The past few years have brought plenty of discussion on the problems high property taxes create for New York state's economy.

There have been official government task forces formed to study the problems, massive reports created and legislation introduced aimed at various forms of property tax relief.

We've encouraged such work, and pushed to see concrete changes, such as property tax caps, enacted.

But as appealing as these broad proposals seem, they do ignore a more fundamental problem hurting property owners all across this state, including those in every municipality in Cayuga County. That problem is the grossly inconsistent and often unfair system of property value assessments.

Despite property taxing jurisdictions that spread across entire counties, assessments are determined at the town or city level. But towns conduct these assessments differently, resulting in vastly different values for similar homes in close proximity to each other. The towns that neglect to keep their assessments at or near full market value create situations in which tax burdens are unfairly shifted.

And then there's the system for challenging the assessments. As today's story by Citizen reporter Christopher Caskey shows, the success a property owner might have on grievance day could largely depend on the approach of the board they face. Some residents may need an attorney to help them convince a board of assessment review to lower their assessment. Others can just fill out a few lines on a four-page form, show up to say a few words to the board and get their desired result.

It's a flawed system on all levels, and it's one that will continue to create problems even if property tax caps become reality.

Reform of property taxes in New York state must not only address the actual spending that's supported by taxes, but also the property assessment system that's used to determine who owes what.