NORWICH – Chenango County is one of a small handful of counties that did not apply for state funds offered late last year to help streamline property tax assessment and collection procedures.
Among the 41 counties awarded portions of the $3.6 million grant last week were Chenango’s neighboring counties of Otsego, Broome, Madison and Cortland. The recipients were announced via Governor David Paterson’s office on March 20.
No county’s application was denied. And although the grant application deadline has already passed, a spokesperson for the New York State Office of Real Property Services said the organization would continue its outreach to local officials.
“We are hoping that Chenango County, along with a handful of other counties that haven’t applied, will take advantage of the opportunity to explore opportunities for reforming the property tax system in their own counties and seeing what changes would be appropriate,” Geoff Glouk said.
Although he couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday, Chenango County Board of Supervisors Chairman Richard B. Decker has called for consideration of a countywide assessment project since 2006. He has specifically voiced an expedient need for more training for local assessors, updated statistical data in the real property tax office and more municipalities to share assessors.
Property taxes in New York State are among the highest in the nation and the property tax system is notoriously complex. There are 1,128 different government entities providing assessments for taxpayers, compared to a national median of 85. In addition, New York is one of only three states that lacks statewide uniform assessment standards.
“Every family and business in New York is affected by the high cost of local government,” said Governor Paterson. “By streamlining our property tax system, this grant program will make local government more efficient and result in lower property taxes for New Yorkers over the long run.”
To encourage more fair and efficient assessments, 41 counties will receive grants of $50,000 to study collaborative approaches to local assessing. To help facilitate collaboration on local tax collection, 31 counties will receive grants of $50,000 to study and implement a countywide database for tax collection and enforcement information.
Chenango County Real Property Tax Services Assistant Director Donald MacIntosh said he had not been directed to apply for the grant. He said he thought the county declined to participate because the grant was connected to former Governor Eliot Spitzer’s Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness, which local officials spoke out against last year.
Though the grant was developed at the behest of the Commission, it will be administered by the Office of Real Property Services.
“Any county (whether working with the Commission or not) is eligible to apply. It is truly an independent decision. It can be used for coordinating assessing as well as consolidating assessing,” said Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness Executive Director John Clarkson.
“It’s not a bad impact if a county doesn’t apply. We just think it is something that’s worth looking at,” he said.
Chenango County Finance Committee Chairman Lawrence Wilcox, R-Oxford, said he would prefer to study the county’s property tax assessment and collection procedures without a grant.
“I’ve found that when I make a study of something on my own, I can decide not to be tied to somebody’s free dollars. I’ve learned over the years, I can’t afford free. It usually has strings attached that are much more costly than the gift,” he said.
The Finance Committee is, however, currently studying its assessment system and the possibility of changing to an overall countywide assessment, he said. Wilcox, along with his town’s assessor, is considering a visit to nearby Tompkins County to learn more about the latter. Tompkins is one of two counties in the state that has adopted a countywide assessment system.
“I’ve heard a lot of people being unhappy with the current system, but when asked to put that in writing, nobody has come forward to say what they are unhappy with. I find that hard to administer a program when people don’t come out with the exact facts that we need to fix,” said Wilcox.
“The more I dig into this thing, I’m not certain that I’m in favor of a countywide assessment project here.”
Treasurer William E. Evans said the Chenango County often opts out of state grant opportunities. “This isn’t unique. It wouldn’t be the first grant this county has taken a pass on. We’ve stood in the small minority many times before.”
“Historically, this county separates wants from needs and determines then what it needs in an ordinary business like way, not under the shot gun approach. And I would match our fiscal health against anybody.”
Evans said the possibility of a countywide assessment project had been addressed twice in his tenure, both times defeated. He said voters need to be aware that the change could result in closing town collections offices, centralizing all real property tax functions at the County Office Building in Norwich.
“The view on the surface of this was a big government approach to consolidate and remove local services,” he said, referring to the grant.