Grievance Day

Assessment letters cause confusion

By Katelyn Cordero
Posted 5/22/19

This year’s tentative assessment letters have sent many City of Newburgh residents into confusion with large changes in property assessments. City Assessor, Joanne Majewski, blames a large …

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Grievance Day

Assessment letters cause confusion

Posted

This year’s tentative assessment letters have sent many City of Newburgh residents into confusion with large changes in property assessments. City Assessor, Joanne Majewski, blames a large number of property assessment increases on the success of the market, but some residents believe their assessments were not properly taken care of.


For long time Newburgh resident Frank Paff his 80-year-old property rose $43,000 in its assessed value in one year. The value of his home never rose more than $1,000 in value until he received his tentative assessment this month.


“It was a complete shock, nobody came to the door, the house is more than 80 years old, I don’t know why they are doing this. the house is not worth 43,000 more. I wouldn’t be able to sell for the amount they are assessing it at. I’m going to have to go through this process and see what I can do,” said Paff.


In a city council work session, Majewski explained the process of creating the assessments to the city council. In the City of Newburgh, assessments are done at 100 percent of market value. To determine the market value the assessor will look at the value of surrounding properties sold recently of a similar time, build, and size also known as an arm’s length sale.


In one particular neighborhood on the northeast end of the city Majewski issued a blanket 10 percent rise in the assessment of properties to match with what she considers to be market value.


“In one neighborhood where there is more consistent uniformity among the properties, we applied a 10% increase to the prior assessment, based on recent sales showing a similar increase in values within that neighborhood,” said Majewski.


Majewski reminds residents that if they are unhappy with their assessment they can go through the process to create a grievance. A process that must be completed by May 28 to go in front of the Board of Assessment Review (BAR).


“Assessments are based on market value, not on how much the taxes are or will be. If a property owner disagrees with the assessed value, there is a process to dispute it,” said Majewski.


A group of concerned property owners pulled together a grievance workshop to give insight into the process, with Michele Pfeffer, Licensed Real Estate Agent at Rand Realty and William O’Keeffe, Founding Partner at O’Keeffe & McCann LLP.


The two explained in simple steps how to go about creating a grievance. The first step is providing documents to prove that actual value of your property. Substantial proof would be the purchase price of your property, an appraisal, a comparable market analysis (CMA) or an automated valuation model (AVM).


Once the value of the property is determined a RP-524 form will need to be filled out and submitted to the assessors office with a letter of support including your substantial proof and any documentation that will confirm your evaluation of the property. This form must be submitted by Greivance Day, May 28 for review by the BAR.


The BAR will hold a hearing for the public to present cases and decisions will be given shortly after grievance day. If you are unsuccessful with the BAR you can appeal at the Small Claims Assesment Review.


Pfeffer is offering her services for a free comparable market analysis to include in the grievance form. To get in touch with Pfeffer you can call 845-500-0160 or email michelle.pfeffer@randrealty.com.

City of Newburgh, Assessments, Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty