50 residents turned out for the Oct. 7 town board work session at West Orchard
October 10, 2008
+ Tax inequity high on West End residents’ minds
+ Ossining Ambulance makes appeal for funds from West Enders
+ Fire Commissioners and DEIS go to Planning Board on October 21
Town Board visits Millwood and West Enders in work session
The town board took pains last Tuesday to move its work session to West Orchard elementary school, where they heard stories of painful increases in Ossining school taxes to which West End residents of New Castle are subject. Residents were anxious to hear whether the town board had any progress to report on the effort to revalue all of New Castle’s properties. Michael Olin, the first resident to take the podium, told the board that last year’s Ossining school tax levy was 4% for Ossining residents and 10% for New Castle residents who attend Ossining schools. There are about 500 households in the West End of New Castle who fall within the Ossining school district. They send about 200 students to Ossining schools. West Enders support a town-wide reassessment provided it is done at full market value. A full market value reassessment would consider condos and coops as single-family properties, whereas now they are treated tax-wise more like rental properties.
Olin asserted that there is a 20% difference in identical properties within different school districts, with school district as the largest determining factor of that difference. This means that a New Castle house in the Chappaqua school district that might sell for $100,000 would sell for $80,000 if located in the Ossining school district.
Janet Brand, a real estate agent, told the board that there are more short sales and foreclosures in the West End than in the rest of New Castle. Properties in the West End number 619 – less than 10% of the 6700 parcels that make up New Castle, yet West End properties account for 20% of tax delinquencies – and 27% of the town’s total delinquentcy debt of around $840,000.
The town board told West Enders that there has lately been pressure from Albany to conduct a county-wide “reval,” and that the city of Yonkers had decided on its own to undertake one. They told residents that they were information-gathering still.
See June Farnham’s October 10, 2007 Letter to the Editor in this edition of NewCastleNOW.org, “West End needs tax equity help now.”
For background on West End Tax Equity, see below:
Ossining Volunteer Ambulance Corps budget shortfall
The Chappaqua Volunteer Ambulance Corps covers the majority of New Castle, but the West Enders are covered by Ossining Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Although OVAC bills patients’ insurance companies, they do not collect a tax for ambulance service.
Sam Lubin, business manager of the Ossining Volunteer Ambulance Corps, made an appearance at the work session to tell the board and residents that OVAC’s yearly operating budget of $1 million (a combination of fundraising and insurance billing payments) has a shortfall of $400,000 – about the amount it costs Ossining VAC to pay its EMT’s and paramedics. Since it is OVAC that services the 500 West End households, Lubin was asking the town board to impose a tax of approximately $45 to $55 per household to help with the shortfall.
West Enders praised OVAC for its service, but immediately did the math: the 619 West End properties make up 7% of Ossining ambulance district’s 7,343 parcels. Seven percent of the $400,000 shortfall would be $29,750 – about $50 per household. One resident told Lubin, “Everybody loves OVAC,” however, she noted that of the 1,889 calls OVAC makes, the West Enders’ 58 emergency calls last year made up only 3% of the call volume. “We’re happy to kick in, but the formula should reflect reality,” she said.
Town Administrator Jerry Faiella explained that, if apportioned by number of households, the $29,750 of the expense attached to the West End’s 7% of households, would be a fee attached to each property on an “ad valorum” basis, that is, attached to the assessed value of the property. Some residents will pay $45 each year, some as much as $55.
Lubin assured the audience that if a taxing system is worked out with New Castle’s West Enders, a financial oversight committee would be established and would include a New Castle representative.
Fire Commissioners will finally bring their DEIS to planning board on Oct. 21
With the Millwood board of fire commissioners set to appear before the planning board on Tuesday, October 21st, one resident attending the work session Tuesday night asked why there had been no opportunity to vote on a plan no one has approved yet and on which a great deal of money has already been spent. Supervisor Barbara Gerrard answered that voters have the power, ultimately, to approve or disapprove the proposal.
She also explained that although the town board has no authority over the board of fire commissioners, the town of New Castle had prevailed in a lawsuit brought by the commissioners to free themselves of planning board review over the site plan and environmental permits.
Residents of Millwood have pressed for the commissioners to include a third alternative in the DEIS for the Realis site, in addition to the two alternative programs the DEIS now contains. If the planning board feels that the DEIS is inadequate in connection with permits over which it has authority—steep slopes, wetlands and tree removal— it has standing to ask the commissioners to reconsider elements of the site development plan that, in its judgment, adversely impact the environment.
First time use of in-house expertise
The Town of New Castle now employs a full time town planner, Lincoln Daley, who will coordinate the examination of the DEIS by various in-house department experts as well as the town’s consultant, F. P. Clark.
