Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
Tax levy drops under adopted budget
Drop in property value means tax rates would rise
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    After closing a middle school, changing every school’s hours and reducing the availability of electives at the high school, the Schenectady City School District Board of Education unanimously adopted its 2012-13 budget Wednesday.
    The $156 million budget includes a tax levy slightly smaller than this year, but because property assessments have gone down, taxes will likely go up. The amount has not yet been calculated, as assessment challenges continue to change the city’s total value.
    Board members struggled to cut enough expenses to meet the state’s new tax cap, which was made harder when the drop in assessments meant the tax levy could not go up at all.
    The board approved closing Oneida Middle School, moving students to many other schools, over the complaints of some parents.
    Other savings came from starting elementary schools an hour earlier and secondary schools later. That has complicated some parents’ child care plans because older children won’t be able to walk younger siblings home.
    The high school is changing significantly, starting later except for students who want to take electives at 7:30 a.m. That means fewer students will take electives — and the schedule is far less fl exible, so fewer electives are available to each student.
    But, board members said, it’s better than cutting art, music, athletics and other “extras.”
    “This budget represented a tremendous amount of creativity, as opposed to just whacking,” board member Andrew Chestnut said.
    Member Diane Herrmann told outgoing interim Superintendent John Yagielski that his proposals were better than she’d expected.
    “I think this budget, though I’m not happy with it and I don’t want to cut any programs, it’s nothing short of a miracle you were able to find this much money without increasing class sizes or any of the other terrible things.”
    Still, closing schools and changing schedules were done for the wrong reasons, member Gary Farkas said.
    “We’re making decisions on fi - nancial reasons, not educational reasons,” he said.
    Member Cheryl Nechamen added that parents should complain to their state legislators. The state considers school boards “just selfserving,” she said, and thus won’t listen to their appeals for more aid, fewer requirements or relief from the tax cap. .........................>>>>.......................>>>>.....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01101&AppName=1

Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
Tax levy drops under adopted budget
Drop in property value means tax rates would rise
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    After closing a middle school, changing every school’s hours and reducing the availability of electives at the high school, the Schenectady City School District Board of Education unanimously adopted its 2012-13 budget Wednesday.
    The $156 million budget includes a tax levy slightly smaller than this year, but because property assessments have gone down, taxes will likely go up. The amount has not yet been calculated, as assessment challenges continue to change the city’s total value. ...

Quoted from mikechristine1

We'll be sure to keep track of these houses.  We'll know if they sell, how long it takes, and the sale price.

Those of us on these boards who are intelligent, we know the actual sale prices WILL be lower, if and when the houes sell.

All city homeonwers should take a look at this thread on these boards.   As we are providing the FACTS (unlike DV's lies), the homeonwers would learn that they have been way over-assessed by the city.    And they should flood the city with grievances this year

Actually, it's time for the city to reassess the WHOLE CITY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    Reassess DOWN!   BIG TIME REDUCTIONS


However, even though it is an absolute NECESSITY that the city reassess ALL RESIDENTIAL properties DOWNWARD, one fact remains.   The tax BILLS will STILL remain high.

Do the math using this little explanation.  

In a city there are 14 properties
2 properties are assessed for $20,000 each
12 properties are assessed at $8,000 each
Total assessed value in the city is $136,000

Follow that so far?

The two properties that are assessed for $20,000 each have been granted 100% tax exemptions from the dem leaders in this city
The other 12 properties are houses and fully taxable.
The total TAXABLE VALUE in this city is $96,000     (the total value of all the TAXABLE properties, i.e., 12 taxable properties x $8,000 assessment each = $96,000)

When the city does it's budget, it sees that it needs to raise $35,000 via property taxes, this is called the tax LEVY.
While the total assessed value of all properties is $136,000, remember, the dems exempted their millionaire & politically connected buddies, thus the two properties asssessed at $20,000 each are not subtracted in order to get the total TAXABLE value

$136,000          Total assessed value of ALL properties
-  40,000          MINUS the total assessed value of tax exempt properties
$  96,000          Total TAXABLE assessed value.

Follow that so far?

Now the city needs to determine the tax RATE, which is determined with the following     Tax LEVY / total TAXABLE value = tax RATE    
Thus:    $35,000 / $96,000 = 0.364583

So now we calculate the tax BILLS   Tax BILLS are determined/calculated using:     Assessed value x tax RATE = Tax BILL

Thus, $8,000 x 0.364583 = $2916.67     (rounded.   Very specifically the math makes it $2,916.667)

Still following that?

Now, you can check the math.  There are 12 properties that pay taxes, remember, the other two have been granted 100% tax exemptions by the dems.   To make things easy for explanation purposes, I made all 12 houses have the same assessed value, i.e., $8,000 each.    So  that means each of those 12 properties has a tax BILL of $2,916.67    The city collects $2,916.67 from each of those 12 properties and the math, therefore, is $2,916.67 x 12 = $35,000   (give or take a couple pennies for rounding).   The city collects a total of $35,000 from these 12 taxable properties.

You follow that, right?

Because of the high taxes and the 12 properties having to cover the taxes of those two exempt proerties, the property values plummet in this city.   So, let's say the property values went down by 30% each (again, just to make the example easy.

If the property values went down by 30% and the city reassesssed, then the new assessment for these 12 houses would be $5,600.  

