City assessments would hike values by $182 million
As real estate prices plummet in some recession-battered regions, Buffalo assessors say thousands of city properties have increased in value by a total of $182 million since their last revaluation, especially in upscale neighborhoods.
Higher assessments will mean larger tax bills for up to 7,065 property owners, and some wasted no time lodging complaints with City Hall after receiving notification letters on Saturday and Monday.
Many homeowners living in Allentown, on the Upper West Side and on some upscale streets in North Buffalo and parts of South Buffalo would see dramatic increases in assessments. For example, about 60 homes on prestigious streets such as Lincoln Parkway, Rumsey Road, Bryant Street and Middlesex Road would see assessed values increase anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000.
Thousands of other property owners would see assessment increases ranging from $5,000 to $40,000. For every $10,000 increase in a home’s assessed value, city property taxes increase by nearly $200, based on current tax rates.
About 3,800 properties would see reductions in their assessed values.
But the proposed increases would affect almost twice as many properties and would raise the assessed values of properties in Buffalo by $182.2 million, to nearly $9.9 billion.
It’s all about the “fairness factor,” said Assessment and Taxation Commissioner Martin F. Kennedy. State law requires municipalities to reassess all properties at least once every six years to make sure all individuals are paying their fair share of taxes.
Kennedy said he is aware that many city residents have likely been following media coverage documenting the adverse impact that the U. S. banking crisis and the flood of foreclosures have had on real estate prices nationwide.
“But real estate prices aren’t plummeting here. In fact, our real estate market is excellent,” Kennedy said Monday.
Property values in many neighborhoods have been rising, Kennedy said, bolstering his assertion by waving a book that contains a list of all recent real estate sales.
But some homeowners are livid — including a West Side resident who said his home has been assessed four times in eight years. James Healy of Hodge Avenue said his $230,000 tentative assessment is almost twice the amount he paid for the Elmwood Village home in 2000.
“I’m being forced to move by the Department of Assessment and Taxation,” Healy wrote in a letter he sent to government officials and reporters. “I just can’t take it anymore.”
Healy also criticized city officials for misleading people by insisting that they have been holding the line on property taxes. While tax rates in the city have actually declined in recent years, the revaluation process has saddled tens of thousands of property owners with higher tax bills.
“They can campaign on holding the line on property taxes, when in fact they are not. This is a petty game that is sickening,” claimed Healy.
Of the 24,000 properties reviewed this year, more than half would see no changes in their assessed values, said Ann Marie Lo Faso, principal assessor for the city. Of the 7,065 properties that face higher assessments, 801 are nonhomestead — or commercial properties.
Many of the commercial properties that would see the highest increases involve facilities that are owned by the city, state, county, schools and hospitals, making them exempt from property taxes. Other properties are owned by utility companies.
Any property owner has the right to fight an assessment, Kennedy said, stressing that the new values are tentative until an independent panel reviews challenges. The Board of Assessment Review will begin hearings in early January. Property owners must submit an assessment challenge form to City Hall no later than Dec. 31 to schedule a hearing.
People needn’t attend a hearing to try to get reductions. They can send documentation to the city’s Assessment and Taxation office, and the material will be reviewed by the board.
“We truly try to be as fair and consistent as possible. But we’re the first ones to recognize that we’re not perfect,” said Kennedy.
Of the 1,126 grievances filed by property owners for assessments that took effect this year, the review panel granted reductions to 66 percent of the challengers.
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