Trustees Discuss Tax Revaluation

The Scarsdale Trustees convened on Monday night 8/2 to give more thought to a Village-wide tax revaluation. Given the ever-growing number of tax grievances filed this past year and the large disparity in the tax assessments of homes of equal market value, many are calling for a reassessment.

Village Manager Al Gatta chaired the meeting. In addition to his role here in Scarsdale, Al serves on the Westchester County Assessment Commission. He has a wealth of knowledge about the tax situation in Westchester County and shared a draft of a recent report drafted by the commission for the county.

He also provided some data about the experience of other municipalities who have already undergone a reval:

• Pelham conducted its revaluation in 1998. Over the next 10 years, the number of grievances went down from 398 in 1998 to an average of 178 annually over the next decade
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• In Rye where a revaluation was conducted in 2004, the number of grievances declined from 17% - 50% over the next few years.
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• Results were similar in Bronxville, where following their 2007 reassessment, the number of grievances fell 30% to just 100 grievances filed in 2010.

Al let the group know that Scarsdale is now spending an estimate $155,000 per year defending the village against tax claims. Though there is no guarantee that expenses would be reduced following an assessment, the experiences of other municipalities indicates that the number of claims would decrease and he believes that the Village would receive more favorable rulings from the hearing officers as our assessments would be up to date.

The County is also considering a Westchester-wide revaluation, and if this is approved, Scarsdale would be saved the estimated $1,750,000 cost of conducting a revaluation. The County has already approved the expense for aerial photography, and this data can be used in making the reassessment. Scarsdale will receive their digital aerial photographs in November 2010.

The report form the Westchester County Assessment Commission recommended the following:

• Compilation of a centralized commercial property database
• Use of aerial photography
• Updating of tax records
• Recommendations for property tax relief methods for those who cannot afford to pay their taxes after a revaluation
• Regular cycles of tax reassessments after the initial revaluation – every four years
• Regulation on the number of appeals allowed
• Nineteen characteristics to be considered in the revaluation

Since Westchester County will decide on a countywide revaluation before the end of the year, the Trustees decided not to make any resolutions as an outcome of the meeting. They asked Al to keep them appraised of new developments and will continue to monitor County moves on this issue.

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