http://www.timesunion.com

Quoted Text

Colonial Manor, Rotterdam  

  
By MICHAEL LISI, Special to the Times Union
First published: Sunday, June 10, 2007

Americans were building a healthy distrust for Nazi Germany when developer Charles Juracka Sr. began Colonial Manor in 1939.
  
The sprawling subdivision, just a few miles south of the Rotterdam-Schenectady border, is one of Rotterdam's first and biggest housing developments. The start of Colonial Manor, which boomed with construction after World War II, predates Rotterdam's establishment as a town, in 1942.

Today, three-quarters of the neighborhood is a mix of cozy post-war Colonials, Capes and ranches. The development's southern end -- Cindy Crest Drive, Stacy Crest Drive, Crestwood Drive and Brian Crest Court -- offers newer construction, built during the last decade.

Houses in the newer section of Colonial Manor run from about $300,000 to more than $400,000, in contrast to houses in older parts of the development, which are selling from the mid-$170,000s to the mid-$250,000s. A four-bedroom at 30 Merritt Drive is on the market for $214,900. Another four-bedroom at 8 Colonial Road is selling for $189,000.

Colonial Manor is a development with young and mature families, first-time home buyers and homeowners who have been there for decades.

Tree-lined streets and neatly kept lawns are the norm. Homeowners share an affinity for caring for their homes; homeowners were outdoors working on their lawns and landscaping on a recent Saturday morning.

Bounded by Guilderland Avenue to the west, the state Thruway to the south, Helderberg Avenue to the east and Robinwood Avenue to the north, Colonial Manor has its own park, called Juracka Park. Named for the development's founder, the pocket park is located at the end of the aptly named Juracka Parkway.

Schools

Children living in Colonial Manor are enrolled in the Rotterdam-Mohonasen Central School District, attending the Bradt Primary School, Pinewood Intermediate School, Draper Middle School and Mohonasen High School. The Helderberg Avenue entrance to the district's campus is a mile south of Colonial Manor.

According to the latest state School Report Card, Rotterdam-Mohonasen had an enrollment of 3,396 students in the 2005-06 school year; 1,164 students were enrolled in the high school in 2005-06. That year, 88 percent of graduating seniors received Regents diplomas.

Commuting

Miles Standish Road is the main thoroughfare in and out of Colonial Manor; the route cuts through the subdivision, providing access to Guilderland and Helderberg avenues. Brentwood Lane offers access to Guilderland Avenue, while Priscilla Lane, John Alden Lane, Crestwood Drive, Stacy Crest Drive and Brian Crest Court connect with Helderberg Avenue. Access to the New York State Thruway and Interstate 890 is about a 10-minute car ride away.

Shopping and recreation

A Price Chopper is in a shopping center on Curry Road, a 10-minute car ride away. Curry Road and Guilderland Avenue are both commercial hubs, lined with gas stations, banks, fast food restaurants and other commercial attractions. A Dunkin' Donuts, a Stewart's shop and a Hess gas station are located at the intersection of Helderberg Avenue and Curry Road, about five minutes by car.
Juracka Park, dedicated in 1961, has a basketball court, a tennis court, two volleyball courts, new playground equipment and a pavilion. Memorial Park, with baseball fields, a basketball court and new playground equipment, is close by, as is the Whispering Pines Golf Course on Helderberg Avenue.

Mortgages

A four-bedroom, 1,800-square-foot brick Cape with one bathroom at 30 Merritt Drive is selling for $214,900. A four-bedroom, 2,400-square-foot Colonial with 1.5 bathrooms at 28 Continental Road is selling for $249,900.

Taxes

Homeowners pay $367.36 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for property taxes; Rotterdam currently assesses property at about 4 percent of its actual market value. The school property tax rate for 2006-07 is $545.30. Taxes on a home valued at $200,000 are approximately $7,300.

The tax rate will change once the town completes its upcoming property revaluation project and the Rotterdam-Mohonasen district sets new tax rates on an approved 4.25 percent tax levy increase in its 2007-08 budget.

