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There's a lot of
misinformation about the recent Rotterdam reassessment,
but don't believe everything you hear! Mohonasen wants
to set the record straight, so read on.
Some people
think Mohonasen is getting a "windfall" in new
tax revenues. Not true!
Mohonasen is collecting 4.5 percent more in local school taxes
this year than
it did last year -- exactly what voters approved at the May
budget vote. What's changed is how that bill (the local
tax levy) gets divided up among individual homeowners.
The reassessment in the Town of Rotterdam -- the first
in more than 50 years -- understandably caused big
shifts in each homeowner's share of the tax bill. Some
homeowners were over-assessed (in relationship to
their neighbors' properties) for many years, and their
school taxes are now going down. Others were under-assessed, and now their new assessments will
require them to shoulder a bigger share of the tax levy.
But the total school tax levy itself -- the total amount Mohonasen
collects from local residents-- is still only increased
by 4.5 percent, exactly as promised and exactly what
voters approved.
Others think
the disclosure letters send out by the Town and GAR
would have been accurate if Mohon adopted a dual tax
system (homestead and non-homestead). Again, not true.
The tax rate estimate used on the GAR notices was
far off what the rate computed to be under
EITHER a single or dual tax rate system. The final tax
rates (which are computed by simply dividing the total tax levy by
the total assessed value of properties in the town) came
out to be $14.64 per thousand of assessed value (not
$8.98 as predicted by GAR). Even if Mohon adopted a two-tier homestead and non-homestead tax rate, the
non-commercial rate would still have been
$14.04/thousand, only 60 cents less per thousand.
Moreover, under the two-tier system,
Rotterdam's small business owners would have paid a lot
more: $18.14/thousand.
With some
taxpayers seeing dramatic increases in their assessments
and school tax bills, frustration is high. Some have
called Mohonasen "greedy" and wonder why the district
can't simply spend a lot less.
It may surprise some to know that Mohonasen already
spends less per student than 99 percent of school
districts around the state. In fact, the district was
recently the subject of a September 23, 2007
Times Union
news story because out of 677 school districts in New
York State, Mohonasen ranks THIRD FROM THE BOTTOM IN PER
PUPIL SPENDING. At the same time, our district ranks
WELL ABOVE THE STATEWIDE AVERAGE IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
These two facts should help dispel any myths that
Mohonasen isn't already working successfully to do more
with less... and still provide the community with a good
return on its investment.
If you still have
questions, please come to the next public forum on the
proposed capital project on October 11 at 7 p.m. in the
High School Large Group Instruction (LGI) room. District
officials will be providing information and answering
questions on BOTH the upcoming capital project vote and
the recent Rotterdam reassessment.
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