Westchester County Legislator Gordon A. Burrows (R/Yonkers, Bronxville) proposes that Westchester County conduct a county re-valuation of all real estate in the golden apple. Burrows has added the following item to the agenda for the county board’s meeting of May 19:
Please join me in calling for legislation requiring annual county-wide reassessment of real property in Westchester.
Our current non-system has a variety of problems:
- Jurisdictions use different systems; therefore the state must impose a flawed equalization system. In the current accounting cycle, the county tax bill has risen dramatically for Yonkers taxpayers, and dropped in other municipalities.
- Many properties have not been reassessed in decades, therefore similar properties carry wildly different assessments within the same jurisdiction
- Assessments are not reviewed annually, therefore certiorari awards covering several years are expensed to taxpayers within one accounting year
Milton Hoffman reminded us last month in The Journal News that this problem has plagued the county for the better part of a century. Hoffman quoted County Executive William F. Bleakely as writing (in 1940!), “I am of the firm belief that a scientific standard of assessment uniformly applied throughout the county is much to be desired.”
Today, the need is greater than ever before. Accordingly, I ask this board to work with the County Attorney to draft legislation that would:
- Move the assessment authority and responsibility within Westchester County entirely to the county government, either through the Tax Commission, a new Department of Assessment (Bleakeley’s idea), or another division of county government.
- Require that the county re-assess all real property annually.
- Modify existing state law and align state law with our plans.
I urge timely consideration of this plan, and I urge that the Legislation committee begin work on this promptly, so that other communities not be buffeted next year as Yonkers was this last fiscal year.
Burrows said, “I note with pleasure that I am not the only Legislator concerned about the problems associated with Westchester’s erratic re-valuation policies. My friend and colleague Legislator Ken Jenkins (D/Yonkers) proposed, at the May 5 meeting, creation of a Westchester County Property Valuation Commission. The commission would gather property data, perform relevant data analysis, and submit recommendations on property valuation. Personally, I think the county should begin the process of properly valuing Westchester’s real property now. That requires action now at the state and county level, and it requires an annual commitment to maintaining the process. Legislator Jenkins’s proposed commission might well be part of the solution.”
Burrows continued, “I have spoken with my fellow Legislators who represent Yonkers: Jose Alvarado, Ken Jenkins, and Bernice Spreckman. They share my dismay that the current system has raised Yonkers taxes more than 20% in one year. That has to stop. The best way to stop these wild swings in the tax rate, is to properly and regularly assess all the real property in Westchester.”
Legislator Jenkins adds that the problem is the wild swings, “Over the past ten years the average annual county tax increase was 3.89%; in Yonkers that average annual tax increase was 3.74%. In other words, we need a plan to stop those wild swinging rates.”
- AGENDA ITEM SUBMITTED BY LEGISLATOR BURROWS
Date: May 5, 2008
To: Honorable Members, Board of Legislators
From: Gordon A. Burrows, County Legislator, District 15
Re: Legislation on Real Property Assessment
Please join me in calling for legislation requiring annual county-wide reassessment of real property in Westchester.
Our current non-system has a variety of problems:
Jurisdictions use different systems; therefore the state must impose a flawed equalization system. In the current accounting cycle, the county tax bill has risen dramatically for Yonkers taxpayers, and dropped in other municipalities.
Many properties have not been reassessed in decades, therefore similar properties carry wildly different assessments within the same jurisdiction
Assessments are not reviewed annually, therefore certiorari awards covering several years are expensed to taxpayers within one accounting year
Milton Hoffman reminded us last month in The Journal News that this problem has plagued the county for the better part of a century. Hoffman quoted County Executive William F. Bleakely as writing (in 1940!), “I am of the firm belief that a scientific standard of assessment uniformly applied throughout the county is much to be desired.”
Today, the need is greater than ever before. Accordingly, I ask this board to work with the County Attorney to draft legislation that would:
Move the assessment authority and responsibility within Westchester County entirely to the county government, either through the Tax Commission, a new Department of Assessment (Bleakeley’s idea), or another division of county government.
Require that the county re-assess all real property annually.
Modify existing state law and align state law with our plans.
I urge timely consideration of this plan, and I urge that the Legislation committee begin work on this promptly, so that other communities not be buffeted next year as Yonkers was this last fiscal year.
