How hard would you be willing to fight to retain ownership of your home and property?

            In our great County of Onondaga, we are facing ever increasing property taxes. As we watch multi-thousand dollar homes being built everyday, do we really realize what this is doing to our own taxes? Over the past two years I have helped a Senior Citizen fight her assessment for land that is located in a Federal Flood Plain and is used many for agricultural purposes. Her husband had a heart attack and died the day after she told him they would most likely be evicted from their land.

Her assessment skyrocketed over the years as our town went to full value assessment. Despite a constant fight with the local assessor over the actual value of the land she calls home, this lady has met with opposition and little help from the town or county. There is no liaison between the town and the property owners who how have questions concerning how to fight their assessments. Oh, there is a book that explains it all, if your have a law degree.

            The second paragraph of this book says: “The very first step is for you to determine whether you are being assessed consistently (at a uniform percentage of value) with other properties in your municipality.”

-Definition- Uniform Percentage of Value: The percentage of market value (full value) used by an assessing unit to establish uniform assessments. This value must appear on the tentative roll. Real Property Tax Law Section 305 specifies, “all real property in each assessing unit shall be assessed at a uniform percentage of value…”

In our town, our assessment rate is 100% to value. Meaning we are taxed for the full sale value of our homes and land. A property appraisal of this Senior Citizen’s land and home came in at $35,000. We had a very hard fight to get the assessment down to $50,000 from $95,000. She was thankful for getting help to fight her assessment. However, due to being over-assessed for over 14 years and not receiving the exemptions that she was qualified for, she now stands to lose her property because of a tax sale.

This lady is due in court tomorrow to fight for her land. Should she have to fight this hard to keep something that has been hers for over 50 years?  I feel that the town and county should take into consideration the fact the this woman and her husband have argued with the town assessor for years about the over-assessment of their land, yet never received the proper information from the assessor on what to do next. Because of that she now is distraught, but ready to fight until the end.

            What we are facing these days is a Fear Factor. If we decide to fight the system to get things changed, we are then branded as a troublemaker in the town. Unfortunately, unless someone is willing to stick their neck out, nothing will ever change.

            She will be in court tomorrow at 10 AM on the third floor of the State Office Building. We need our county people to be aware of how little our government cares for people’s rights. (Except when it pertains to their own welfare.)