Molinaro to talk taxes at forum

WEBUTUCK – A public forum on property taxes, originally scheduled for January, will be held next Thursday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. at Amenia Elementary School.

The meeting will be held with state Assemblyman Marc Molinaro, along with members of the Board of Education and district Superintendent Richard Johns.

The property tax burden of district residents has been a major topic of discussion at recent Board of Education meetings.

Molinaro said he hopes residents attend the forum because he wants to hear ideas on how to reform property taxes.

"We need constructive ideas so we can go back to Albany and say, listen, property tax relief is the single most important issue to the people I represent," Molinaro said. "We have been having these forums throughout the district and we're happy to have one in Webutuck."

Molinaro said it all comes down to the state establishing a standard for property valuation.

"New York is one of the few states that does not have a standard," he said. "In parts of this county with agricultural land and farm land, you have companies that are appraising properties and lands with no clear directive on how to assess them. The state needs to establish standards for assessing and they need auditing capacity to make sure communities follow these rules."

He said it was possible that the state is inadvertently looking at the Webutuck district as if it was a wealthy district.

"The wealthier the district looks, the less state aid they get," he said. "We are hoping we can identify a path that reflect that. The bottom line is we need to ensure greater equity in property evaluation."

Last month, Gov. Eliot Spitzer formed a commission on property tax relief.

"Honestly, I would prefer action instead of another committee," Molinaro, a Republican, said. "At least the commission acknowledges that change is necessary, so I think we will have a tax cap proposal this year. The questions are if it will be carefully applied and how will it provide relief?"

Last month, Spitzer announced his proposed budget for the state, which if approved, will provide the Webutuck district with $3,691,485 in state aid, an increase of only $152,000, or .7 percent.

"The governor, in essence, is holding state aid at the same level as last year and he's stealing a good portion of it to give to New York City," Molinaro said. "Our message to the governor is that if you are going to hold back on expenditures, you don't do that by taking money away from school districts. This increases property taxes."

Molinaro said property tax reform all comes down to action.

"Talk is cheap," he said. "The governor's budget extracts pain from people who can't afford to live here any longer. He needs to be fair and work to restore state aid."