Newly-elected NYS Assemblyman Tom Abinanti (D,Greenburgh) has introduced his first two pieces of legislation as a member of the state legislature. Both are designed to reform Westchester’s property tax assessment practices. They would insure fair assessments and protect homeowners from paying more property taxes resulting from the continual erosion of the tax base from unwarranted tax refunds and assessment reductions.
“Fair taxation should be the hallmark of Westchester County,” Abinanti said. “Replacing our patchwork assessment system should be a top priority for state, county and local Westchester officials. In court challenges, tax assessments should be judged by appropriate standards.”
The first Abinanti bill is a revised version of the legislation approved in 1996 by the Municipal Officials Association, the County Board of Legislators and both houses of the State Legislature. The measure would permit the County of Westchester to spearhead County-wide revaluation and incentivize local assessors to reassess properties using uniform standards. It would allow different tax rates for commercial and residential properties and halt the continuing shift of the property tax burden to Westchester homeowners.
Dubbed by some as “The Homeowners Relief Act”, the legislation was vetoed by then-Governor George Pataki at the behest of large corporations who were – and still are - winning immense assessment reductions and tax rebates and thus shifting more of the County’s tax burden to homeowners. “This County is not only IBM and PepsiCo. It is hardworking people who struggle to pay their property taxes on their modest homes, condos and co-ops,” Abinanti said.
The second Abinanti bill would make a technical change to the law to require courts to judge commercial property assessments on the basis of a “commercial assessment ratio” compiled by the state. “Commercial properties are assessed differently than residential,” said Abinanti. “They should be judged by a standard that incorporates the way they are assessed not by the presently-used inaccurate measure which includes residential properties.”
“It is time to offer Westchester homeowners real property tax relief. How do you spell relief?” exclaimed Abinanti. “R E V A L U A T I O N, that’s how,” he said.
