The letters started arriving last week. For the first time in five years, Elbridge residents would be getting the assessment on their home from the town, and many of them were not happy with the numbers they got. Kurt Alpha said he planned to challenge the assessment after reading his letter. “There's no way my house went up in value by $98,000 in five years,” said Alpha.
Others in the town said they were seeing thirty to forty percent increases and questioned why there was so much time between assessments. Kathy Infantino said “it should probably be done every year so that I wouldn’t see a forty thousand increase in mine.” Earl Alpha said he was going to have his tax bill jump by two or three thousand dollars a year. “I think the way they’ve done it, they’re going to have a real revolt on their hands,” said Alpha. “Everybody’s upset – not just me.”
The assessor for the Town of Elbridge, Larry Fitts, said that there are two criteria that residents can use to challenge their assessment. They can claim that the value of their home is overstated and that it would not be able to be sold for that price, or they can claim that their home’s value is not in line with comparable homes in the neighborhood.
Fitts added that the numbers sent out last week are based on the value as of July 1st, 2008 and that Central New York’s home prices have been more stable than other regions of the country.
Kurt Alpha said he understood that it took time to come up with these numbers but wasn’t sure that they accurately reflected current conditions. "Maybe two years ago they were steadily climbing but with this latest hit in the economy, there's no way I could put my house on the market for what they're saying it's worth."
Residents who want to challenge their assessment should call the offices for the Town of Elbridge and make an appointment.