Remember, those other two properties, regardless of the value, are tax exempt courtesy of the dems, so their value, whether up or down, does NOT factor into the mathematical equations to come up with the 1) total TAXABLE VALUE in this city, nor 2) the tax RATE, nor the tax BILLS.

Even without any increase in the budget, without any increae in the tax LEVY i.e., the tax LEVY stays the same at $35,000, see what happens.
12 TAXABLE properties at $5,600 each means a total TAXABLE value of  $67,200
So now, the city needs to determine the tax RATE for the coming year.   Once again, the math.   Tax LEVY / Total TAXABLE VALUE = tax RATE
$35,000 x $67,200 = 0.520833

Now to determine the tax BILLS resulting from the SAME LEVY but 30% assessment reduction

$5,600 x 0.520833 = $2,916.67

You follow that, right?

You see what happens, right?  Property values go DOWN, and the tax BILLS stay the same!!!!!!!!!!!!!    That's assuming the city budget results in no increase in the tax LEVY    But of course, we know the tax LEVY always goes up.   While the state came up with this thing about the so called "2% property tax cap" that really is defined as "2% tax LEVY cap"   When properties receive these tax exemptions, like Schenectady has done with most of downtown, the tax LEVY could increase, say, one percent (1%) but the tax BILLS will increase MORE THAN 2%.  I could go into more detail and provide an exemple but I'm not going to take that time


However, assuming you follow all of the above...

I'm going to provide one additional piece of information.
Go back to the original assessments.   IF the two exempt properties had their exemptions removed, then the total TAXABLE VALUE would be $136,000
Then the tax RATE would be as follows:     (Reminder   Tax LEVY / Total TAXABLE value = tax RATE)           $35,000 / $136,000 = 0.257353
So, the homeowners, with their houses assessed for $8,000 each, what would their tax BILL be?            

Assessed value x tax RATE = tax BILL    
$8,000 x 0.257353 = $2,058.82        

IF the exemeptions were movedd from those two tax exempt properties, then the financially strugging homeowner would, in this example, have a tax BILL that would be LOWER, the homeonwers would SAVE $857.85 !!!!!!!!!!

And you can check the math to make sure the city does indeed collect the full tax levy.
The two (previously exempt) properties assessed for $20,000 would have a tax bill   ($20,000 x 0.257353)  of $5,147.06 each   (remember, these two represent the downtown millionaires and politically connected who CAN AFFORD to pay their FULL property tax BILLS, they do NOT NEED, and should NOT RECEIVE tax exemptions OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER !!!!

12 houses with tax bills of $2,58.82 each totals = $24,705.88
2 properties with tax bills of $5,147.06 each totals = $10,294.12

$24,705.88 + $10,294.12 = $35,000.   The city receives the $35,000 in property tax revenue---the tax LEVY)--- that it needs, AND the financially struggling homeonwers see a reduction in their tax burden!


You follow all that, right?         (Well, DV is now scratching his head trying to figure this out; in a few months time when he can figure out the grade school arithmetic, DV will say "no no, that can't be true"   ROFL)


The UNDENIABLE TRUTH, the WHOLE TRUTH, and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH is that as long as the dem team (city + plex + county) insist on giving out those 100% tax exemptions to downtown, then the homeonwers are screwed!!!!

So first, the city dems MUST REMOVE ALL tax exemptions from downtown INCLUDING Proctors--- because Proctor's IS 100% A FOR PROFIT BUSINESS.

And next, the city dems MUST STOP spending money on expensive cars which the high paid cops use to take their pleasure drives home far away out of the city, out of the county.
And next, the city dems MUST MANDATE that ALL department heads, cops, and fire employees move INTO the city, not just future employees but CURRENT employees.
I would like to see ALL employees live within the city boundaries, but I'm not quite as concerned with the lower level staff, clerical, laborers, garbage pickers, and the like because they do not have any influence really.   But other staff, e.g., accountants, planners, engineers, code enforcers, asessors, human resource, etc MUST be mandated to live in the city
And next, ALL business owners WITHIN the city that get money from the taxpayers, i.e., via Metroplex projects, MUST LIVE  WITHIN the city.

These are some starting ideas

Quoted from mikechristine1

Of course, the cheerleader is saying "rah rah" for the current governor - a buddy dem - a gov who CLAIMED he was going to cap taxes.

But of course the resident board cheerleader for the dems has not produced ONE SHRED OF EVIDENCE.

However, I have been saying this ALL ALONG!!!!!!!!    

The so called "tax cap" is NOT a cap on the tax BILLS of the homeonwers!!!!!!!!    It is a cap on the LEVY and that does NOTHING at all for the financially struggling homeonwers!  

And everyone in the city can "thank" the dems (city + county + plex) for exempting the businesses downtown from paying poroperty taxes.

Note tha the gazette story above mentions the "reduction in property value"    A correction MUST be made to that statement.   It MUST be corrected to read "reduction in the TOTAL TAXABLE ASSESSED VALLUE."      

YES, the property values in the city are indeed plummetting ( I DEFY DV to provide EVIDENCE to the contrary).  But the MAJOR problem is that because DV's dem buddies have exempted all these wealthy and politically connected downtown from paying property taxes, that action by the dems has resulted an even larger REDUCTION in the "total TAXABLE assessed value."

The lower the TAXABLE assesed value, the higher the tax BILLS forced upon the financially struggling homeowners in the city while these those that own these properties/businesses downtown and the politically connected pay not taxes and get richer and richer and give more money to the dems, e.g., campaign, etc.   They wipe each other's butts.

.