Can property assessments be made more transparent, fair and cost effective?
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Pushed by state, Cayuga County explores centralizing the home valuation process
Pushed by state, Cayuga County explores centralizing the home valuation process
The Cayuga County Legislature thinks so, and is moving ahead with a countywide property assessment and tax collection system study - funded by the state - to figure out how to do it.
“It's a step in the right direction,” Legislature Chairman Roger Mills said. “I'm excited about it. I hope it works. There is so much inequity from town to town.”
The study will examine a range of options, including the possibility of a countywide assessment system.
Voters would have to decide in a countywide referendum whether or not to accept a county assessment program.
Thirty-three states use the county assessing model, but in New York only Tompkins and Nassau counties have it. More than 1,100 assessing units, more than 1,600 assessors, and no common standards across the state produce a lot of waste, state officials have said. Nine of the 10 counties with the highest average property tax rate in the country are in New York.
The county's $50,000 state grant requires no recommendations or implementation, just that the study be done and submitted. The county treasurer's office also received $50,000 to study and establish a countywide property tax collection and enforcement database.
Half of the money is paid up front to use, in part, for manpower to set up a department or commission for the study, Mills said. The Legislature must receive the study and send minutes reflecting its receipt to the state by Oct. 1 in order to get the second $25,000 component.
The county's share is part of $5.2 million statewide being used by 43 counties to reduce government costs and aid those getting results for taxpayers. Counties assessing at 100 percent and meeting other criteria will receive $10 per parcel in aid. Any jurisdiction within a county meeting those criteria gets $5 to $8 per parcel in aid.
Cayuga County officials don't have too look far to find an example of countywide assessment. A neighbor to the south, Tompkins County, has had such a system since 1970.
“Whoever does the study should do it without any bias,” Valeria Coggin, director of assessment for Tompkins County, said. “They should disclose the cost and the efficiency. Elected officials must determine whether it (county wide assessment) is financially feasible.”
Her county's 34,500 parcels are on a triennial revaluation cycle. Under this cycle, if a property is first assessed at 100 percent and its market value increases each year, the level of assessment will drop annually until the third year when 100 percent value is determined again.
“At the very beginning some of the assessors were part-time and there were differing ideas about assessing,” Coggin said of the Tompkins program. “It was a mixed bag. Any county first has to establish a uniform percent countywide.”
Tompkins had an immediate revaluation done with each parcel valued at 100 percent. Now, the program is running smoothly.
Coggin said consolidation ensured that all county properties were assessed at a uniform percentage of market value with one single assessing unit doing the work for the entire county. Instead of elected or appointed assessors, Tompkins County has 15 appraisers who must pass civil service tests to be employed, insuring uniform training.
Resistance from town legislators might be a problem facing any county seeking to start a similar program.
“Home rule is such a strong power,” Coggin said, “and nobody wants to give it up. There is no miracle cure for that. But the homeowners who are at a higher percentage would want equitable valuations.”
“Resentment comes if one municipality is underassessed,” she said. “In general, the key word is the tax burden should be distributed evenly.”
While some people think annual revaluations are unfair, the opposite is true, say assessment professionals.
“The longer you wait, the further equity deteriorates,” Coggin said.
One of the most difficult aspects of organizing countywide assessments is developing an appropriate level of staffing, Coggin said.
“Along with that, there must be appropriate compensation,” she said, “not only for the assessors but the support staff and those who do the mapping. Compensation has to correspond with the local economy.
“It's not going to happen overnight, especially if people are not technologically savvy,” Coggin said.
Tompkins County has developed several databases over the years to keep costs down.
Cayuga County real property director Al Kozlowski is overseeeing the study, and he's starting with a survey. As of last week, he had received three of 23 surveys sent to all towns in the county.
As more come in, a detailed plan should emerge indicating how the study will work. Kozlowski suggested towns appoint a spokesperson or assessment committee, but a number of towns are not too enthusiastic at this point.
“It's not meant to be a deadline issue,” he said. “It's a package to elicit discussion.”
The surveys probed reassessment frequency to keep equalization rates at 100 percent revaluation cycles, taxpayers and official support/rejection of countywide assessing, and accessibility of assessors to taxpayers.
Towns could choose status quo with a single assessing unit for each town, combining townships into three or four different consolidated assessing programs, countywide assessing units, or a combination, such as appointing an assessor but having the county maintain data collection.
“We're trying to get folks communicating among themselves,” Kozlowski said.
“My intention was to take the $50,000 and give money to the towns and to four coordinators in Cayuga County,” he said. “The study is a work in progress.”