Michael Lisi is a freelance writer from Schenectady and a frequent contributor to the Times Union.

Those tax rates aren't so low and are going to go up when the new reval takes affect. Where is all the money going and what is it being spent on?

7,200 tax amount cant be correct on a 200,000 home.....

$7300 is a chunk of change I will say!  But if you really want to see high taxes...check out Eldorado/country walk way area. And just wait until Heldeburg Medows gets built...wait until ya see those taxes!!!

Quoted from Shadow

Those tax rates aren't so low and are going to go up when the new reval takes affect. Where is all the money going and what is it being spent on?

Actually shadow, no, the tax rates aren't going to up.  They will go to go down.  WAY DOWN!  After the reval is effective

Most of this is never explained, and the news reporter also did not explain it either.

First off, you need to understand HOW the news reporter arrived at that $7,300 tax bill.  The two tax rates referenced, add them together:  367 + 545 and that equals 909.  Notice how the reporter says a house worth 200,000 would pay $7,300 in taxes and notice how the reporter says the houses are assessed for 4% of value.   The reporter then did the math.  A house worth 200,000 would be assessed for 4% of value which is $8,000.  If you multiply the total tax rate of 909 times an assessed value of 8,000 that equals 7,272, thus the reporter says "about" 7,300.  What the reporter did not say is what IS the ACTUAL CURRENT assessment values of the houses in Colonial manor????    Perhaps the typical house in Colonial Manor is assessed at about 5,000, so therefore, the tax BILL would be 909 x 5,000 = a tax BILL of about 4,500.  

Because assessments have not been updated in some 50 years, the equalization rate as determined by the state of New York is basically what the reporter means in saying "houses are assessed at 4% of value."  The state determines the equalization rate.  If your house was assigned an assessment of 5,000 50 years ago, then it is still 5,000 today and the math is sort of done in reverse.  The state says the equalization rate is 4% and since your assessment is 5,000, then the ASSUMPTION is that your house is worth $125,000.  Look at your tax bill.  How much does the town say your full value is?  When you look at your tax bill and you see the words "the town has determined that the full value of your house is $125,000" that does NOT mean it is.  They--the town--merely did the math in reverse using only two numbers..... 5,000 (assessed value as assigned 50 years ago) and the 4% (equalization rate as determined by the state of NY), and the math comes up with a figure of 125,000 so that is what the town says the full value of your house is worth this tax year.  

Forget about the reval completely for a moment.  Once you completely grasp the above paragraph, then let's go to the "next" tax year.  In the "next" tax year, the state determines that the equalization rate is now 6%.  Because no reval has been done, your house is still assessed at 5,000.  When you get the tax bill you will now see "the town has determined that the full value of your house is $83,400"   You see how much in full value the town claims your house went down in value?  But they never looked at your house nor any other.  

What the town has done is merely keep the assessed values at what they were assigned 50 years ago, and the state sets the equalization rate and from those two figures, the town arrives at a "full value" which most likely does not reflect the full value at all.

Don't worry, I'm still getting to the issue of how the tax rates are going to go "down, WAY DOWN."

