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SCHENECTADY
Assessments up $1B; tax rate should fall
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    House values may be in freefall, with no one buying anything, but Schenectady’s property values have gone up $1 billion, Assessor Patrick Mastro said.
    Mastro’s reassessment was made public Tuesday in individual letters to every property owner. Most assessments went up, which means the tax rate will drop significantly unless the City Council chooses to greatly increase taxes next year.
    The tentative tax rate for 2010 — which assumes that the $1 billion in new assessments is not overturned on Grievance Day and that the City Council does not vote to raise additional taxes — would be $12 per $1,000 assessed. That’s a 42 percent decrease from the current rate of $20.85 per $1,000.
    With the new tax rate, just more than half of the city’s homeowners would see a slight decrease in their taxes. About 45 percent will see an increase, generally of less than $500, Mastro said.
    A majority of the commercial property owners would also see a decrease. About 57 percent will get a tax cut, Mastro said.
    But one business would see a big tax bill. General Electric’s assessment will more than double, from $36 million to $77.8 million. That would lead to a tax increase of $183,000.
    GE officials said they were shocked by the change.
    “We’re mystified by this. Where is it coming from? What caused it to be raised at such an amazing rate?” asked spokeswoman Jan Smith, who said the company would have been content with a market value of $56 million. The company has paid taxes on $36 million under the city’s 64 percent equalization rate, a rate set by the state to indicate how inaccurate the city’s assessments are in comparison to current sales data.
    Last year GE did make some improvements to its Schenectady site, beginning a $39 million renovation of an old warehouse, which will become the Renewable Energies headquarters. Workers started last December, but the renovation is not yet done. Mastro said the assessment increase was partially based on the early work for that building.
    “They got a partial [assessment]. Next year when that’s completed, there will be another increase in their assessment,” he said, adding, “It’s not a negotiating number.”
    Smith said GE would immediately discuss the assessment with the city. She declined to say whether GE would pursue the matter in court if its assessment is not reduced.
    “I hope it’s a matter of reasonable conversation,” she said. “We’ve had a very good working relationship with the city these past few years.”
    Mastro said he’s confident that GE’s assessment is correct.
    “I’m confident enough to go to court with every one of these values,” he said. “I reviewed every single commercial property myself, twice.”
    Property data collection workers also swept the city four times in an attempt to make sure that all of the data were correct. His staff then reviewed every residential property assessment after the tentative roll was calculated.
    “I think some reval projects run the statistics, look at what they call outliers and then review a percentage of the high side, a percentage of the low side,” Mastro said. “We reviewed every single property.”
    The entire reassessment was done in-house, costing the city about $450,000 versus about $1.4 million for a private company. Much of that savings came from Mastro; for the past 14 weeks, he has worked every Saturday to fi nish the tentative roll on time.
    Now he will run informal sessions at which residents can attempt to change their assessments. Mastro said that with 20,500 properties under reassessment, there could be a few errors.
    “It’s not a perfect process,” he said.
    Hearings will run from March 9 to April 10, by appointment only, at the casino in Central Park. Each meeting will be limited to 10 minutes, and property owners must bring some proof to support their argument. Those without any proof will be............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00900

What  a load of horsesh*t.

The last paragraph of this "press release" says:

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    Hearings will run from March 9 to April 10, by appointment only, at the casino in Central Park. Each meeting will be limited to 10 minutes, and property owners must bring some proof to support their argument. Those without any proof will be turned away, Mastro said. To make appointments, call 382-5075.
    Owners can also formally grieve their assessments on Grievance Day, May 26. At that time, the Board of Assessment Review will vote on whether the assessment should be changed.

Talk about unmitigated arrogance.

For those that think this doesn't affect people outside the city, think again.

In my scenario, my house, driveway and garage reside in the Town of Niskayuna.  There's a small area (30' x 30') behind our garage (all grass).  That area was "re-assessed"  and it raised my assessment from 9K to 25k - just on that 30x30 landlocked, unimproved, un-buildable piece of grass, resulting in an increase of $159/yr in the city portion of our taxes.

Another friend of mine off Altamont Ave in the city went from an $63,000 assessment (2br/1ba bungalow - non improved basement or attic, 30' x 110' lot) to $115,000. No improvements have been made to the property, no changes.  

Can someone explain how a senior is going to afford this tax increase? Especially when (not if) GE fights and wins their appeal in court.

15 years since the last reassessment - I don't know anyone that had an inspector come to their door and ask to look around in the past year.  I don't know anyone who's sold their house in the past year for anything NEAR what these assessed values are.

This is pure insanity and I imagine you're going to see some major exodus happening from the city, VERY soon.

Oh I don't know about a mass exodus. Aren't the majority of city residents on public assistance, or gun carring drug dealers or prostitutes? They can afford it. Obama will keep the money flowing. Heck..he'll just tax the wealthy!

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SCHENECTADY
Homeowners’ complaints pay off
Hundreds prove their assessments should be lowered
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

About 500 property owners saw their new assessments reduced Friday after proving that their houses are not as valuable as the assessor thought.
They got reductions after meeting with Assessor Patrick Mastro for informal reviews. Primarily, reductions were given to owners who had not allowed inspectors into their house but changed their minds after inspectors made slight errors in estimating the condition, number of bedrooms and other factors.
    Taxpayers also learned Friday that they will be able to claim the full STAR exemption for school taxes this year, allowing them to chop $30,000 off their assessment for purposes of determining the school tax.
    Last year, residents could cut only $20,610 off their assessments for the school tax.
    Residents will get the higher exemption now because the school district decided to use the new assessments when it calculates taxes this summer. Tax bills will be printed in mid-July, two weeks later than normal, to allow time for the changeover.
    The state Office of Real Property Services pressured the district to use the new assessments, which it said are much more accurate than last year’s values. Using old assessments left some taxpayers paying on houses they had demolished, while others who built new construction didn’t have to pay taxes for a year. ORPS officials criticized the practice as inherently unfair.
    The Schenectady City School District was the last hold-out in the state. Every other school district had long ago shifted to using current-year assessments, ORPS officials said.
    But because the new assessments will be certified July 1, the district can’t mail its bills June 30. The time frame was a particular concern this year, since many residents grieve their property values during a reassessment and may get changes at the very end of the process.
    So far, 40 percent to 45 percent of the 1,200 grievers have gotten a reduction. The others can grieve again, filing a formal complaint with the Board of Assessment Review between now and May 26.
    Many of the reductions announced so far reflect the sorts of errors created when assessors have poor data. Mastro found many errors in data cards when he became city assessor, which is why he tried to inspect the interior of every building to get solid data for the reassessment.
    Many residents refused to allow inspectors into their homes but welcomed them during the informal review process as they tried to prove that data about their homes were incorrect.
    Mainly, the errors were in the number of bedrooms or bathrooms. But others complained that their assessment did not refl ect the poor condition of their house.
    “People said, ‘The inside of my house is almost unlivable. We have ceilings coming down,’ In some cases, they gutted the property and haven’t been able to continue the work for some reason,” Mastro said. “How did we not know it was gutted? Because we couldn’t get in there. We went back and inspected. If there’s a discrepancy, it’s incumbent on me to straighten it out.” ..............................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00902

The worst school district in the State was the last district in the State to go to full STAR exemption. That figures. And some morons want to re-elect Linda Bellick for a third term? Thought you supported Italiano candidates-lol.

     As far as MT points the exodus has already started. Except nobody wants to buy a house in the worst School District in the State. Drive around hundreds of for sale signs. Worst is in Mt. Pleasant which in total free fall. Closing the HS helped destroy the neighborhood.