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WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. March 2, 2015:

The White Plains City Assessment Roll for 2015, upon which property taxes are levied, was released today on the city website. The roll stayed virtually the same, gaining $75,915 to $277,055,010 compared to the 2014 Roll of $276,979095. A miniscule gain of .0002 %.

This is dissappointing in one respect since it shows continued softness in the real estate tax base. It means, too that the school district the city’s largest taxer  will not have to automatically raise the tax rate to make up for a lowered roll.  However the district is already talking about a 4% tax rate increase in preliminary numbers if they keep the present budget going and figure a 2% labor settlement in wages across the board (all city union contracts are up).

Last year with the city raising the tax rate to $196.14 with no wage increases across the unions, and the school district raising their tax rate  to $600.22 (per $1,000 of evaluation, the $650,000 middle market home paid $3,200 to the city and about $10,000 to to the school district and $2,000 to Westchester County which did not raise taxes.

If the city and school district keep pace (a rollover  in spending by the city and the district, a rollover of present spending levels you are looking at a $400 increase in  property taxes which would mean an overall tax bill from the City, School and County of $16,000, up from $15,200. Deduct the STAR EXEMPTION of $1,585 if eligible,  and the tax could be $14,415.

The White Plains middle market home ($650,000) is looking at another