Assessment complaints pile up in Saugerties

By Jesse J. Smith , Freeman staff Daily Freeman March 31, 2005

SAUGERTIES - The voice mailbox at the town Assessor's Office is jammed, Town Board members are fielding calls from panicked constituents, and town officials are expecting a marathon Grievance Day.
It's reassessment time in Saugerties.
Since the first townwide property revaluation since 1999 was completed earlier this month, town property owners are coming to terms with assessments that, in some cases, have doubled, tripled or quadrupled based on the red-hot post-9/11 real estate market.
"Really, this isn't Scarsdale," said Pamela Horowitz, who showed up the Assessor's Office for an informal meeting to try to resolve what she says is a disparity between the assessment and her home's worth. "We're living in a country setting. Things are supposed to be cheaper up here. That's why people move to Saugerties from the city."
Horowitz is not alone. In the weeks since notices detailing preliminary new assessments went out to town property owners, Assessor Steve Ryan and his staff have been handling an overwhelming tide of residents bearing stacks of documents to back up their claims of overassessment. With more than 300 calls per day coming in, it is nearly impossible to get through or leave a message at Ryan's office. On a recent Tuesday, the assessor declined to speak with a reporter, citing time constraints.
"The phone calls I've received at home are from people who aren't so much angry as frustrated because they can't reach the Assessor's Office," said town Councilman Tom Macarille. "Lets face it, a lot of people are going to want to see the assessor right now."
The revaluation pushed the total on-paper value of the roughly 9,000 parcels in Saugerties from $900 million to $1.4 billion, with the heaviest burden falling on those whose properties have not been reassessed since the last townwide revaluation, which took place in a slow real estate market. Since then, and especially since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, purchase prices on homes have skyrocketed, pushed upward by a wave of migrants from downstate.
"9/11 has driven the (housing market) in Ulster County sky high," said Macarille. "And Saugerties has always been known as the virgin land of the Catskills. 9/11 speeded things up, but (the real estate boom) was bound to happen sometime."
While long-term Saugerties homeowners appear headed for high tax increases when school tax rates are set in August, newcomers to town, and others who have been reassessed to 100 percent value in the last few years, can expect lower taxes. Town officials say many people do not understand that the assessment hikes do not raise the amount of money collected in taxes by the town and school district, but simply create a level playing field where the recently reassessed do not end up shouldering more of the tax burden than their neighbors.
"You have a lot of new development in the last three years and the people who bought those homes have been paying more than their share," said Councilman Fred Costello. "They've been paying taxes based on 100 percent valuation, but under the old tax rate."
The Town Board recently passed a number of resolutions aimed at easing the tax burden, including extending the tax deadline for military personnel overseas and raising the income level at which senior citizens can qualify for a 50 percent assessment reduction from $15,000 to $21,000 per year. The board also signed a petition calling on the state to replace property taxes with income or sales tax-based levies.
That comes as little comfort to Tom Koster, who owns several Saugerties properties, including a small house in the village whose assessment tripled in the revaluation. Koster showed up at the Assessor's Office with two appraisals by lending institutions, showing a much lower value for the home. He hopes to receive an assessment reduction.
"I almost fainted when I saw the new assessment," said Koster. "It's financially devastating me. I just can't afford it."
Others say that, with property values rising quickly, their new assessments accurately reflect their home's worth.
"Certainly it has raised my taxes," said village resident Richard Frisbie. "But, as far the equality of things goes, I'm probably paying more of my fair share than I was before. I don't think it was an unreasonable figure and I'm not contesting it."
Councilman Phil Tucker said tax woes have little to do with assessments and everything to do with government spending.
"If people are really concerned about their taxes, they should worry about what the county, the state and their local governments are spending," Tucker said.

©Daily Freeman 2005

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