White Plains Homeowners Assessment Challenges Fall Off

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WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. From the Westchester County Clerk Office (with reporting by WPCNR). October 7, 2013:

The rush to challenge home assessments in White Plains has slowed dramatically in the city, and around Westchester County, according to statistics pubished by the County Clerk Monday.

White Plains homeowners filed approximately 1,400 challenges of assessments three years ago. The White Plains number dropped to 370 last year,  in 2013 it hit 235 in the city. This should bode well for third straight year of continued increase in the White Plains assessment roll in 2014-15 after declining for 16 of the last 21 years.. The White Plains Assessment roll  went up for the second straight year this year (2013-14), saving the school district about $1 Million or more in additional property taxes.

“Despite aggressive direct mail campaigns encouraging homeowners to appeal their property tax assessments, there has been a slight decline in the number of appeals assessments filed in the first half of 2013,” reported Westchester County Clerk Timothy C. Idoni.  The filing period for the following communities came to a close in the first half of 2013:

Municipality

2012

2013

% Change

Bronxville

26

8

-69.2%

Buchanan

6

3

-50.0%

Croton-on-Hudson

18

17

-5.5%

Dobbs Ferry

91

45

-50.5%

Elmsford

28

26

-7.1%

Hastings-on-Hudson

51

33

-35.2%

Larchmont

9

13

44.4%

Mamaroneck (Village)

92

40

-56.5%

Mount Kisco (Village)

8

0

-100.0%

Pleasantville

91

18

-80.2%

Sleepy Hollow

9

7

-22.2%

Tarrytown

2

2

0.0%

Tuckahoe

29

16

-44.8%

White Plains

370

235

-36.5%

Yonkers

1,491

1,633

9.5%

Total:

2,321

2,096

-9.7%

This is encouraging news after the record-breaking numbers over the last few years in which annual filings increased more than ten fold.  The appeals, officially known as Small Claims Assessment Reviews (“SCARs”), are filed when the local city, town or village grievance board formally rejects a grievance or when a property owner is not satisfied with the reduction granted.  “A decline in the volume of appeals translates into less stress on local tax rolls”, said County Clerk Timothy C. Idoni, who warned, “When appeals are granted or settled, it forces municipalities to identify equivalent reductions in spending or unpopular increases in taxes or fees.”

For more information on the Small Claims Assessment Review process, visit WestchesterClerk.com, choose “Legal Division” and then “SCAR Petitions” or call (914) 995-3070.  The Westchester County Clerk is the Clerk for the Supreme Court where Small Claim Assessment Review petitions are heard.

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