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2-14-2007 By JIM AUSTIN Editor At one time, almost 45 percent of the total assessed value of village property was tax exempt. According to last year's final assessment roll, that figure had slipped slightly to 39.5 percent, meaning the village tax levy was spread over 60 percent of the total assessed value. According to the 2008 tentative assessment roll filed recently, the $105 million worth of exempt property in the village only accounts for approximately 22.6 percent of the $466 million of total assessed value. Now the tax levy will be spread over almost 78 percent of the total assessed value. In more practical terms, if last year's tax bills were computed based on a total assessed value in which only 22 percent was exempt, the tax rate would have fallen from $13.90 per thousand to $10.78 per thousand - a savings of $3.12. The value of exemptions is made up primarily of wholly exempt properties, but also includes exemptions for old age, veterans, business development and others. Village assessor Al Keck said he was not aware of the reval's impact on the ratio of exempt properties, but agreed it was good news for taxpayers. Keck said he would have to study it further, but believes it is due primarily to the nature of many tax-exempt properties like churches, the Baseball Hall of Fame and Bassett Hospital. "They're not market commodities. They don't have influences likes views. There isn't a real market for them. My gut feeling is that they are unique properties," Keck said. While the value of tax-exempt properties rose at a much slower rate, the value of some properties skyrocketed. "Vacant land appreciated unbelievably," Keck said. He pointed to a vacant parcel owned by his mother that has frontage on the Susquehanna River upstream of the dam. Its previous assessment of $53,000 rose to more than $450,000 in the reval. The increase in more than nine times, but riverfront property did not jump as much as lakefront property, which can be valued at as much as $5,000 a frontage foot. "Lake property went up an astonishing amount," he said. The new tax roll shows that while the total assessed value of all property in the village has risen 250 percent, the value of taxable property has increased almost 320 percent, and tax-exempt property is up only 42 percent. Trustee Jeff Katz, who chairs the planning committee and oversaw the reval, said he was not too surprised to hear about the change in exempt properties, which he believes is good news. Katz said the median increase in property values was about 300 percent, but that some values like those of lakefront property went up much more. Two years ago, he said, a vacant parcel in Lakeland Shores sold for $750,000 while two neighboring lots were assessed at $30,000. Katz said the old rule of thumb that one-third of the properties go up, one-third go down and one-third stay the same in a reval is holding up in Cooperstown. Otsego County Director of Real Property Tax Services Steve Child said Wednesday that if the drop in proportion of exempt value is correct it is "very good news for the taxpayer." Child said that Keck was right that the value of many wholly exempt properties is not market driven the way homes and commercial properties are. He said it is also possible that exempt properties had been somewhat over-valued in the past. In addition to a drop in the tax rate because of the change in exempt property, the increase in total assessed value should also be reflected in a decline in the tax rate, unless spending is increased substantially. If, for instance, the budget the board of trustees adopts this spring calls for an unchanged property tax levy, the rate would plummet to $4.36 per thousand because of the combination of the increase in taxable assessed value and the decrease in the ratio of tax-exempt property. Keck said Tuesday he has had meetings with 40 taxpayers to discuss their new assessments and has many more scheduled. There is still time for property owners to meet with Keck, or file a formal grievance if they believe they are over-assessed. The board of trustees will sit as the board of assessment review on Tues., Feb. 19, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the village meeting room. More information is available from Keck at 547-6057. |
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