http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2015/may/26/323-ask-schenectady-lower-assessment/?print
SCHENECTADY — Susanne Koban said she can’t afford to make improvements on her home unless her taxes are lowered by the city.
Koban, 48, who moved into a home on Van Vranken Avenue in February, said she would like to retire in Schenectady but cannot afford the city’s high taxes.
“I’m just trying to make it work,” she said while waiting Tuesday morning to present her case to the city’s Board of Assessment Review in the Council Chambers at City Hall. “There are basic things that the previous owner did not get done. Now I have to pay someone to do the work.”
Koban said her home is assessed at $95,700, but she purchased the property at 2121 Van Vranken Ave. for $39,000. If the board grants a lower assessment, Koban said she could start making improvements such as a new roof and plumbing in the kitchen.
“I’m not looking for a certain amount for the assessment to be lowered,” she said. “Anything is good. I’m a single woman. I just can’t pay for all of the improvements right now.”
The city’s annual Grievance Day gives homeowners the option to plead their case for a lower assessment to the review board. This year the city received 323 grievance applications, compared to 447 last year. City officials could not provide the number of last year’s grievances that were approved by the board, despite repeated requests.
The five-member board will review all applications and respond by July 1. Board members are Ruth Bergeron, Mary D’Alessandro, Dharam Hitlall, Bill Sanderson and Douglas Williams.
Rasit “Ross” Denitz, 34, purchased a home on Plymouth Avenue after taking a job at General Electric two years ago. Denitz and his wife, Nurcihan, have been making improvements to the home themselves since they moved because they’re trying to keep repair costs as low as possible.
Denitz said he’s looking to get the property’s assessed value dropped from $98,800 to $77,000, which is what they paid for the home at 601 Plymouth Ave.
“I don’t see how it’s assessed so high,” he said. “It’s a struggle to pay for materials and make improvements. We want to beautify the property.”
Denitz said he would like to be a lifelong resident of Schenectady, but probably wouldn’t be able to stay in the city if his taxes aren’t lowered.
“There are better properties with lower taxes,” he said. “I would consider the option of moving. I think a lot of people feel that way.”
Denitz said his neighbors also want to make improvements to their homes but either can’t afford it or are worried their property’s assessed value would be raised.
“Long-term residents want to enhance their properties with no penalties,” he said. “The city is so focused on that, too. The city should offer tax incentives then to help.”
Mayor Gary McCarthy said maintenance on homes would not raise a property’s assessment, but an addition would.
“If you’re adding a new room then it would probably go up,” he said. “Maintaining something does not necessarily raise the assessment.”
The equalization rate this year is 121 percent of a property’s market value. The tax rate this year for the city is $13.875322 per $1,000 of assessed value, $6.797773 for the county and $22.609484 for the school district.
McCarthy said the assessment is designed to ensure property owners are paying their fair share of taxes. He also said the city is looking at the possibility of a reassessment, which would be a multiyear project.
“We want to make sure there is fairness in the tax roll,” he said, adding that he believes there is fairness now. “People feel they are being over-assessed, but really what they have to look at is the total tax levy.”
He pointed to the inequity in the state’s education aid formula as a reason for the city’s high property taxes because the school district makes up a big chunk of a homeowner’s total tax bill.
John Martin, 69, said he believes his home on Van Curler Avenue is over-assessed. He would like to see his assessment dropped from $129,155 to about $100,000.
“The real estate market has been pretty bad, and the city doesn’t want to reduce assessments,” he said. “Properties are being sold for much less than their assessed values.”
Martin, who lives at 1451 Van Curler Ave., said people are frustrated with the city’s high assessments and high property taxes.
Anne O’Brey, a Realtor with RealtyUSA, purchased a property on Stanford Street from the Department of Veterans Affairs for $42,000 in March. The home is assessed at $125,400.
The previous owner paid $74,000 for the home in 2006. Back then, the owner was paying about $2,200 a year in taxes, she said. Now, O’Brey pays $5,900.
“The property value continues to drop because the tax bill is increasing,” she said. “That’s why people are foreclosing on their homes. We have to do something about the taxes.”
O’Brey said she purchased the property so she can get involved in the city. She owns a total of 10 properties — six in California and four in New York.
“I think there is a lack of knowledge on their part,” she said. “They are worried about their budget, but it’s so much more than that. I’m trying to help. People need this money to do improvements, which would create jobs.”

I see that the Mayor is continuing with that BS about it being the school district's fault. Even the absentee slumlords are starting to complain.
BTW, if you purchase a house in run-down condition, and fix it up, it will too raise your assessment. What's he talking about?

Quoted from Madam X

I see that the Mayor is continuing with that BS about it being the school district's fault. Even the absentee slumlords are starting to complain.
BTW, if you purchase a house in run-down condition, and fix it up, it will too raise your assessment. What's he talking about?

