More Islanders protested ‘sticker shock’ taxes this year

Many Islanders have expressed shock by property tax increases in the past two years, but perhaps didn’t realize that when COVID-19 hit in 2020 there were a few years when there was no reassessment and their tax bills remained flat.

For years, Islanders saw their properties reassessed annually, but that couldn’t happen during COVID. The assessment rate dropped from 100% that was the norm for so long, to 96% and then to 68%, according to Joseph Messing, chairman of the Town’s Board of Assessment Review.

When the rate jumped back to 100% last year, of course there was “sticker shock,” Mr. Messing said. When he had started his work with the Board of Assessment Review more than 20 years ago, he said 40 to 45 property owners who grieved their taxes per year. It rose to 75 to 80, but then with the 100% assessment, 145 property owners pleaded their cases to the Board of Assessment Review.

This year, he and his Board members had 260 property owners grieve their taxes, representing a 60% increase above those who brought their cases to the Board last year.

What’s more, there are more Islanders unhappy with decisions made by assessors or the Board of Assessment Review and opt to take their appeals to court rather than accept revisions they have been offered at the local level. Last year, 68 property owners sought relief from the court; this year the number grew to 125.

When a case lands in court it becomes “a huge expense” for the Town, Mr. Messing said. Before a case gets to a court, it has been appealed to the assessors who have reviewed all the information that resulted in the original decision on taxes owed. 

One element in the assessment of a property is based on comparisons with similar properties in a neighborhood. In past years, that was controlled by local assessors, but today the State determines that factor. Among the factors influencing decisions on assessments is how the property relates to other houses in an area.

In a place like Levittown with so many “cookie cutter houses,” that part of the assessment doesn’t vary much, Mr. Messing said. On Shelter Island, houses tend to be individual and so are their values, he added. Based on escalating sales prices, a house that was once valued at $1 million may fetch $3 million in today’s market; that’s a factor affecting similar houses in a given neighborhood. 

A property owner who thinks about arguing to assessors or the Board of Assessment Review is advised to find comparable houses in the neighborhood that are similar but are assessed at a lower value or have sold for a lower value. Assessments about neighboring properties are available through public records.

Sometimes, that review results in a rollback agreement that will cost the property owner less. But if the property owner is dissatisfied with the assessors’ decision, the case can be appealed to the Board of Assessment Review where, in the third week in May, Mr. Messing, who has a background in business and economics, convenes his Board to meet with property owners seeking a lower assessment. Board members include real estate professional Peter McCracken, accountant Reeves Thomson, attorney and legal educator Noel Cunningham and George Zinger, with a background in water issues that affect assessments on Shelter Island.

The Board listens to information from property owners grieving their assessments and reviews information they present. After hearing from each, it takes time to review each case before rendering its recommendation on what the Board believes is a fair assessment.

“We go through them case by case,” Mr. Messing said. That means reviewing videos, photographs, personal observations and any other information a property owner presents,” he said.

If the property owner still is unhappy with the decisions from the assessors and the Board of Assessment Review and opts to appeal to a court, the local decision makers have a great deal more work in reviewing the case again to present information to the court about why the decision reached earlier should stand, or was properly lowered, and now should not be further cut. For all the effort, the court most often tells the two sides to try to reach a deal.

The courts are so backlogged, it can take a year or more for the court to even get to the case, Mr. Messing said. In the meantime, the property owner must pay what was ultimately decided at the Town level and if the court action results in a lower tax payment, the owner would receive a refund.

Mr. Messing said he is not critical of judges but of a system he called “very inefficient” because judges are “overwhelmed” with their case loads.

What can be expected next year? “I have no idea,” Mr. Messing said.