My concern with reassessments is that it tends to set each against every and removes the focus from the real source of tax hikes for everyone...the upward spiral of the tax levy.

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    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    Quote Originally Posted by leftWNYbecauseofBS View Post
    Has nothing to do with my statement. But ya.
    In a way it does because the politically connected would lobby against it being open sourced and free.

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    Quote Originally Posted by grump View Post
    Among the problems is that any estimate regarding the fair market value of a property is just that, an estimate, unless every property in the jurisdiction is sold in an arms length transaction during the reassessment period. My concern with reassessments is that it tends to set each against every and removes the focus from the real source of tax hikes for everyone...the upward spiral of the tax levy.
    Well said.

    Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
    In a way it does because the politically connected would lobby against it being open sourced and free.

    You and grump are talking about how stuff is abused. I am talking just from a theory point of view in a vacuum.

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    Leftie, I understand what you're saying. My guess is that most of the data are available already. When properties are sold the locals get updated sales data that factor into the computation of fair market value adopted by local government. There is a lag time in the process and real time data would be a bit more current. Ultimately, I suppose, the problem with the property tax is that it taxes an asset that you haven't sold. So, however one computes the tax one has to tap some other revenue source to pay the tax. It's not like the income tax. While that's a right royal pain in the ass too at least one has earned the income to pay it from...at least most of the time.

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    Quote Originally Posted by grump View Post
    Leftie, I understand what you're saying. My guess is that most of the data are available already. When properties are sold the locals get updated sales data that factor into the computation of fair market value adopted by local government. There is a lag time in the process and real time data would be a bit more current. Ultimately, I suppose, the problem with the property tax is that it taxes an asset that you haven't sold.


    I don't see this as a problem. I don't think someone should be able to disregard repair, maintenance and updates as a way to avoid having a larger tax bill. If you have a 4 bed 2.5 bath home that's 2400 sf and the rest of your neighborhood is 4/2.5 and between 2200 and 2600 sf....all on similar lots...I don't think there is much that a formula can't solve and sales data is not needed.

    To put it another way...I don't mind if the nicest home in the neighborhood gets a pass on valuation and pays a lower amount but I sure as hell don't want the worst home in the neighborhood getting a pass with a lower tax burden because they won't keep their home up to neighborhood standards.

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    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    I don't think someone should be able to disregard repair, maintenance and updates as a way to avoid having a larger tax bill.
    But you find it ok when someone does make improvements to get a higher tax bill even if they are not using any more "town" services? Let's say you put siding on your home. Your assessment goes up and you end up paying for that siding for the next 30+ years. Or you replace your driveway after living in your home for 25 years. You want to retire, have a nice home and get boinked on another increase because your driveway needed replacement. That is what I look at. The long term cost over time. If you are planning to live in your home until you die there is no "value" to that home that is tangible to the owner. You can't take it with you when you pass on.

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    Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
    But you find it ok when someone does make improvements to get a higher tax bill even if they are not using any more "town" services? Let's say you put siding on your home. Your assessment goes up and you end up paying for that siding for the next 30+ years. Or you replace your driveway after living in your home for 25 years. You want to retire, have a nice home and get boinked on another increase because your driveway needed replacement. That is what I look at. The long term cost over time. If you are planning to live in your home until you die there is no "value" to that home that is tangible to the owner. You can't take it with you when you pass on.

    Yes. I don't have an issue. Here is why.

    Take a typical suburb street where all of the homes are pretty much the same. As you said, they all use pretty much the same services. Say this street has 10 homes and the average tax bill is $5k per year and the average value is $250k.

    • Homes 1, 2 and 3 continue to make investments to improve their home and they pay property taxes. Not expanding like adding s/f but simply improving with things like new siding, windows, roofs and curb appeal. Not only are they contributing to the tax base but they are also contributing to the value of the neighborhood and help the resale value for all 10 homes. Not only do they add equity to their own home but they also add equity to others.
    • Homes 4, 5, 6 and 7 maintain their home and they pay property taxes. They really don't add or subtract from the value of the neighborhood. Essentially they don't hurt the resale value of the homes on the street but they do take in some equity gains from others.
    • Homes 8, 9 and 10 do not maintain their home at all but they do pay property taxes. They use the same services as everyone else but they don't contribute to their neighbors well being and in fact hurt it. Their homes make it harder for their neighbors to sell and can actually hurt the equity for everyone. Even those who are spending their own money to improve.



    At some point in time all 10 homes were equal. All homes had the same opportunity if you will. As time moves forward they become unequal. To some this is a advantage and to others this is a disadvantage.

    Now say these homes are taxed as you suggest. Homes 1-3 are taxed at $7,500 a year, homes 4-7 are taxes at $5,000 a year and lastly homes 8-10 are taxed at $3,500 per year. Fast forward this over 15 years. In 15 years homes 1-3 will have paid $60,000 more in taxes to...again...use the same services.

    Now an owner of home 9 wants to sell. They know that if they sell the home at the current state they will have to take $200k because of all of the deferred maintenance. If they were to have kept up with homes 1-3 they could have sold for $300k. That's a lot of money to leave on the table. So what does the owner of #9 do? They go ahead and put $25k into their home to bring it up to the level of 1-3 and then sell for $300k. The thing is, over the last 15 years they have paid $60k less in taxes. So they are still $35k ahead of the owners of 1-3.


    The math if very basic and I know the spectrum is not like this but it illustrates the point I feel. An owner should not be able to neglect their property as a way to avoid paying their slice of the pie.

    Now some may say that what if an owner can't even afford to be like homes 4-7 and simply maintain their home... My answer is not my problem. Homeownership comes with costs outside of the mortgage. If you can't afford a $250k home with $5k in taxes and the ongoing maintenance costs....you need to sell because you obviously purchased more home than you should have.

  15. #15
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    Mexico actually does have at least one good idea, they don't penalize those that fix up their property.

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