High tax levy increase not indicative of actual bill

AMENIA — Property tax bills for 2010 have been sent out to residents, and while calculating property taxes is a challenging task in and of itself, this year’s bills might raise a few more eyebrows than usual.

Amenia town Supervisor Wayne Euvrard said he had expected there might be some confusion this tax season, and explained that property revenue “has messed things up.�

Even though the tax levy has gone up for many towns, including Amenia with a 12.6-percent increase (from approximately $1.086 million in 2009 to $1.223 million this year), tax bills might not increase as much as one might expect, thanks to significant decreases in property assessment. Amenia’s total residential property assessment went down about 3 percent, Euvrard said.

“Everybody’s assessment went down, but the town still has to come up with the money to pay the bills,� he explained.

Amenia’s adopted 2010 budget saw an increase about 9 percent, with the general fund decreasing about 3 percent. The budget process was wrought with ideas from all Town Board members on ways to cut costs; some found their way into the final document, others didn’t. But the board knew that even though it would be looking to shave the town’s operating funding as close as it could, slumping revenues would necessitate tax increases anyway. The question was just how much.

Looking at the percent of change in the tax levy, it would seem like taxes are going up significantly more than the numbers projected by the 2010 budget, but a resident’s actual tax bill should reflect a more modest increase, the supervisor explained.

“If they look at the total picture, they’re not going to see a big increase,� Euvrard said, adding that with the town saving significant money by installing water meters and charging users accordingly, the total property tax bill for residents within the water district could actually near a zero-percent increase from the year before.

“When you look at the total amounts, I don’t think it’s that bad,� he concluded.