(erielack) Hornell Evening Tribune...Railroad change prompts $2.7 million reduction in city

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News

Railroad change prompts $2.7 million reduction in city assessements

By ROB MONTANA -- Staff Writer

HORNELL -- Due to state regulations placing a ceiling on railroad property 
assessment, the City of Hornell lost $2.7 million in assessed value from last 
year.

"We had an assessed value of $3.9 million last year," said Hornell Mayor 
Shawn Hogan of the railroad decrease. "This year it is $1.2 million."

The ceiling isn't just impacting Hornell. Railroads operating in the state 
are now enjoying an automatic 45-percent reduction, but the governor and the 
Legislature agreed to help ease the pain to municipalities by contributing a 
difference on a sliding scale over period of years.

"It's happening all over the state," said Hogan. "With population decreasing 
and assessments decreasing, the expenses are going up."

All properties in the city, when added up, total $165,906,099.

Hogan is dealing with the lost assessed value as he prepares the 2003 fiscal 
year budget, which will take effect April 1.

But the lower assessed values will not prompt a property assessment 
revaluation. 

"We're not planning on doing a revaluation in the near future," said Vicki 
Dempsey, city assessor. "It's quite an undertaking and it has to be passed by 
the Common Council before it can be done."

The last revaluation was done nine years ago, but Dempsey said the 
equalization rate has remained mostly static.

"We did a revaluation in 1994," said Dempsey. "We've been pretty stationary 
in our equalization rate, right around 92 percent.

"The equalization rate doesn't affect city taxes, the only thing it affects 
is school tax," she added. "I expect the rate to go back up, because the 
property values are increasing."

Communities that have lower equalization rates will face higher school taxes 
then communities with a 100 percent equalization rate.

"The equalization rate is a scale of levy," said Dempsey. "Someone with a 
lower equalization rate would be impacted more.

"Someone with a 100 percent equalization rate would not really be affected."


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Damion

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