Quoted from 403

how would the square footage method work for business???

That is a good question. I heard that Gabriel's Market on Curry/altamont was assessed high because it was between Mallozzi's and Dunkin Donuts, and Hess was across the street, making Gabriel's property worth more.

But Gabriel's was there long before Mallozzi's or DD or Hell. Is that rule of thumb?

Speaking of, did anyone notice Rudy Gabriel died last week?

Quoted Text

Quoted from the.pope:
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no more reassessments based on title transfer giving our town a welcome stranger policy

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the.pope,

I believe that you and I may have met recently and discussed the issue of real property reassessments.

First, the practice of reassessing the value of a property when the title is transferred (i.e., property is sold)
is, as you are no doubt aware, illegal in New York.  It is termed "spot reassessment".  That said, I am
informed that it occurs.  The public is unaware of the "Welcome Neighbor" law.

Several years ago, I contacted the NY State government ORPS to inquire about any state laws that require
revals to be performed.  I was informed that there is no requirement for periodic revals.  The state tax law
only requires that individuals are treated "equitably" under the system.  This criterion, is, of course, difficult
to verify.

Your suggestion certainly has merit.  A cost-benefit analysis should be performed to determine the value to the
taxpayers and the community.  

Property reassessments (i.e., revals) are necessary to establish parity.  In communities wherein revals are infrequent, a disproportionate amount of the tax burden is borne by those who construct homes or make improvements/enhancements.  Revals should not be performed for the purpose of increasing the tax levy.

All of this said, the real issue is government spending.  Ronald Reagan espoused that:

"The problem is not that people are taxed too little; it is that government spends too much"

Fiscal responsibility must be restored in our government.

Good points especially with the wetlands since we all know that swamps are not really the property of the owners but God knows ( and so does the.pope) they are "owned" by the ACOE under the definition of a "navigable waterway!"

As far as what is under a roof, what about garage and shed space? Worth far less than living room and bathroom space, for instance.

Brad and the.pope ~  Of course you two have met recently, you're both running for office.  Only difference is; Brad, you post under your name and Mertz posts under "the.pope".  Yes, we have heard this from John ever since the reval started to get traction under Paolino.   I could be wrong though, if "the.pope" was serious when he/she said to increase the employees in the assessor's office.  

As for waiting until the whole reval mess is cleaned up, I disagree with Bumble.  The town should be proactive and explore all it's options.  I am not suggesting another Tommasone study, but put your employees and elected officials to work!  If all of our elected officials are not doing their job, they can't possibly be prepared to address this issue.  That's unless they are just told what to do.

Felipe,

With all due respect, I don't believe that the.pope is John Mertz.  I had a lengthy discussion recently with an individual who visits this site.  We spoke at length about property taxes and the recently completed reval that was
conducted in the Town of Rotterdam.

Regardless of the identity of the.pope, his or her ideas have some merit in my opinion.

Hey....I thought "I" was Mertz!!!  

and maybee I am Mertz

I wouldn't want to be Mertz.  Hated by 75% of the town.  Cant wait for his poll numbers to be made public.  Buchanan says he has never seen a pol take a drop in the internal polls since Jimmy C and Joey Sigsnore pre Paolino.  They dumped Mertz quite frankly because he crapped all over current and former town employees and threatened people with their jobs.  Ask the Town Comptroller what he thinks of Mertz.  Not much.  As far as reval talk sure sounds like the current assessor and admin is in damage control over a politically fatal mistake of hiring Mr Surprise.  Ask any neighbor, friend or family how he (Surprise) deals with assessment issues.  Back to the days of John MacIsaac and we all no what that did to Sigsnore!

Puddycat ~  you are a great character on this board.  A little hard to nail down your misdirection, considering your so close with Buchanan, yet continue to bash the Republicans.  Buchanan hasn't seen poll numbers like this since Jimmy C and Signore?  Interesting.

So, all seeing feline, do the polls predict a winner for the supervisor?  Seems to me that is the big prize, do Steve's numbers beat Jimmy C's or Signore's?  How about versus DelGallo or McGarry?

What do the poll numbers say about the reval and how Tommasone and Mertz screwed that up?  Can't wait, I love polls.

I am just the messenger there Phil.  (I dont do french after 9-11.)  My gut tells me that he republican party infighting will take its toll just like it did the year Sigsnore got ambushed buy Buchanan, Tommasone and Katy Oconnor.  Hey FYI Brian McGarry and Katy Oconnor might be related.  Sorta kind of me thinks.  

Puddycat ~ NOT french!  Can't believe you guys keep making that reference.  Anyway, I respect a lot of what you say and even more for your insight.  Not really buying the whole Buchanan reference, unless you are Buchanan.  But I see his days coming to an end and I agree this infighting will take these guys out.

The town is ready to move on and these guys aren't, so the town will move on without them.  Sigsnore, Surhada and Mertz will all lose with O'Connor winning the two year term.  Then the only race they have left (the repubs) is the supervisor race, which I think that DelGallo/McGarry might have a good chance of taking Steve out.

Getting back to the thread, this issue will have a role in the election, but not good for Tommasone and Mertz who were on the board when it went through.  Signore hasn't done a thing since getting into office and Surhada is a zero too.  Repubs are in trouble.

Petit Felipe you ole tight rope walker.  Tommasone should be more concerned with supporting his family and finding a job instead of his charade as a Town Leader.  The sheeple will have their say and Gerry Parisi will be indicted!

I think the 'rotation' idea is great.....who,,,,in their right mind(in NYS) would actually want their property valued lower? Just to
beat the government?......I dont think there are regular government subsidies coming directly to homeowners mailboxes?
has anyone here received one? I haven't......

if a person is sooooooo proud to live in a value of a shack with a grass roof......what the hell is wrong with you???

although I cant wait to unload my beast(in my view),,,,I still have to keep it nice and certainly would be very very very
angry if my neighbors just let theirs go to 'shacks'.....

IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT THE LEVY.....
---what is the value of the levy
---what do I get back for my investment
---where does it go
---what is the worth.....................etc etc.......

KILL THE MONKEY ON OUR BACK

Quoted from 347

Puddycat ~   But I see his days coming to an end and I agree this infighting will take these guys out.

Then perhaps the republican party can rebuild with new leadership, giving the taxpayer a viable option.