The four county coordinators will work within a framework of sectors in the county.
The initial committee would begin with an analysis of surveys sent out and collected.
Each county leader will work with a group of towns in the north, the north central area, municipalities included in the Auburn Enlarged City School District, and the south/south central section of the county.
Coordinators could be former or current town supervisors, possibly the county manager and mayor. Town conferences might include members from the town board, planning board, code enforcement officers or assessors.
At the very least, Kozlowski said he hopes for countywide consensus on a uniform building permit package.
Just keeping up with building permits, lining up the system of inventory, and keeping it up to date would be a big step toward equitable assessments, he said.
He extolled the county's software package with a GIS management system to create uniform evaluations.
“A big part of the assessor's description is keeping track of sales and selling prices,” Kozlowski said.
Study dollars for laptops and software to process data, combined with access to Cayuga County's free Web site, offer a sophisticated means of navigating among 39,000 parcels in the community to compare similar properties.
Average taxpayers can get stuck on data analysis - frequency distributions, measures of central tendency and dispersions, and sales ratios - without being able to judge the assessment's fairness.
Kozlowski hopes to make the methodology clear by illustrating it to individual towns, acclimating them through small groups to locate areas of agreement.
Collating information to find common elements and methods, gain common ground, and agree on what to use can help towns accept or vote on a building permit package and inventory software, with a final recommendation to the County Legislature.
The study will analyze what needs to be done to carry out the program, either through a county assessing unit or county coordinated assessment programs.
It will analyze the present administration of real property tax, specify county functions, and provide specific, necessary steps to implement a new plan. Cost estimates and a timeline are required.
But when it comes to a dramatic change in the system, there will certainly be some skeptics.
“If you look at the big picture, sure, this state wants every township to be perfect in a perfect world,” Ron Garropy, former assessor for the town of Fleming, said. “Look at what that does for the state labor force. They're looking to cut down costs.”
“Is Owasco the same as Fleming, the same as Sterling, the same as Throop?” Garropy asked.
If any assessor did the whole county, there could still be some errors or gaps in the data collection process, errors of omission or commission.
“The whole assessment process isn't perfect,” Garropy said, “but it's the best we've got.”
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
Opinion snapshot
Last month, readers of The Citizen's Web site, auburnpub.com, voted in an online poll on the subject of countywide assessments. They were asked, “Would you be in favor of a centralized, county property assessment system?”
Yes 220 (61 percent)
No 144 (39 percent)
“It's a step in the right direction,” Legislature Chairman Roger Mills said. “I'm excited about it. I hope it works. There is so much inequity from town to town.”
The study will examine a range of options, including the possibility of a countywide assessment system.
Voters would have to decide in a countywide referendum whether or not to accept a county assessment program.
Thirty-three states use the county assessing model, but in New York only Tompkins and Nassau counties have it. More than 1,100 assessing units, more than 1,600 assessors, and no common standards across the state produce a lot of waste, state officials have said. Nine of the 10 counties with the highest average property tax rate in the country are in New York.
The county's $50,000 state grant requires no recommendations or implementation, just that the study be done and submitted. The county treasurer's office also received $50,000 to study and establish a countywide property tax collection and enforcement database.
Half of the money is paid up front to use, in part, for manpower to set up a department or commission for the study, Mills said. The Legislature must receive the study and send minutes reflecting its receipt to the state by Oct. 1 in order to get the second $25,000 component.
The county's share is part of $5.2 million statewide being used by 43 counties to reduce government costs and aid those getting results for taxpayers. Counties assessing at 100 percent and meeting other criteria will receive $10 per parcel in aid. Any jurisdiction within a county meeting those criteria gets $5 to $8 per parcel in aid.
Cayuga County officials don't have too look far to find an example of countywide assessment. A neighbor to the south, Tompkins County, has had such a system since 1970.
“Whoever does the study should do it without any bias,” Valeria Coggin, director of assessment for Tompkins County, said. “They should disclose the cost and the efficiency. Elected officials must determine whether it (county wide assessment) is financially feasible.”
Her county's 34,500 parcels are on a triennial revaluation cycle. Under this cycle, if a property is first assessed at 100 percent and its market value increases each year, the level of assessment will drop annually until the third year when 100 percent value is determined again.
“At the very beginning some of the assessors were part-time and there were differing ideas about assessing,” Coggin said of the Tompkins program. “It was a mixed bag. Any county first has to establish a uniform percent countywide.”
Tompkins had an immediate revaluation done with each parcel valued at 100 percent. Now, the program is running smoothly.
