Property Value Dip
Ellicott Homeowners To Pay More Taxes In 2021
The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities Dow Street Substation has decreased by more than $1 million. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips
The assessed property value of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities wastewater treatment plant in the town of Poland has decreased by $5 million. P-J photo by Jay Young
The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities Dow Street Substation has decreased by more than $1 million. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips
The assessed property value of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities wastewater treatment plant in the town of Poland has decreased by $5 million. P-J photo by Jay Young
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Homeowners in the town of Ellicott will need to pay more taxes next year following the decrease in the assessed property value of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities Dow Street substation.
On Monday, Patrick McLaughlin, Ellicott town supervisor, said the assessed value of the substation was recently decreased by more than $1 million following a reassessment of the property. He said the value of the substation property went from $7.3 million to $6.2 million. He added if the property was at its full equalization rate in 2019 when the reassement was done by the state, with the town's equalization rate being only at 80% last year, that the assessed value of the Dow Street substation would have decreased by more than $3 million.
McLaughlin also said the assessed property value of the BPU wastewater treatment plant in Poland decreased significantly by $5 million. He said the decrease in the assessment of the wastewater treatment plant doesn't impact how much Ellicott residents pay the town in taxes, but it will impact how much they pay the Falconer Central School District.
McLaughlin said there is no appeal process for town officials unlike there is for homeowners in the town who are allowed to question their property value assessment. However, he has contacted both state Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, and Assemblyman Andy Goodell, R-Jamestown, about the decrease in the assessed property values of the two facilities.
In other town business, the board passed a local law on solar energy production systems. The local law states that solar energy productions systems will be allowed through a special use permit. The law also states they cannot be on a parcel of less than 5 acres, panels shall not exceed the height of 8 feet and any system installation should have a vegetated perimeter to provide screening of it year-round.
Prior to the board approving the local law, a public hearing was held with no members of the public attending. During the public hearing, McLaughlin said the local law protects the town and its residents from anyone or a business that wants to install a solar farm.
"It details where they can be and how they must be," McLaughlin said.
Amy Bellardo, town clerk, told the board that the second quarter sales tax revenue for the town decreased by 10% compared to the same quarter in 2019.
She said for the first half of the year, the town is at 53% of its sales tax revenues that the board budgeted in its 2020 spending plan.