Below is a summary of the SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING held on Saturday, April 3 - held to take action on the 2010 Property Tax Revaluation.
It was a win for grassroots democracy today!
At Saturday’s Town of Brookfield Special Meeting, the Board was pushed to take a stand on behalf of the residents of Brookfield and postpone the controversial 2010 valuation until 2011. Over 80 residents turned out at the Special Meeting called in response to last week’s protest march against the 2010 property tax revaluation.
After several hours of heated discussion, in a standing room only meeting hall, residents convinced their Town Board to vote 4-1 in favor of postponing the 2010 property tax revaluation until 2011. Board members voting to postpone the revaluation were: John Salka, Dewitt Head, Rachel Owen and Jeff Mayne. George Cowen was the sole, no vote.
The object of the vote is to postpone implementation of the 2010 revaluation until 201l, and use the 2009 valuations again this year. This will give the Assessor sufficient time to address the many inequities raised, and which they did not feel could be adequately addressed under the current grievance system. If necessary, the Town of Brookfield will take the other CAP Townships to arbitration in order to postpone the revaluation or drop out of the CAP.
A persistent theme among the crowd was the demand for action and accountability of public officials, to start action now, at the local level. The Town Board’s vote was hailed as a grassroots act by local elected officials to stand up on behalf of their residents against Albany. Resident Kevin Marsh agreed with protest leader, Steve Walker. “Citizens need to keep the momentum of today’s victory. We made a statement today and I am sure it will be heard for miles and miles…. Together we can make a difference. Today's events prove it.. …We will escalate this thing as far as the people want to take it! Brookfield, Wampsville, Albany, Washington???”
The next stop for the protesters will be the Brookfield Central School board meeting on Monday evening. Property owners face a 45% tax increase unless dramatic cuts are made to this year’s budget.
The revaluation was performed under a, multi-town agreement with Fenner, Nelson & Smithfield. Under the Coordinated Assessment Program (CAP’s) Agreement the towns receive financial incentives from the State to share the costs of one assessor.
Several residents questioned the assessor’s excessive work load. The lone assessor, Rhonda Weigand, is responsible for fully revaluing the four CAP towns in the same year, in addition to her responsibilities to towns outside of the program.
Brookfield received approximately $12,000 (or $1,200 per year credit) from the State to remain in the program for ten years. Failure to participate will result in a pro-rated portion of the funds being returned to the State.
In 2009, a majority of the four towns agreed to perform a 2010 revaluation to raise the equalization rate from 80 to 100%. In late February, revaluation notices were mailed to taxpayers, raising a firestorm of controversy and leading to last week’s demonstration.
The last Town revaluation was completed in 2005, at the top of the real estate market, leading some to question how property values could have increased 20-50%, in 2010, as we now sit at the bottom of the real estate market and have few services, other than highway.
Farmers were particularly hard hit this year, not only from the artificially depressed milk prices, but the inherent unfairness of property taxes. A farmer and board member, Dewitt Head pointed out that farmers need the land to make a living versus speculators and land developers that artificially inflate the price of land. Several farmers objected to their farm lands being valued as possible “road frontage” for residential development.
Residents were upset by the steep rise in valuations and comparables, e.g., double-wide being comparable to ranch homes; inability to mortgage homes at these same values, among other concerns.
Supervisor John Salka read Town Assessor Rhonda Weigand’s letter to the Board, defending her valuations and procedures. (A full copy is available on the Town website.) Salka also acknowledged the Town had received a letter from Wiegand’s personal attorney, warning against comments posted on the Town website. This year the assessor will receive a regular salary of $21,000, of which $ 7,000 is being paid for the Town’s 2010 revaluation. Each of the four towns pays a relatively similar amount, in addition to providing the assessor with NYS Retirement, social security, workman’s compensation and health benefits in addition to cost reimbursements.