McCarthy is such an a** who knows NOTHING, just like his BIG (in more ways than one) cheerleader DV who is as equally ignorant.

Consider Duci's house, it was mentioned on the radio yesterday.

For the person who has bought that house the following is FACT (based on last year's tax rates and even older water & sewer rates):

The school tax WITH BASIC STAR is $1,475 per year

The county taxes (with election tax included) are $700 per year

The city's taxes total $2,570.

So McCarthy needs to just resign NOW.  He blames the school district stuff, when the FACT is that the school tax, on this Duci house, even if there was no STAR exemption on it would only be only $2,141   (STAR value amount of $666 plus the $1,475 equal $2,131)

The FACT is that the CITY portion of the total tax annual bill is MORE THAN the school tax !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Notice that the city will not provide the information on how many people get their assessments lowered by the board. If they did, it would prove that they are illegally rubber-stamping these grievances without considering them.
I know of one family who was going to have an attorney handle the process for them. I'll try to find out how that went.
Another thing I notice from the article - the word is getting out. Despite all the propaganda to the contrary, these people understand what's what. Exactly the kind of people I would like to move here, and stay here. So why is McCheese lying to them, and giving them a hard time?

Another total disgrace. Property values are 30% of assessed values. The City needs a complete reassessment to reflect current lower valuations. This is true even in
Metrograft Downtown where $1 transactions are still common. Mt Pleasant/Vale have zero value and you are lucky to find a sucker to rent. Northside and Bellevue tanking. 40
years of Krat featherbedding, nepotism and pay to play have an effect. Plummeting resale values, collapse of every neighborhood business district, lower revenues because of
tax giveaways to the McCheese friends and family club. Keep the DEM implosion going!

We know MANY very staunch dems in Schenectady....who are campaigning AGAINST McMayor and crew!!!

There are also MANY who don't live in the city....but are 'secretly' campaigning to city folk...to vote AGAINST McMayor and crew.

It will be interesting to see if the 'friends and family club' can keep them afloat in the next election cycle.

“We want to make sure there is fairness in the tax roll,” he said, adding that he believes there is fairness now. “People feel they are being over-assessed, but really what they have to look at is the
total tax levy.”
I don't know much, this guy knows less then I do.

McCarthy said the assessment is designed to ensure property owners are paying their fair share of taxes.
When a democrat talks fair share, it means the middle class, plus or minus a bit, is going to pay out of their a**.

Quoted from Dirt2

“We want to make sure there is fairness in the tax roll,” he said, adding that he believes there is fairness now. “People feel they are being over-assessed, but really what they have to look at is the total tax levy.”

I don't know much, this guy knows less then I do.

McCarthy said the assessment is designed to ensure property owners are paying their fair share of taxes.
When a democrat talks fair share, it means the middle class, plus or minus a bit, is going to pay out of their a**.

More EVIDENCE the mayor and his assessor are NOT qualified to do their jobs, and I DEFY anyone to cite EVIDENCE that they are qualified.

According to McCarthy:


            

Quoted Text

“We want to make sure there is fairness in the tax roll,” ... he believes there is fairness now

First off, McCarthy doesn't know that it is NOT a "tax roll," but rather an "Assessment Roll."

Secondly, McCarthy "believes" their is fairness now.   So to explain it in a very simple way, one street has 9 identical houses.  During the last reassessment, all 9 were assessed for the same amount, e.g., $110,000.   Then:

--- Three houses went up for sale the selling price was $60,000.  The new owners grieve in front of McTHIEF's cronies on the board of assessment and are denied any reduction (the usual cop out "insufficient data").  

---------    These three appeal to the next level.  Of these three:

---------------    Two owners successfully win reductions to $72,600.

---------------    One owner is so busy with trying to get settled in, painting the rooms to their own tastes  while trying to also trying to get part of their basement set up to start their tomatoes (inside) for the garden they are going to do, and they have kids who have games that the parents attend and/or volunteer at, and the kids are in grades with that stupid testing, so this family is so busy, that they err in one little item in the appeal process, thus essentially losing on a minor technicality.  


--- Three other owners, upon learning the sale prices of these three houses on their street, have the intelligence to know that this proves that their own houses have also massively fallen in value under McC's leadership, which means their three identical houses also are only worth $60,000 as well.  So they, too, grieve in front of McTHIEF's cronies on the board of assessment and are denied any reduction (the usual cop out "insufficient data").  

---------    These three also appeal to the next level.  Of these three:

---------------    Two owners successfully win reductions to $72,600.

---------------    But one owner--the husband is so busy with addressing things when his wife suddenly goes in the hospital after a cancer find, his car is found to need a new transmission and will need to be in the shop the same day his daughter is supposed to take her road test (she learned on dad's small car, not the mom's 9 passenger mini van), that daughter needs to go for a college visit, two other kids have their games that dad coaches and they have those stupid testing too, oh, and then during a heavy wind a large branch breaks off a tree and the tree really needs to be taken down, so this family is so busy, that with the wife in the hospital, and the husband errs in one little item in the appeal process, thus essentially losing on a minor technicality.


