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Massena village officials, residents not enthusiastic about state plan to offer tax cuts based on yearly tax increase

Posted 10/22/14

By ANDY GARDNER MASSENA -- Village residents may be able to get in a state program that gives cuts if taxing entities stay within the tax cap, but town officials and members of the public seemed the …

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Massena village officials, residents not enthusiastic about state plan to offer tax cuts based on yearly tax increase

Posted

By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- Village residents may be able to get in a state program that gives cuts if taxing entities stay within the tax cap, but town officials and members of the public seemed the see it as a cheap ploy by the incumbent governor during election season.

The state will cut checks for every taxpayer in the state that covers their increase over last year, if the taxing authority in question stays within the tax cap.

But there are other restrictions, which include showing collaboration and shared services, according to St. Lawrence County Real Property Tax Office Director Derrick Colton.

“So if this guy paid $50 more this year than last year, he’s going to get a check for $50,” Colton said. He added that if there is no change, the state will refund eligible taxpayers 1.46 percent of their previous year’s tax bill, which is what they consider to be the inflation rate.

He said that this year, the state will look at just school taxes. Next year, they will look at towns, villages, cities and other tax districts.

“(In year two), school districts would have to show consolidation,” he said.

On the third year, the school rotates out, and the entities included in year two have to show consolidation.

He said the shared services will be examined going back two years.

Trustee Tim Ahlfeld, speaking hypothetically, questioned if making an astronomical tax increase one year and then staying flat for the next five years would work in favor of the village and its taxpayers.

“It’s a two-year program, and by then the election will be over,” Colton said.

He said he was surprised Albany hadn’t fully informed local governments, in light of the fact that municipalities’ plans for 2016 are due in June.

“I can’t imagine the size of the bureaucracy will have to be to calculate every taxpayer in the state,” village resident and Republican trustee candidate R. Shawn Gray said.

“You can thank your second floor in Albany for this. It’s an absolute joke,” Mayor James Hidy said.

“It’s just craziness, the state needs to get it’s act together,” Trustee Francis Carvel said.