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Politics & Government

Pelham Residents Face 3 Percent County Tax Hike

Westchester County's 2011 budget includes a 2.2 percent decrease in the county's property tax levy. But according to the labyrinthine formulas used to determine Pelham's share, town residents will pay 3.3 percent more this year.

Pelham homeowners will likely face a 3.3 percent increase in county property taxes this year, despite a county budget that calls for a decrease in Westchester's total tax levy.

County lawmakers in December ended a contentious budget cycle when they passed a spending plan that called for a 2.2 percent decrease in county taxes. The cut was achieved, in part, by eliminating 10 percent of the county's workforce and using the county's rainy day fund and an uptick in sales tax revenue to offset gaps.

But the $555 million that the county will collect from local governments this year is apportioned based on a formula known as the tax equalization rate, which accounts for widely varying property values and different assessment methods employed by Westchester's 25 cities and towns. The adjustment is necessary because many school districts encompass multiple towns.

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According to numbers forwarded by the County Tax Commission to the Board of Legislators and reported by a number of local media outlets, Pelham would be in for an increase of nearly 10 percent this year. But the town's practice of conducting annual reassessments skews those numbers.

Most local governments around the county rarely conduct reassessments of all property, or "revaluations." Mount Vernon, an extreme example, last conducted a revaluation in the 1850s.

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Pelham is unique in that it undertakes revaluations each year.

"With a revaluation, the assessments make more sense, they are more transparent, and there are less challenges to the assessment roll," said Pelham Town Assessor Michele Casandra. "By doing it on an annual basis, we keep gross inequities from creeping into the roll."

Those "inequities" arise when, for example, a neighborhood sees sharp increases in property values compared to the rest of a town or city. If that town does not conduct a full reassessment, the owners of the homes or businesses with booming values can end up paying less than their fair share of taxes. Conversely, declining home values may not relate to a corresponding drop in taxes.

In Pelham, Casandra said, all properties are assessed each year at their full market value, which allows for more accurate adjustments. Last year, Casandra decreased the total roll in the town by almost 6 percent. As a result, the 10 percent increase trumpeted by the county is a far cry from the more modest 3.3 percent hike that will actually hit homeowners and businesses.

"In towns that annually reassess you cannot compare the [county] rate from year to year," she said.

For example, a home in Pelham valued at $1 million last year would be worth $940,000 this year, with the owner paying an average of $98 more in county taxes, she added. County taxes make up about 20 percent of a taxpayer's total bill.

Pelham faces the third-highest increase in the county, behind Mount Kisco and Somers. Mount Vernon, Peekskill and White Plains are among the locales that will see the biggest decreases.

Compounding the confusion is a legal battle between county lawmakers and County Executive Rob Astorino. In an unprecedented move, Astorino attempted to veto the Board of Legislator's levy in favor of his own proposal to decrease taxes by 1 percent. The matter appears to be headed to court, as legislators argue that county law does not allow the executive to veto the levy. Under Astorino's levy, Pelhamites would face a 4.5 percent increase, according to Casandra.

There are two ways that the confusion over county taxes could be reined in: in one scenario, all municipalities would have to begin assessing all properties on a regular basis and at their full market value. This can be prohibitively expensive for some towns, especially those who currently employ part-time assessors, and would still leave room for variations in tax rates.

"It's highly likely that each municipality's share of the tax levy would continue to change [because of] assessment reductions, new construction, demolitions, [and because] the real estate market will not change in an identical way for of Westchester's cities and towns," said David Jackson, the head of the County Tax Commission.

The other option is for the county to take over the revaluation process and conduct regular surveys of all property in Westchester. Earlier this month, a county task force released a report that calls for such a system. According to the study, it would require the creation of a county-wide database that would cost $24 million to put in place. That money could be borrowed,  supplied by the county over four years or raised in a cost-sharing agreement with local governments.

Chuck Lesnick, the president of the Yonkers City Council and the County Municipal Officers Association, said that regular reassessment "would lead to a fairer and transparent process in that property owners would better understand their tax bills.”

“It is proper, timely and absolutely critical for the county, cities and towns to form a partnership that will bring modern methods, tools and technology for the assessment of property," he added.

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