According to Mr. Cunningham's spreadsheet, all homes in the New Hartford Central School District with an assessed value of $150,000 [which is typically used as an average assessed value in New Hartford] will pay about $83 a year regardless if they live in New Hartford, Kirkland, Paris or Frankfort.
...NEXT,here is our spreadsheet:
Our spreadsheet tells a very different story than the one provided by the library...we have the real story, unlike their spreadsheet.
Where they came up with an across the board $83 a year is anyone's guess. Common sense says that is not possible. It might be true in a perfect world where every town is assessed at 100% of market value...but this isn't a perfect world.
According to our spreadsheet, the owner of a $150,000 home in New Hartford will pay about $99; Town of Paris will pay $83; Kirkland will pay about $128; and Frankfort will pay about $111.
Of course, your particular assessed value will determine the amount of Library Tax that will be on your 2013-2014 New Hartford Central School tax bill in September 2013 if the vote is affirmative to re-charter as a school district library.
As a note, these numbers are based on the current Town Tax Roll and the actual tax for the library, if re-chartering as a school library is passed, will be assessed using the 2013 tax roll.
We agree with Mr. Cunningham's calculations for the tax rate per thousand for each town...New Hartford is $.66 a thousand of assessed value; Paris is $.55 a thousand of assessed value; Kirkland's is $.85 per thousand; and Frankfort's is $.74 a thousand of assessed value.
However, it stands to reason that if the tax rate per thousand in each town is different; there is no way every house assessed for $150,000 would pay the same in each town.
The library tax would work very much like the Oneida County tax because not all municipalities are assessed at 100% of market value.
To figure the tax rate for each town, all assessments are equalized [or brought to their market value] based on the equalization rate of each town; then the tax rate per thousand for each town is figured by dividing the tax levy by the true assessed value of each town. From there, the amount of Oneida County taxes each resident pays is based on the tax rate for their town times their individual property assessment. The library tax would be figured the same way.
If New Hartford Public Library becomes a school library, residents in Frankfort and Kirkland who attend NHCS will actually PAY MORE on their school tax bill to fund the New Hartford Public Library than New Hartford residents with the same assessed value will pay!
One last thing, unlike the school taxes, STAR will not play a part in reducing the assessment used to calculate your library tax. According to Volume 10 - Opinions of Counsel SBRPS No. 59:
Given that at least some libraries are funded through taxes or special district charges other than the school tax, it would be inequitable for the State to pay more tax monies to those school districts which happen to levy the library tax than to those school districts which do not. Accordingly, in our opinion, the STAR exemption does not apply to taxes or charges levied for library purposes.Using a copy of the Town of New Hartford assessment database, we created a spreadsheet showing what each parcel in the New Hartford Central School District in the Town of New Hartford would be assessed [using the current figures] on the 2013-2014 school tax bill if the New Hartford Public Library were to re-charter as a school district library versus what each parcel is paying on their town tax bill now to fund the library as a town library [based on the current town budget with a distribution to library of $400,000, the tax rate is $.31 per thousand].
The Comptroller reached a similar conclusion (regarding administrative and judicial refunds of taxes) in Opinion 95-15.
The spreadsheet is sorted by last name; you can view and download the spreadsheet here.
As far as the Towns of Kirkland, Frankfort and Paris, they pay nothing at this point for the New Hartford Public Library as a town library, but they will be taxed if the library becomes a school district library.
Conversely, Chadwicks and the Village of New York Mills pay library tax as a town library, but would pay nothing if the library is re-chartered to a school district library.
Remember, the vote is scheduled to take place in the library on August 23, 2012.
10 comments:
Can someone please tell me...just how many town residents in New Hartford actually use the New Hartford Town Library?
Better yet, how many NON-RESIDENTS use the New Hartford Public Library for FREE!
It would not be fair to have only the New Hartford School District residents PAYING for the library operations.
I think the NHPL should remain funded by the entire group of town residents and too, charge non-town residents a fee for services provided. This is only fair to everyone.
Very good reporting. Thank you for the information.
Color me stupid but I could never figure out how a 893k tax levy with a smaller tax base was going to approach the 400k tax levy the town currently divides up among it's residents.
Open your wallets folks. Some rich people running the library want quite a bit more of YOUR MONEY.
And their timing is great too! Why, the economy is just BOOMING!
What about a USER FEE for using the library that way ALL users pay ,not just the town or school district residents. In NYS we are all familiar with user fees .
Anonymous said...
What about a USER FEE for using the library that way ALL users pay ,not just the town or school district residents. In NYS we are all familiar with user fees.
Anonymous,
According to the library trustees, their contract with Mid-York Library System does not allow them to charge fees for service. The library is suppose to be "free" for all users.
Where does it say in the Mid-York Library System that non-residents cannot be Charged to use the NHPL?
Sounds to me like we have more b/s going on and mis-information from those library trustees. Do any one of them know how to ensure proper oversight over library operations.
Reading much from this blog, it sounds like the fox is in the hen house taking his fill of everything and anything.
How about charging all the tutors working out of the library? They are running a for profit business and getting free working space.efershow
Clearly, there are ways to generate income; the library trustees have discussed some possibilities, but nothing ever comes out of their discussions.
It would appear that, in their view, the easiest way is to tax New Hartford residents.
Now they want to tax only New Hartford Central School District residents.
The vote will be August 23rd. Voters can either approve or disapprove. If you don't vote, don't complain next September when you receive your school tax bill.
DOES ANYBODY REMEMBER THAT AT A PUBLIC REFERENDUM VOTE THE LIBRARY WAS REJECTED. IT WAS THEN, UNDER THE RADAR INCLUDED IN THE TOWN BUDGET. ALSO, THIS SCHEDULED AUGUST VOTE, WHAT AGENCY WILL OVERSEE THIS VOTE ? IT SHOULD NOT BE LEFT IN THE HANDS OF THE TRUSTEES. WILL TERE BE ABSENTEE VOTE FORMS AVAILABLE ?
I believe Mr Cunningham spread sheet is right. A $150000 house in New Hartford would be assessed at 150000 X .84 or $126000. The tax on that house would be 126 X $.66 or $83.16. The idea of equalization to get everyone paying the same ammount for the same true house value.
Chuck,
You are mixing apples and oranges.
Take a look at the Oneida County tax roll for a couple of towns. A $150,000 assessment equates to a different total county tax depending on the town where the property is located.
The "true value" has nothing to do with the amount of taxes paid.
Taxes are paid on the total assessed value that is on the tax roll in each town not the "true value".
The 'true value' is how the differing town's tax rates for county taxes are determined. The same would be true for the library where more than one town is involved.
In other words, a parcel in one town might pay $.50 a thousand whereas in another town the tax rate might be $.75 a thousand.
Ego, each parcel even though they are both assessed at $150,000 would pay a different total tax.
Trust us...it is true.
Post a Comment