Bob Cioli, Acting Town Engineer: storm water management analysis, engineering report, slope analysis, slope stabilization, geotechnical survey, storm water retention
James Baynes, Chief of Police: traffic analysis, site access and egress, road alignment issues
Michael Preziosi, Junior Civil Engineer: engineering, support to Police Department on traffic, site access and egress and road alignment
Michael Landler, F.P. Clark planning consultant: traffic analysis
Steve Coleman, Environmental Coordinator: environmental impacts, wetlands, wetlands mitigation, steep slope and steep slope stabilization, tree removal
Anthony Vaccaro, Commissioner of Public Works: water resources and utilities, use and conservation of energy
Gerry Moerschell, Deputy Commissioner of Public Works: assist Vaccaro in water resources and utilities, use and conservation of energy
Lincoln Daley, Town Planner: general site, environmental impact, noise, visual and historical impacts
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Reprinted from NewCastleNOW.org’s “Letters to the Editor,” November 2, 2007 edition:
Tax Equity Framework for New Castle
by June Farnham
Tax inequity for homeowners in the West End continues unresolved. Homes in Chappaqua are worth more and assessed at a lower percentage of market value than homes in the West End, the Ossining School District portion of the Town of New Castle. This year, residents in the Chappaqua School District paid $89 per thousand dollars of assessed value for school and library taxes while West End residents paid $106 .
At the Town Board work session on October 23, WENT (West End Neighborhood Taxpayers), represented by Hala Makowska, presented their yearlong tax equity study to a meeting room packed with 60 residents. WENT has pursued many strategies for tax equity, but none have permanently solved the problem. The over-valuation of West End properties is acknowledged by the Town which, for the past several years, has actively filed segment rate applications with the NYS Office of Real Property Services to achieve annual school tax relief for West End residents. A segment rate is special rate used instead of an equalization rate when it is determined by the state that there are inequities between different school districts in the same Town. The Town has also hired attorneys to file an Article 78 proceeding against ORPS when the 2006 segment rate application was unreasonably denied by the State. The segment rate approach to fair taxation has no certainty and the West End needs equity on a permanent basis. The Town, operating with its existing authority, can break this impasse. Time is critical as the residents in the Ossining School District face an estimated 16% school tax increase in 2008 based on recently released equalization rates.
Douglas O’Connell, a certified residential Real Estate Appraiser, presented appraisals of three common home styles across different locations. The styles were the Colonial, Raised Ranch and Ranch and the locations were the West End of New Castle, Ossining and the rest of New Castle. The results for similar Colonials indicated the value in the West End at $630,000, in Ossining at $625,000 and in the rest of New Castle at $950,000. A colonial in the majority of New Castle is valued 34% higher than in the West End Ossining School District. The Raised Ranch was 25% higher and the Ranch 23% higher. Mr. John McGrory, Town Tax Assessor, indicated after the presentation he thought the appraiser was correct on the property values.
Richard Almy, a highly regarded property assessment consultant, used statistical approaches to look at assessments in New Castle. The Sales Ratio Study (which calculates the ratio of residential assessment to market value based on actual sales data) validated that homes in the Ossining School District have higher ratios than Chappaqua School District. In addition, Mr. Almy conducted a regression analysis to determine those property characteristics that affect home value. The top five factors, accounting for 75% of property value differences, were (in order) house size, school district, land area, construction quality and house style. Compared to Chappaqua, the school district value differences were Ossining 30% less, Yorktown 20% less and Bedford 10% less.
WENT presented a framework for a better approach to fairer assessments. In this approach, the Town would annually evaluate the major characteristics that affect property value and make appropriate adjustments to improve assessment uniformity. Fair assessments for the West End will have no impact on Chappaqua School District taxes, will reduce County taxes and have miniscule impact on Town taxes. In effect, fairer taxes for the West End should be neutral or positive for New Castle residents while saving West End residents $800,000 in unfair school taxes.
Ms. Makowska outlined additional the steps that the Town could take to create property tax equity. She suggested that the Town hire an assessment consultant such as Mr. Almy to pursue the tax equity issue. The Town Supervisor, Jan Wells, indicated the Board would further look into the issues raised.
After the meeting, some residents expressed frustration. One person suggested that the West End join Ossining. Another resident stated that a Board of Assessment Review solution results in only a one year fix as property values in Chappaqua continually appreciate at a faster rate than those of Ossining. The next year taxpayers would find themselves back in the same situation.
June Farnham has lived in the West End of New Castle since 2002. She is a member of the Millwood Task Force and WENT.
Copyright 2008 NewCastleNOW.org