Coggin said consolidation ensured that all county properties were assessed at a uniform percentage of market value with one single assessing unit doing the work for the entire county. Instead of elected or appointed assessors, Tompkins County has 15 appraisers who must pass civil service tests to be employed, insuring uniform training.
Resistance from town legislators might be a problem facing any county seeking to start a similar program.
“Home rule is such a strong power,” Coggin said, “and nobody wants to give it up. There is no miracle cure for that. But the homeowners who are at a higher percentage would want equitable valuations.”
“Resentment comes if one municipality is underassessed,” she said. “In general, the key word is the tax burden should be distributed evenly.”
While some people think annual revaluations are unfair, the opposite is true, say assessment professionals.
“The longer you wait, the further equity deteriorates,” Coggin said.
One of the most difficult aspects of organizing countywide assessments is developing an appropriate level of staffing, Coggin said.
“Along with that, there must be appropriate compensation,” she said, “not only for the assessors but the support staff and those who do the mapping. Compensation has to correspond with the local economy.
“It's not going to happen overnight, especially if people are not technologically savvy,” Coggin said.
Tompkins County has developed several databases over the years to keep costs down.
Cayuga County real property director Al Kozlowski is overseeeing the study, and he's starting with a survey. As of last week, he had received three of 23 surveys sent to all towns in the county.
As more come in, a detailed plan should emerge indicating how the study will work. Kozlowski suggested towns appoint a spokesperson or assessment committee, but a number of towns are not too enthusiastic at this point.
“It's not meant to be a deadline issue,” he said. “It's a package to elicit discussion.”
The surveys probed reassessment frequency to keep equalization rates at 100 percent revaluation cycles, taxpayers and official support/rejection of countywide assessing, and accessibility of assessors to taxpayers.
Towns could choose status quo with a single assessing unit for each town, combining townships into three or four different consolidated assessing programs, countywide assessing units, or a combination, such as appointing an assessor but having the county maintain data collection.
“We're trying to get folks communicating among themselves,” Kozlowski said.
“My intention was to take the $50,000 and give money to the towns and to four coordinators in Cayuga County,” he said. “The study is a work in progress.”
The four county coordinators will work within a framework of sectors in the county.
The initial committee would begin with an analysis of surveys sent out and collected.
Each county leader will work with a group of towns in the north, the north central area, municipalities included in the Auburn Enlarged City School District, and the south/south central section of the county.
Coordinators could be former or current town supervisors, possibly the county manager and mayor. Town conferences might include members from the town board, planning board, code enforcement officers or assessors.
At the very least, Kozlowski said he hopes for countywide consensus on a uniform building permit package.
Just keeping up with building permits, lining up the system of inventory, and keeping it up to date would be a big step toward equitable assessments, he said.
He extolled the county's software package with a GIS management system to create uniform evaluations.
“A big part of the assessor's description is keeping track of sales and selling prices,” Kozlowski said.
Study dollars for laptops and software to process data, combined with access to Cayuga County's free Web site, offer a sophisticated means of navigating among 39,000 parcels in the community to compare similar properties.
Average taxpayers can get stuck on data analysis - frequency distributions, measures of central tendency and dispersions, and sales ratios - without being able to judge the assessment's fairness.
Kozlowski hopes to make the methodology clear by illustrating it to individual towns, acclimating them through small groups to locate areas of agreement.
Collating information to find common elements and methods, gain common ground, and agree on what to use can help towns accept or vote on a building permit package and inventory software, with a final recommendation to the County Legislature.
The study will analyze what needs to be done to carry out the program, either through a county assessing unit or county coordinated assessment programs.
It will analyze the present administration of real property tax, specify county functions, and provide specific, necessary steps to implement a new plan. Cost estimates and a timeline are required.
But when it comes to a dramatic change in the system, there will certainly be some skeptics.
“If you look at the big picture, sure, this state wants every township to be perfect in a perfect world,” Ron Garropy, former assessor for the town of Fleming, said. “Look at what that does for the state labor force. They're looking to cut down costs.”
“Is Owasco the same as Fleming, the same as Sterling, the same as Throop?” Garropy asked.
If any assessor did the whole county, there could still be some errors or gaps in the data collection process, errors of omission or commission.
“The whole assessment process isn't perfect,” Garropy said, “but it's the best we've got.”
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
Opinion snapshot
Last month, readers of The Citizen's Web site, auburnpub.com, voted in an online poll on the subject of countywide assessments. They were asked, “Would you be in favor of a centralized, county property assessment system?”
Yes 220 (61 percent)
No 144 (39 percent)
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