CICERO --
"I thought who has lost their mind," said John Clancy in front of a packed town board meeting in Cicero.
Clancy's new property re-assessment doubles the value of his land. "It went from about $90,000 to $180,000," he said.
Wednesday night, he brought pictures and graphs to prove his point. He says his property is in a flood zone, and showed the board that it's often under water.
Town officials heard from taxpayers for just over an hour Wednesday. One by one, property owners argued their assessments .
"It's a shame the assessments have to go so high because we cannot afford to pay for it," said Ralph Smith. He lives on a Cicero farm, that's been in his family since 1895. Wednesday, he told the board he sometimes can't afford to buy his medicine because his other expenses are getting so out of control.
This meeting was a forum, and a chance to bring concerns to the board. Formally grieving your re-assessment is a long process. The town assessor says it's important to do your research and be able to support your stance of what you think your property is worth. Assessor Brad Brennan says to take pictures of things inside and outside of your home to document whether they have been updated. Also bring pictures of any damage to your home that may affect your property value. Plus bring figures for comparable home sales and assessments.
Brennan admits there are errors out there and says they will now work to correct those mistakes, making sure everyone is paying their fair share of property taxes.
"If they make exceptions, and make corrections than none of us are going to have a problem but right now it appears to be no rhyme or reason to what they are doing," said Clancy.
Garr Associates, the company that did the re-assessments, is now informally going over grievances. If you didn't make an appointment with the, you can meet with the town assessor in April. The formal grievance hearing is June 7th.
Cicero residents will once again meet with town officials over a controversial hike in property assessments.
