SCIPIO - Scipio's assessor and a state representative from the Office of Real Property Services were at Scipio Town Hall Thursday night to explain the town's reassessment project for the upcoming year, but no residents attended.

“People are not as knowledgeable as they should be,” said Donald Weber, customer relationship manager for the state Office of Real Property Services. “Whenever I've done one of these presentations, they haven't attended in great numbers.”

Scott Snyder, town assessor for nine years, is beginning revaluation and will send data mailers containing all information, including assessed values, on 1,011 parcels in the town some time between mid-September and the month's end.

“Many people come in to complain about their taxes,” Snyder said, “but we have no control over that.”

Once residents get the mailers, they can keep them in their records. If they find an error, they can correct it and send the mailer back.

Scipio, which operates on a triennial evaluation schedule, is now at about an 88 percent equalization rate, Snyder said.

“The triennial assessment is close to 100 percent, so there are no huge shifts in values,” he said. “All is done as fairly and equitably as possible.”

He said Scipio Town Supervisor Keith Batman was very supportive of the assessment practice, taking an interest in the triennial practice.

“A lot of municipalities are apprehensive,” Snyder said, “ because they don't do it on a regular basis. Frequency of assessments keeps the property values more equitable.”

Once data mailers are sent, evaluations are done with a mass appraisal produced for every property. The appraiser tries to find three comparable properties to compare within the town, using computer assisted calculations, going back three years for accurate data.

Although this is a revaluation year, Snyder goes out every year and at least looks at every property.

Land value is first considered, then the type of house (old style, contemporary, cottage); type of structure; age, grade and condition of the property. Scipio has three neighborhoods: rural/residential, agricultural, and waterfront.

Between October and November Snyder completes the valuation process with a field review, before exemptions get under way. STAR exemptions and other exemptions are filed between January and March.

After preliminary assessments, disclosure notices are sent to property owners along with impact statements showing what property taxes would have been last year if new assessments were in place.

Next, an informal hearing takes place for about two weeks to hear complaints prior to the formal complaint period.

“Out of the thousand assessments that I do, normally there are about 150 informal discussions,” Snyder said. “A lot of people want information or ask for a copy of the field review document, for example.”

“On a reassessment year in Scipio, there are normally about 25 grievances,” he said.

During the formal hearing, a board of assessment, appointed by the town supervisor, and the assessor review grievances. That board has the final say.

A tentative tax roll is prepared by the first Wednesday following the fourth Tuesday in May.

If a property owner doesn't like the board's decision, he can still ask for relief in small claims court.

Snyder said he gets a lot of satisfaction seeing people get more involved in the assessment process.

“The only advice I give,” he said, “is ‘file your exemption on time.'”

Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311, ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net