--- Three other owners do not grieve:

---------------    Two owners do not know that they can grieve their assessment

---------------    The other owner is aware of the grievance process, but believes that he needs to keep the assessment high so that when he puts the house up for sale in September (when he retires to move way), that keeping the assessment high will mean a higher sale price.



The end result is that of the 9 identical houses on the same street, all now have a market value of $60,000, but:

---------   Four (4) homeowners have their taxes calculated based on an assessment of $72,600

---------   The other five (5) homeowners have their taxes calculated based on an assessment of $110,000.



Remember what McCarthy said, his very own words:   “We want to make sure there is fairness in the tax roll,” ... he believes there is fairness now.  In the opinion of the unqualified mayor (and is equally unqualified assessor), the above example of 9 IDENTICAL houses being assessed differently and paying different amounts in taxes, is defined as fairness.



Next throw into the mix, a different house on a different street which was assessed for $125,000 in the last reassessment, sells in January for $160,000 but without a full, complete, and accurate citywide reassessment, this owner pays taxes calculated on an outdated assessment of $125,000 rather than having taxes calculated based on what should be the assessment of $193,600, essentially allowing this owner to get away with paying about $2,700 less in taxes than the owner should pay.   But this is what the unqualified mayor (and his equally unqualified assessor) claims is fairness.



Then throw into the mix, is downtown.  Remember, under McCarthy's leadership, and also with "help" from metroplex, the property values in the city have massively fallen.  EVEN IN DOWNTOWN.  But downtown property owners have their high priced lawyers

271 State St --  Assessment reduced from $359,900 to $270,000
277 State St --  Reduced from $544,300 to $380,000
245 Green St -- Reduced from $1,193,200 to $740,000
150 Barrett St -- Reduced from $259,600 to $120,000
432 Franklin St -- Reduced from $344,500 to $235,000
435-39 State St -- Reduced from $322,100 to $275,000
134 State St -- Reduced from $2,830,100 to $2,500,000
161 Jay St - Reduced from $295,400 to $230,000
253 State St -- Reduced from $1,611,900 to $290,000
2345 Maxon Rd, i.e., the Gazette building -- Reduced from $5,467,300 to $3,725,000

401 State St - Reduced from $2,891,720 to $2,300,300
......................And remember, this one at 401 State is  one of the Galesi tax exempt properties, that this billionaire political crony of McCarthy and Metroplex, got the reduction as soon as it was required to start paying the full tax bill



Yes, reductions to downtown properties; a huge reduction to a McCarthy/plex billionaire crony (at the very moment he had to start paying taxes), and THIS is what McCarthy says he believes there is fairness.


Yes, look at how the tax base is massively falling even in downtown with the hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars (forcibly taken from the financially struggling taxpaying homeowners under threat of having their homes seized) to build/renovate new lavish buildings.  But, remember what one person has said, QUOTE!  "Metroplex isn't a gamble -- it is a solid investment.  It has paid tremendously positive dividend to the City"      

"WE want to make sure there is fairness". That has to be a lie. No one is that stupid.
Another issue is how bad the reassessment was done last time around. A one-story bungalow suddenly becomes two floors of living space, without any work having been done on the attic? How much more "information" does someone need, to fix an obvious mistake that costs the homeowner thousands?
BS did a terrible thing, thinking it was a good idea, when he "fixed" the wrong problem by raising taxes so high to get a better Standard and Poor rating. Gary McCarthy went along with it, they all did, because, I think, they all thought BS was smart. People make mistakes out of ignorance all the time. This mistake had a lot of support in the media, the whole financial world was supporting some really bad ideas. We all saw the effects. The problem is, here in Schenectady, we are still supporting those really, really bad ideas, even though we can all see the harmful results with our own eyes.
BT, what you say is very, very welcome news. More and more people are waking up.

I guess this was in the gazette......................


Schenectady cuts assessed value on 112 properties

July 1, 2015  


SCHENECTADY — Of the city’s 415 property tax grievance applications this year, 112 or 36 percent were granted a lower assessed value, Assessor Molly MacElroy said Wednesday.

Last year, the city received 446 grievance applications and lowered the assessments of 43 percent.

The five-member Board of Assessment Review had until Wednesday to approve or deny applications. The board heard some homeowners plead their case for a lower assessment on Tuesday, May 26, Grievance Day.

Board members, who serve five-year terms, are Ruth Bergeron, Mary D’Alessandro, Dharam Hitlall, Bill Sanderson and Douglas Williams.

The tax rate for Schenectady properties is $13.88 per $1,000 of assessed value for city taxes, $6.80 for county taxes and $22.61 for school taxes.

I know someone who grieved a couple years back, got the "rubber stamp", and this year tried again, hiring an attorney and everything. I will see how they did when I see them.