We certainly do not deny the right of businesses, or others, to challenge their assessments. Municipal assessors estimate the value of all property and their computations are used by school districts in preparing the annual school property tax levy. When a community's assessments grow outdated, inequities that are susceptible to challenge are more likely to appear. Court-ordered refunds in some instances have amounted to as much as 54 percent of a district's tax levy. With the property tax supplying more than half the typical district's revenue, such sudden drops in district wealth can disrupt planning, cause the tax rate to spike and force program cutbacks.
Small districts are particularly vulnerable.
Green Island, in Albany County, paid out refunds representing 9.6 percent of the district's total tax levy in 1996-97. As a result, it had to raise taxes by 3.9 percent in the following year and cut teaching faculty by 12 percent to bring revenues and costs back into line. Districts indicate increasing competition, for instance among electric utilities, is forcing businesses to trim every nickel's worth of costs that they can in order to enhance profits. Nassau and Suffolk Counties pay any refunds required of their school districts, so these districts were not included in the survey. We need legislation strengthening the mandate for reassessments every six years or less, and improving the training required of local assessors.