But let me side track a little and use another example.  (AGAIN, FORGET ABOUT THE REVAL for a moment, forget it's going on) Your house and that of your neighbor across the street we'll say were each assessed at $5,000 back 50 years ago And your house each has 3 bedrooms, one car garage, and one bathroom, ok?   We'll say that last year your neighbor added an extra bedroom and full bath on to the back of the house, did a patio enclosure (now has a sun room) and has added on to the garage to make it a two car instead of one car garage.  You did nothing to your house (except paint).  Well of course those improvements are going to increase the value of your neighbor's house, right?  OK, so this year the state determines the equalization rate is 4%.  So you and your neighbor each get your tax BILLS which say "the town has determined that the full value of your house is $125,000."  Imagine if you looked at your neighbor's tax bill and saw those numbers $125,000.  What is your reaction when you see your neighbor's house has the same "full value" as yours (as determined by the "town")  You're going to sit there and think "wait a minute, they did all those additions and the town says our value is identical! No way, I'm going to grieve my taxes, I should not have to pay as much as my neighbor"  So you go to the asssor's office and you want your assessment lowered, but what you do is say to the town, "look at the bill, it says my house is worth $125,000 and my neigbor's is too.  How can we be the same value if they have more?"  My house should only be worth $100,000.  That's what you want to do, right?  But let me first explain WHY each of your tax bills said "the town.....worth $125,000."   It's because each of your houses was assessed for $5,000 back 50 years ago and the town has never updated it.  And primarily THAT is one reason for the necessity of the town doing a reval, because additions have been done and such and the town has never updated them.  In theory, when your neighbor did the additions, the town should have increased the ASSESSMENT to, say, $5,500 maybe.  Some change, any change, to increase it.  But I don't believe the town has even adjusted assessments for people who re-did their houses in terms of adding rooms.  

So, let's sort of pretend now, again, for purposes of example.  The town does it's reval project.  Now your house assessed value is 200,000 and your neighbor's is assessed at $250,000.  We'll also assume that both you and your neighbor got independent appraisals which agreed with these figures and based on that actual selling prices of houses on your street and immediate area, these numbers are good.  You and your neighbor are agreeable with the town assigning those assessed values.

Now, shadow, remember you said the tax rates were going to go up?  Remember shadow the total tax rate was $909 "per 1,000 of assessed value" (that quote is standard throughout the state).   Let's calculate the tax bill without increasing the tax rate (remember you said the tax rate would go up, but we'll keep it the same).  If the tax rate stayed the same, your taxes would be $181,800.  YEP.  And why?  Because if the rate stays the same, it is $909 per 1,000 of assessed value.  Remember, your assessment is 200,000 after the reval.  So, if the rate (per thousand) stayed the same, then the math is Rate x each 1,000 of value = tax bill.  Thus 909 x 200 - 181,800!

The tax RATE is going to go down, WAY WAY down.  The tax rate will be LOWERED BIG TIME.

After the reval, maybe the total tax bill for your 200,000 house is $4,300.  That would mean that the total tax rate (property and school) is $21,50.  See, that's way down from $909.  

And your neighbor who put on those additions, if the tax rate is $21.50, that neighbor will be paying a tax bill of just about $5,400.  Remember, earlier, above, I used in the example that your house is valued at $200,000 and your neighbor at $250,000.  Using this tax RATE of 21.50, and you do the math, now your neighbor properly pays more than you because the house is worth more than yours.  PRIOR to the reval, each of you paid the SAME amount in taxes because houses have never been reassessed.

And that explains why it is a necessity to reassess all houses in the town.  But it is also important to review your assessment and compare it with others and compare it with the actual selling prices.  Your neighbor who has a additions should rightfully pay more than you in a tax BILL because ALL homewoners have the same tax RATE, but your neighbor's assessment should be higher than yours.

So the reassessment project is supposed to assess houses based on their current market value which, in legal opinons of the state, assessed value = market value.  Market value is defined as what a buyer will pay for a house on the open market (that means excluding sales between relatives, maybe settling a parent's estate, etc)  So assessment values should be consistent with the actual selling prices.

After the reval, some tax bills will go up, some will go down, and some will stay relatively similar.  And that is true even if the tax LEVY stays exactly the same.  The tax LEVY is the amount the town needs to collect in taxes when they do the budget.  And I'm sure the town, any municipality for that matter, first sees what is will get from the feds, from the state, from sales tax, from permit fees, etc. and then whatever has to still needs to be collected to meet the budget would be called the tax LEVY.  If we say for example, that in the year after the reassessment, the budget increases, i.e., more spending, but we will say the state gives the town more money.  then the town can keep the levy the same or even lower it.  The levy can go up, but your tax BILL can go down.  Each house assessed value will change in different amounts.  If most assessments increase by 50% but your's increases by 40%, then you will have a lesser increase in your tax BILL than all those who saw a 50% increase in assessment.  Or they could see a small increase in tax BILL, while you would see a decrease in your tax BILL.

