In anticipation of the meeting scheduled for Monday April 11 7:30 PM at Highview School, I'm posting the following questions/topics for general consideration. Please comment below and email to join our list at hartsdalefortaxfairness@gmail.com
1. Reassessment:
1(a)
What is the status of implementation of reassessment? Will the new assessment and corresponding tax
changes be implemented fully beginning with the 2017 tax year?
1(b)
Accuracy of the tax rates changes presented
in the reassessment notification letter:
(i)
the Assessor's map shows an overall drop in Greenburgh Central of 11% in assessed
values. Does this drop take into account
commercial and condo properties? If not,
how will the addition of those properties impact the -11% estimated decline?
(ii)
If there
is an overall decrease in assessed valued in GC of -11%, will the Hartsdale Fire
and Greenburgh Central (collectively 2/3 of the Hartsdale resident’s annual tax
bill) immediately raise their tax rates accordingly to compensate for any
budget decrease resulting from reassessment, and thereby negate most of the decreases
indicated in the reassessment notification letter? Or does the letter anticipate adjustments to
Fire and School tax rates?
2. Overall
tax rates
2(a)
Issue: Hartsdale homes are taxed annually
at about 3% of their assessed value (town, county, schools and fire). Zillow
shows that the Westchester County average is 2.5%. Scarsdale pays about 2.3%.
Question: Why is the Hartsdale homeowners’ property total property tax
rate so much higher than the county average and the Scarsdale tax rate?
2(b)
Issue: For Hartsdale homeowners,
the Town of Greenburgh annual tax rate is about .62% (21% of the total tax) and
the Hartsdale Fire Dept. tax rate is .53% (18%) of each home’s assessed value. Scarsdale pays about .41% for its village
taxes (18% of its total, which includes the Fire Dept. as well as all village
services).
Question:
Why are Hartsdale’s annual Town and Fire tax rates nearly three times higher than Scarsdale's?
2(c):
Issue: much of Hartsdale’s housing stock consists of condos and co-ops.
Adoption of homestead would have raised tax rates on condos and co-ops and
correspondingly eased the tax burden on house owners.
Question: Why did the Town Board refuse
to adopt homestead when recently presented with the opportunity to help house
owners?
3. Home Values
Issue:
Zillow home values index shows that 10530 home values peaked in 2006 and
started declining two years before the 2008 market collapse. Currently, 10530 home prices stand 25% below
the 2006 peak. The decline is even
steeper in Fairview. Consequently, large
numbers of Hartsdale homeowners would be unable to recover their home purchase
price in the event of a need to sell. Conversely,
home values in many of the villages and Edgemont School District have nearly
fully recovered their peak values.
Question:
Does Greenburgh town government have any plan in place to address this stagnation in Hartsdale/Fairview home values, and to help Hartsdale and Fairview enjoy the
same recovery in home values realized in other Greenburgh neighborhoods?
4. Four
Corners development
The business zone at the Four Corners
intersection of Central and Hartsdale appears increasingly blighted with two corner
vacancies and many empty storefronts, detracting from the appeal of the surrounding
neighborhood. What is the Town’s plan to
improve the appearance and quality of this commercial area “gateway” to
Hartsdale?
