White Plains CitizeNetReporter - Assessor Goes to Bat for Schools as NY Axes = Rate, Raises Tax Rate to 7.8%

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. April 23, 2003: Eyde McCarthy, City Assessor will be testifying in Albany today in attempt to get the state to raise their “Equalization Rate,” which has within the last two days derailed the smooth path to adoption of a City School Budget. Richard Lasselle, Assistant Superintendent for Business announced this bit of unpleasantness last night at the Board of Education meeting at Education House , saying the school tax rate on the proposed budget would rise from 7.3% to 7.8% under the new Equalization Rate imposed by the state.

This would raise the school tax of the average White Plains home accessed at $15,000 from $358 to $376 (per $1,000 of accessed valuation).

A LETTER FROM THE ASSESSOR made public at Tuesday evening's meeting, confirmed to the School District Tuesday what Ms. McCarthy had previously anticipated that the state would lower the Equalization Rate.
Photo by WPCNR NEWSLAB

McCarthy, Lasselle said, would be pleading the city’s case to raise the equalization rate back up closer to 6.47%, the 2002 rate. The drop in Equalization Rate to 4.67%, Lasselle said, was due to the fact that the state claims the city accessed the city’s Special Franchises (utilities and city infrastructure) at too low a value. McCarthy, Lasselle reported is going before the state Office of Real Property Services to argue that the vast majority of utility and infrastructured properties are accessed at a rate closer to 6% than 4.67% which the state has set.

In a letter to the School District received Tuesday, Ms. McCarthy confirmed to the district that the lowering of $1,000,000 in Special Franchise values, reduced the final Assessment Roll by $2,600,000. McCarthy’s letter said “the City is arduously working to challenge the Equalization Rate with the intent of correcting the measure of our municipalities’ full value.” McCarthy notes in her letter, that “Despite the fact that the Office of Real Property Services took into consideration new inventory and depreciation when establishing the 2003 full value ($214,216,124), the considerable drop in the equalization rate served to substantially reduce the Special Franchise assessment that appears on the (city’s) final Assessment Roll.”

School District Holds Off Fixing the Tax Rate at 7.8% Until Albany Veto Override Vote

Lasselle reported that both houses of the state legislature appear ready to override Governor George Pataki’s veto of the legislature proposal to move up the date for statewide school budget elections to June 3. The legislature vote to override, according to Lasselle is Monday, April 28. Lasselle said he is also hopeful the district may receive more school aid, which could lower the tax rate as well. Therefore, his recommendation is to wait before the district fixes the levy at 7.8%.

The Assistant Superintendent for Business added that the district is holding off printing required budget notifications until the tax rate is finally fixed.

Election may move up.

The possible moving up of the school budget election to the third of June would also move up the Board of Education Elections. Currently, according to Michelle Schoenfeld, Clerk to the Board, have five persons interested in running for the four seats: incumbents Donna McLaughlin, Michelle Tratoros, and Peter Bassano, and first-time challengers, Nancy Brady and Terence McGuire. Other interested challengers have until April 30 to put in their petitions of 100 signatures.

The Equalization Rate is a percentage assigned by New York State to equalize assessed value and actual market value.

The proposed School Budget for 2003-04, remains the same: $134,632,632, a year-to-year increase of 6.1%. However, unless Ms. McCarthy can make a convincing case for the city's Equalization Rate, the School District will be forced to raise the tax rate to 7.8%.

Note: The Board of Education has scheduled a special meeting to present the 2003-04 Budget anew next Wednesday, April 30, 2003 at 7:30 PM to deal with the outcome of the Legislature's vote to override on Monday, April 28, 2003.


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