Heathcote Association Members Call for a One-Year Delay on the Revaluation

The Village Board appeared to be caught off guard by the many residents who turned up at the meeting on Tuesday night May 13th. Perhaps the Board could have taken a clue from the presence of the Village Assessor and John Wolham of the NYS Department of Taxation of Finance that a discussion about the revaluation was in the offing, but that wasn't revealed until the Mayor invited public comments. It was a good thirty minutes into the meeting before it was apparent that a group of homeowners had come to the meeting to question the assumptions and methodology used for the Village-wide revaluation, and to call for a one-year delay in its implementation.

David Bunzel of 2 Sherbrooke Road came to the podium and spoke on behalf of the Heathcote Association, of which he is the president. The Heathcote Association includes many of the largest properties in Scarsdale that line Heathcote Road, Sherbrooke Road and several of the surrounding streets. Many are on more than two acres and pay some of the highest taxes in town. He said that the 40 homes in the association have been "hardest hit" by the revaluation and that the revaluation was "promised to be fair and transparent" but "it has been just the opposite."

Bunzel inferred that these homes had been singled out and wanted to know "what instructions were given by the assessor's office to Tyler in terms of targeting and valuing older homes or homes on larger acreage," stating that "homes on larger lots appear to have been targeted for assessment increases well above village-wide averages." He also said that "outliers" were used as comparables ...mostly teardowns."

Bunzel told the trustees that the association was seeking to assess the fairness of the revaluation by hiring a statistician to review the data. However, he said that they need regression analyses, residential value analysis and the assumptions behind the model, or "the secret sauce." They have submitted a FOIL request for this information but the Village has not provided it as it will not be available from Tyler until August 15th.

Given the lack of available information, residents could not "assess the fairness of the study" or fairly plead their case. He therefore called on the Board to delay implementation of the revaluation by one year to "move forward on a fair, accurate and transparent process," and to "soften the blow for certain constituents whose assessments are to go up substantial amounts."

Ron Parlato, who lives on Sherbrooke Road but also owns another 10-acre lot on Mamaroneck Road near the Weinberg Nature Center echoed Bunzel's sentiments. He said that taxes have doubled on his property on Mamaroneck Road. He said there has been "confusion and misinformation" and that the revaluation was done without "transparency and accountability" and proposed a one-year delay.

Steve Rakoff, a resident of Morris Lane and a developer asked "what were the checks and balances?" He claimed that overstatements on the data cards were made to coerce inspections from residents who had not permitted the inspectors inside. Mayor Steves replied to Rakoff, saying, "We said from the outset, that if you don't let the assessor into the house, we will assume a high quality interior. Not deliberately inflating anything." Village Manager Al Gatta defended Tyler Technologies, saying, "Tyler is the leading firm in the country. They are even going to China. Nanette (Albanese) oversaw it – she was the contract administrator. In the end, she will certify the list. Nanette made sure they did it right. If you want to hire your statistician you are welcome to."

Rakoff continued saying that on his street, "24 valuations went up and 3 went down." He claimed, "On Morris Lane there were 30-50% increases. There may have been a mistake and land may have been overvalued. These are irregularities from a model that is not carefully thought out. He then questioned the assessor's role and said, "Was there over-involvement?" He ended by asking the trustees to consider a delay.

In response to these residents, Mayor Steves announced that Tyler Technologies would hold a meeting to explain the methodology, assumptions and the model on the evening of May 29th. Gatta also said that the Village Assessor would meet with those who had concerns.

Commenting on the meeting Nanette Albanese said, "Three persons spoke at the podium last night, all of whom live in Heathcote/Murray Hill, the estate area of Scarsdale and the neighborhood that the Scarsdale Forum report identified as containing most of the homes that were significantly under assessed prior to the Reval. I would not characterize those numbers as widespread dissatisfaction."

Asked about the methodology, she said, "Some of it is on our webpage and the remaining documentation, which is in the possession of Tyler, is scheduled to be provided by them within the coming days."

To answer Rakoff's concerns that she had exercised undue influence over the process, Albanese described her role: "Patrick and I vetted all of the sales, assisted in the creation of the neighborhoods, assisted in the assignment of the parcel specific influence codes, reviewed work produced by the data collectors, assisted in the training of the data collectors, made sure there was sufficient staff on premises at all times, particularly that telephone calls were timely returned and that taxpayer issues and problems were addressed, ensured that Tyler accommodated taxpayer schedules and needs, created all of the literature, news releases and website data for the Reval, ensured that their work conformed to all Scarsdale standards, ensured that turn around time schedules were met, reviewed some of the valuations produced, Required that they add staff to the drive by process and held them to restrict performance of the contract in all categories."

We also spoke to Bob Berg who championed the revaluation for the Scarsdale Forum about his view on a potential one-year delay, and here is what he said, "While I wasn't present last night, the suggestion that the revaluation be delayed another year is ludicrous. The fact that properties in the Heathcote Association have been particularly impacted by the reval demonstrates the success of the reval process overall. Indeed, when I first investigated the need for a reval in Scarsdale soon after I moved here, the Heathcote Association properties were the poster children crying out for dramatic increases in their valuation in order to achieve an equitable assessment roll. So it comes as no surprise to me that when Tyler applied its valuation methodologies, many of the Heathcote Association properties soared in value and now will pay property taxes based on those fair market valuations. The rest of Scarsdale's taxpayers have been subsidizing the property taxes of these estates for decades. My own analysis of a non-scientific selection of those properties leads to my conclusion that Tyler did a good job there. Undoubtedly, when individual properties are examined, errors will be found. That's the purpose of the informal reviews with Tyler that have just been completed. Hopefully, Tyler will make any necessary corrections and they will notify homeowners who met with them of their final determination. If a homeowner is still unhappy, she may file a grievance between June 1 and 17 which will be considered by the Board of Assessment Review of which, in the interest of full disclosure, I am a member. If the homeowner disagrees with that determination, she may appeal to the Supreme Court, Westchester County, in a small claims proceeding for qualifying properties or in an Article 78 proceeding. So homeowners have plenty of due process available to them. As to the transparency of the process, I have found both our Assessor's Office and the Tyler personnel very open and professional. If homeowners want more information about the model and comps Tyler used, they can file a request under the Freedom of Information Law. Delaying the implementation of the reval will not occur. That horse has long since left the barn."

Plants for Library Pond: 

In other business at the Village Board meeting, the trustees accepted a gift of $1,150 for native buffer plants for Library Pond from Girl Scout Georgina Stanley who raised the funds through bake sales, tag sales and by securing a $1,000 grant from Disney. She did this work toward her Silver Award Project for the Girl Scouts and will install the plants on Saturday May 17 at 10 am. The community is invited to stop by and help.

Sale of 3 Edgewood Road:

The Board announced that a foreclosed property at 3 Edgewood Road would be sold to Andrew Silverstein, the highest bidder. Trustees had considered accepting the second highest bidder, Tracey and Jonathan Czar, who promised not to tear down the house. However, the board said that the Board of Architectural Review and FAR regulations would "ensure the consistency of the character and size of the proposed new home" and that the Board would exercise their "fiduciary responsibility" and adhere to a "fair and equitable solicitation process" by selling the house to the highest bidder.

Westchester Fine Arts Festival

The Board also approved a resolution to authorize the Scarsdale Chamber of Commerce to hold the Westchester Fine Arts Festival in the Village this coming weekend, May 17-18. A resolution was passed to recognize the workers at the Scarsdale Department of Public Works by proclaiming May 18 – 24 National Public Works Week in honor of the hard work and dedication of all employees of the Village of Scarsdale DPW.