REassessment is not a method to increase tax BILLS.  It is method by which to have people pay their proper taxes (either more or less) based on accurate assessments,  based on the real value of their homes.

Wow!

Genius!!! And your fingers must be aching now, huh? Your explaination was so eloquent, but now I have to sit down and let it sink into this head of mine using my own house assessment. I absolutely see your point and it is funny about the 2 neighbors with the same assessment. We did nothing to our house and our neighbor's added on a sunroom. And yet our houses are assesed the same. So that example was perfect for me....THANKS MC1  

Based on what we were told because of the higher reval on our houses the county's share is going to be higher than what it was, I got an estimated tax after the reval was done and mine went up as did many people in the town especially Eldorado Acres and other areas where there were new homes just built. How can a house that was just bought for $200,000 after the reval be assessed for $280,000 when the real estate values for homes are down. I understand what you're telling me about some homes taxes will go up, some will stay the same and some will go down but it's the inequity that's being questioned.

The inequity is in the eye of the beholder....again it is buyer beware....if you like your house, your town, your neighbors, your church, your school, (and I'm going to say this) your park, etc,,,,,it really doesn't matter what my neighbor pays for their house.....if they think they have a mansion and that is their passion, be my guest.....but remember--"......ye shall live like kings and die like men...",,,,,we all will......

There is inequity in the whole picture, my job, your job, no kids, 3kids, 6kids, divorced, married, single etc etc........we have what we have because we chose it.....the only thing that we have equal---municipal services: ie: sewers, sidewalks, lighting, parks etc.......this would be called the 'death and taxes' bumper sticker wisdom......

the problem with us is we all say: I dont live there, I wont pay for that.......guess what--"We do live 'there'".....IT'S CALLED THE TOWN OF ROTTERDAM IN CASE ANYONE FORGOT.......

Shadow, if those tentative assessments sent out, i.e., the $280,000 is what becomes official, then the owner who purchased for $200,000 should grieve the assessment next year.  That is assuming it was an arms length sale (not between relatives, no duress on either side, no one needing to sell fast because of job move, etc).  

I had looked at the assessment roll thing for those things.  Just look at the sales over the previous year.  You'll see some assessments of those houses higher, some lower, some similar.  But again, we don't know the terms of the sale, or reasons.  But then again, it occurs to me, if someone did want to sell fast because of job move, and sold for $200,000 when the house was really worth more, I don't think that piece of information would be included on the deed.

Shadow, your mention about county share, that's something I've never paid attention to.  I guess I've just thought of it in simple terms, total assessed value of all properties in the county divide by the tax levy (or maybe it's vice versa, my mind is on overload right now from other stuff) to determine the tax rate.  So it sort of sounds like then the county assigns a tax levy to each individual municipality within the county and then each levy is factored in with the total assessed value in the town.  But how does the county determine how much each levy for each municipality is to be.  Such as, it is based on the population of the municipality as a percent of the total county population, or the muni's total assessed value as a percent of the total assessed value of the whole county, or percent of numbers of properties, etc.  Interesting.

bumble, glad you have a better understanding from what I wrote.  I had helped my in laws in Schenectady city about 10 years ago, it was casual conversation about huge numbers of homes for sale and how sellers kept repricing to lower asking prices.  And that was really my first understanding of assessment.  I convinced my inlaws to grieve and they got about a 40% reduction.  So they really saved big on taxes for a couple years, until the city reassessed everyone down, and their bill went up a bit.  But I got into helping about three of their neighbors too and when dealing with older people, just try to talk in the terminology the assessor would use.  They aint gonna understand it!  So I got into my "pretend" mode and then it was "Ah" and "Ooooh" and even bigger Aaahs and Oooohs when the tax bills came in.  Many of these people are not paying anything in school taxes today (combination of STAR enhanced and the 50% senior low income exemption---and that is for another time)