Town board decides against annual assessment
COVENTRY – Coventry officials decided this week to abandon efforts to adopt an annual real property assessment process after the town supervisor reversed her position on the issue.
“I think we should just go along with our triennial plan for reassessment that we adopted last year,” Town Supervisor Jan O’Shea told board members after a brief discussion.
O’Shea said she had been “struggling” with the topic since last month’s meeting when it was discussed at length, recognizing it would likely cause controversy among some town residents. Since the May meeting, the supervisor said she had done additional research which included consulting a representative from the New York State Office of Real Property Services as well as Chenango County Assessor Steve Harris and Coventry’s town assessor, Jack Stafford.
She said she asked each the same question: Would they see the same sharp decrease in the equalization rate they saw after the last revaluation, done three years ago, if they did not do a reassessment annually?
“Universally, unanimously and separately, they all feel that things are flattening out,” O’Shea reported, referring to the real estate market.
Given the current market conditions, she said, “They feel that we would be very close (to a 100 percent equalization rate) for the next three years.”
Within three years of the last reassessment that equalization rate had already dropped into the 70’s.
“Our feeling is, we’re here. Let’s not slip back again,” O’Shea said, responding to a question by board member Phyllis Lerwick. According to the supervisor, those she consulted predicted the equalization rate would fall no more than 2 or 3 points over the next three years if the trend holds and the assessor makes annual adjustments as required.
The main drawback of staying with the triennial system is that the town will miss out on the $5 per parcel incentive paid by the state for municipalities which reassess on an annual basis, she reported.
After minimal discussion, the board reached consensus with each member signaling their agreement.
“I think we should just go along with our triennial plan for reassessment that we adopted last year,” Town Supervisor Jan O’Shea told board members after a brief discussion.
O’Shea said she had been “struggling” with the topic since last month’s meeting when it was discussed at length, recognizing it would likely cause controversy among some town residents. Since the May meeting, the supervisor said she had done additional research which included consulting a representative from the New York State Office of Real Property Services as well as Chenango County Assessor Steve Harris and Coventry’s town assessor, Jack Stafford.
She said she asked each the same question: Would they see the same sharp decrease in the equalization rate they saw after the last revaluation, done three years ago, if they did not do a reassessment annually?
“Universally, unanimously and separately, they all feel that things are flattening out,” O’Shea reported, referring to the real estate market.
Given the current market conditions, she said, “They feel that we would be very close (to a 100 percent equalization rate) for the next three years.”
Within three years of the last reassessment that equalization rate had already dropped into the 70’s.
“Our feeling is, we’re here. Let’s not slip back again,” O’Shea said, responding to a question by board member Phyllis Lerwick. According to the supervisor, those she consulted predicted the equalization rate would fall no more than 2 or 3 points over the next three years if the trend holds and the assessor makes annual adjustments as required.
The main drawback of staying with the triennial system is that the town will miss out on the $5 per parcel incentive paid by the state for municipalities which reassess on an annual basis, she reported.
After minimal discussion, the board reached consensus with each member signaling their agreement.
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