Reassessment: is it in North East's future?

NORTH EAST — Assessor Katherine Johnson believes in planning ahead. That’s why she brought in representatives from the New York State Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) and Real Property Tax to support her pronouncement to the Town Board that North East must soon have a revaluation of its assessment roll.

A reassessment, as defined  by ORPS,  is “a comprehensive review of all properties in a community and the setting of all assessments back to market value.â€�

“Many people will agree that the real estate market is dropping,â€� Johnson said.  “So far in our town we haven’t seen the  brunt of the real estate market plummet yet and we’re holding our own, but values are dropping and sales are going down, so in order to keep things equitable in town we have to re-evaluate how properties are being assessed. We want to make sure everybody is paying their fair share. Some values are dropping and some are rising, and we need to keep those in line.â€�

Basically, according to ORPS, regular reassessment ensures that all taxpayers pay only their fair share. John Wolham, regional director of the New York’s ORPS, breaks it down even further. He explained to the Town Board at its Dec. 10 business meeting the following:

• New York’s assessment system is one of the most difficult in the United States.

• Despite a weak statutory framework, a clear majority of New York communities maintain up-to-date full value assessments (in Dutchess County the vast majority of municipalities are now assessing regularly).

• Reassessment is critical for all communities and taxpayers because it ensures fairness, transparency, reduced litigation, revitalization/commercial base and fair allocation.

Additionally, the Empire State has one of the highest property taxes in the country, making fair distribution of taxes even more important. Wolham said one of the problems upstate is that tax dollars represent an abnormally high percentage of the value of properties, adding to the complexity of existing issues. Another consideration is that most states in the nation do assessments at a county level; New York conducts assessments at a municipal level. What’s more is that most states have some type of requirement for a cycle, but New York does not.

“The weaknesses of New York state law bring about the need for equalization,� Wolham said. “The only way taxes can be apportioned is through equalization, and even there, we’re establishing a municipal-wide average. The real solution is maintaining current assessment rolls.�

The good news, according to Wolham, is that roughly two-thirds of the towns and cities in the state have reassessed at least once since 2005. In Dutchess County that number shows 17 municipalities out of 22 have done so.

North East, he mentioned, is no stranger to the process. It was reassessed in 2004, and then updated annually for three more years after that. The process, however, was interrupted when the town decided to drop its private contractor, John Watch, of MJW Consulting. That occurred after residents joined together and revolted against the town’s support of Watch and his practices. The last data collection  the town did was in 2006.

“The board concluded that it would not be advantageous to continue at that time,� town Supervisor Dave Sherman said.

Now, with a different assessor at the helm (Johnson took over from then-assessor Jon Barrett after the Watch fiasco; she was elected in 2007, but was actually appointed by the Town Board to fill out  the remaining two months of Barrett’s term when he resigned, to get acclimated with the office before beginning her six-year term in 2008), North East is once again considering conducting a revaluation, likely for 2010 or 2011. The way the schedule works, the July 1, 2010 roll, for instance, would be used for the 2011 assessment (they are always one year behind). Wolham said the process is nothing to fear.

“Reassessment is tax neutral. It does not change town, village, school or county budgets,� he said. “Reassessment simply refigures how taxes are distributed.�

Not only that, there is a small amount of state aid the municipality is awarded, of $5 per parcel, each year the town is at a 100 percent equalization rate.

To start the process, there must be data collection, but much of that work has already been done by the assessor’s office. That saves not only time, but money. The estimated price for an assessment of commercial properties, meanwhile, is slated at $14,000; the estimated price for all town properties is roughly $54,000.

“The town is very, very fortunate to have an assessor who is willing and able to take on the reassessment for much of the work,� Wolham said. “In terms of the town’s out-of-pocket expenses, the prices are minimal compared to other towns.�

Sherman said it would be “essential� for the town to get a 100 percent equalization rate if it undertook the project.

“I would hate for us to not get recognized for that value,� he said.

He was told it would be a main goal of the process. Wolham also said that ORPS would “like to get involved in working hands-on with the town,â€� if the town commits to the project for 2011, which he said was easily doable. Johnson agreed and said as the residential data collection is already done, and only commercial property data needs to be collected at this point; the town could start the process in May. The board will have to discuss the matter and vote on whether it wants to proceed on the proposed schedule. If not,  it must decide how it plans to move forward with what it’s described as a necessary project. Johnson, meanwhile, will return before the board on Jan. 14 to discuss exactly that.

“We’re going to consider if we want to do the revaluation, and weigh all the pros and cons and make a good decision for the town,� she said.

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