To the Editor:

Residents of the town of Potsdam, should be made aware of the following facts: 

1. In 2019 the uniform percentage of value for property was at 95%

   2. In 2023 the uniform percentage of value for property was at 74%

3. From 2019 to 2023 the total change in valuation was negative 22%

While Full Market value of some, if not all, property within the township increased, 2019 to 2023, a total of 28.4%

The state claims that revaluation must be done for greater transparency and to ensure “equitably” assessed property. You will hear that market values increase or decrease, and the assessments don’t keep pace and reflect those changes. With a 3% county population loss who will be left to pay property taxes? So, with pressure from the state, the town leadership decided on a township wide revaluation of all 5,227 taxable properties.

Town leadership tells you this was an issue that was “kicked down the road” for the last five years. What does the percentage of value have to do with how much you will pay in town, village and school taxes? If your home has a full market value of $100,000 and the town goes to 99% or 100% uniform percent value you will pay taxes based on the $100,000.

You will hear just because the full market value of your property may increase you will not necessarily pay more in taxes. Keep in mind you will never pay less in taxes.

The tax levy is determined by what the town, village, county and schools have to raise in order to cover their respective budgets. To do this they develop a budget then look at property values and how much in taxes you will pay per $1000 of your property value to cover budget expenditures, regardless of any other factors affecting your monetary situation.

The value of your property can be determined in the following ways:

1. The comparable sales approach: the value of a parcel is determined by using recent sales of similar properties.
2. The income approach: the value of a parcel is determined by capitalizing rental income potential.
3. The cost approach: the value of a parcel is determined by using the depreciated current cost to reconstruct improvements plus land value.
4. Mass appraisal: computer assisted mass appraisal is a necessary component for determining market value.

The information that the assessor has is considered in the valuation of your property and is to be part of the public record.

Your rights as a property owner:

1. Assessor may gain access to your property only with your permission. Assessor (powers and duties) (entry upon real property) - Real Property Tax Law, §§ 500,501: An assessor should not enter on private property and take measurements or photographs without first securing the permission of the land owner.
2. You have the ability to disagree with your property valuation. I will address this process in a separate post.

The town leadership has proposed a budget with a percentage change of 11.31%. What will the final cost per thousand will be with the revaluation and a percentage valuation of somewhere in the 90% to 100% range.

Tracey Haggett-Sloan
Norwood