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A frustrated, yet for the most part respectful, audience of over 250 people listened patiently, and not so patiently, as the community’s concerns about the recent property assessment re-appraisal were addressed. The meeting, which started at about 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 20, had to be moved to the Park Avenue building gym to accommodate the crowd.
Town of Webb Supervisor Robert Moore welcomed everyone to this special board meeting and introduced Town of Webb Appointed Assessor Jim Fresco, Mary Ann Barbuto from the Herkimer County Real Property Tax Service Agency, Jim Basile, an appraiser with Basile Associates, and Karen Quinn and Tom Pinto with the New York State Real Property office.
“The purpose of this meeting is to share accurate information with those assembled here tonight,” Moore said.
He then explained that the meeting would proceed with an overview of how the Webb assessments were determined by appraiser Jim Basile, followed by questions from the board, and, finally, questions from the audience. What follows is a summary of the main points that were made.
The new assessments are higher than market value and that is against the law
Jim Basile explained that the assessment everyone just received is based on market value in the town of Webb as of July 1, 2007. When he looked at recent real estate sales for the second half of 2007, however, it became clear to him that market value is now less than it was in July 2007.
According to his calculations, based on sales from July to December 2007, residential values had increased about 33 percent but the new assessments went up about 46 percent. The new assessments are therefore “skewed by about 10 percent,” he said.
According to Basile, that puts the new assessments at more than 100 percent of market value, and that is against the law.
“All properties within an assessing district must be assessed at the same percentage of market value. The law does not specify the percent, except to say that it cannot exceed 100 percent,” he said.
To remedy this situation, he says he will meet with Appointed Webb Assessor Jim Fresco.
“I am going to be working with the assessor to make sure values are back to 100 percent,” he said.
What if your assessment is more than 10 percent too high?
Jim Basile said to call Assessor Jim Fresco and make an appointment for an informal hearing if you think your assessment is too high. (The number for the assessor’s office is (315) 369-6880. If it is busy, keep trying.) At that meeting, you can present your arguments as to why your assessment is too high and, at the same time, find out what information was used to arrive at your assessment. According to Basile, you must see Jim Fresco in person to find out what information was used to determine your assessment. Assessments can be changed at the informal hearing.
If you are still not satisfied, after the informal hearing, then you can file an application for Grievance Day, which will take place in May. Assessor Fresco can provide you with the information you need to do that (or you can go to www.orps.state.ny.us and print out a grievance form from there).
If you are still not satisfied, you can take your assessment to small claims court.
Go to www.oldforgeny.com for more information
The town Web site can provide you with information about assessments, but it may not be up-to-date, and it will not tell you what information the assessor used to determine your assessment. You must meet with the assessor to find that out.
Go to www.oldforgeny.com and click on Links. Scroll down, and click on Town of Webb Government. On the left, click on Assessment Information. Go to Links and click on Town of Webb Real Property Assessment Information. Enter information in one field. Click on the tax id number. From there, you can get quite a bit of information.
The Webb assessor is a Herkimer County employee
Webb Assessor Jim Fresco is an employee of the Herkimer County Real Property Tax Service Agency and has a contract with the Town of Webb, according to Robert Moore. He was appointed by the Webb town board to lead the current assessment revaluation. The audience was unhappy with this apparent conflict of interest and, at one point, called for him to be fired.
The conflict is that it is in Herkimer County’s interest for Webb assessments to go up, since the county relies heavily on tax revenue from the Town of Webb. The current assessment has increased the total assessed value of the Town of Webb from $1.4 billion to $2.2 billion. The county is likely to want to tap into that extra assessed value and collect tax on it to help fund its budget and the unfunded state mandates it must pay.
Real property tax reform is a real option
Real property tax reform was discussed at the end of the meeting. The issue is that assessments are increasing without regard for whether or not the homeowner can pay the potential increase in the tax levy. This issue hits the lower income families and fixed income seniors in the community the hardest. Mary Brophy-Moore volunteered to be on a committee to look into options like a Homestead Act, which could put a cap on assessments or tax bills for year-round residents who live in areas where assessments are driven up by high-income, second-home owners. J
