'People are terrified.' Rochester homeowners shocked by steep hike after property reassessments

Miriam Cortez's forehead is coated with ashes in the shape of a cross outside Rochester's City Hall. It's Ash Wednesday, and the city's preliminary property reassessments have the senior citizen stressed.

She worried about a tax increase and how she'd afford food and medicine.

"It is a city government overreach," said Clay Harris, founder of Uniting and Healing through Hope of Monroe County.

Harris organized the press conference on a sunny Wednesday afternoon. "We're here today to shine a brighter light like the sun is shining today, on this injustice for this reassessment," he said.

Since the 1980s, Rochester has reassessed property values every four years.

"It's a good time period to really capture the market activity," city assessor Mike Zazzara said.

The assessments are based on the real estate market. 2024's reassessments saw property values increase in every one of Rochester's 132 neighborhoods, and some residents were stunned at the numbers. Initial evaluations of residential properties increased by an average of 68.4%.

2020's reassessment saw a 19.3% bump by comparison, even though the real estate market has been "very strong since 2018," according to Mike Zazzara.

The city and surrounding region have regularly been ranked among the nation's hottest real estate markets over the past six years. Realtor.com said that the Rochester area ranked as the hottest housing market in the country in September 2022 and August 2023.

"One can argue that it's just happening to us, but it's not; it's everywhere," deputy city assessor Enza Mineo said.

How much are houses in Rochester NY?

Since the onset of the pandemic, there has been a significant surge in the median price of homes sold by real estate agents. Experts say this increase can be attributed to a confluence of factors, including historically low interest rates, the desire of families to find more space during quarantine, and the lack of stock due to supply chain challenges.

Collectively, these elements contribute to an exceedingly robust housing market, leading to a dramatic rise in property values.

Despite those factors, when city residents opened their mail and got the news, they immediately began to call city hall. "Almost 10,000 people have called in," city council member Willie Lightfoot said.

The city says it has scheduled more than 5,000 appointments, and the assessment office is averaging 50 calls a day.

Lightfoot, along with councilmembers Stanley Martin, Mary Lupien and Kim Smith, penned a letter to Mayor Malik Evans urging a pause in the current round of assessments for a minimum of two years. They cited mounting apprehension among city residents regarding their property valuations and criticized the current process for its perceived lack of transparency.

"Our number one issue is process," Lightfoot said. "This process was not fair, it was not equitable, and it was insensitive."

The letter goes on to say:

"We are respectfully requesting that any new assessment be delayed for a period of two years so we can work together to find an amicable solution. "This pause will also allow time for the turbulent real estate market, encumbered by high costs and soaring interest rates, to settle. Many of the City residents most affected by the ongoing assessment are seniors, many of whom live on fixed income. For this demographic, significant change in property assessments may directly affect quality of life and the ability to keep the heat on and food on the table."

'I want to leave something for my family'

Homeowners like Beverly Wood fear the generational impact of the reassessment.

"I want to leave something for my family. I can't do that if my house is gone."

The city's finance director, Kim Jones, views the reassessment differently. "It's a way to build generation wealth," Jones said. "It's not our intent to take people's homes; we're trying to distribute the tax burden proportionately."

Jones emphasized that increasing assessments doesn't automatically translate to higher taxes.

If a property assessment is higher than the 68% average hike, the property owner will "most likely" see higher taxes; if it's lower than the average, the owner will "most likely" see a decrease, according to Mike Zazzara.

"A change in taxes does not reflect any exemptions on the property, including senior exemption," Zazzara said. "It's a great thing for property owners. They're gaining wealth and equity."

Councilmember Kim Smith says she and her colleagues asking for a pause reached out to a city official in Buffalo who said the financial burden that the city's reassessments placed on its residents caused the city to re-think how it rolled out its tax increases.

Smith is concerned that assessments could worsen the dual housing and homeless crisis if landlords raise rents in response to higher tax burdens. "The long-term impact of this is that people will be priced out of their homes," she said.

In response to the request to pause the reassessment by the four councilmembers, Mayor Malik Evans reinforced that "an increase in property values does not automatically result in an increase in property taxes, as the tax levy formula will be impacted by the city's overall increase in property values."

Evans said, "Delaying this year's quadrennial reassessment is not a sound approach and will have unintended consequences. A delay would put me in a position of ignoring current market values, which would actually negatively impact homeowners who would otherwise receive a tax decrease and could shift the tax burden to homeowners."

What does the tax base growth mean?

Finance director Kim Jones said credit rating agencies would negatively rate Rochester if the city's tax base doesn't grow.

"This helps the city in more ways than we can imagine," deputy assessor Enza Mineo said.

The credit agency decision translates to whether interest rates increase or decrease for taxpayers and impacts the funds available for capital projects, so city officials see the 68.4% average increase as a win despite the public outrage.

"People are terrified," Alexander Pheonix, who lives in the JOSANA neighborhood, expressed. "There's a lot of confusion."

Councilmember Willie Lightfoot said the council will have its input on the issue when they vote on the tax levy. Until then, he wants people to make their voices heard by attending Thursday's speak-to-council session.

"Your voice matters," he said. "We need you to fight today; there is no tomorrow."

— Robert Bell is a multimedia journalist and reporter at The Democrat & Chronicle. He was born in Rochester, grew up in Philadelphia and studied film in Los Angeles. Follow him at @byrobbell on X and @byrobbell on IG. Contact him at rlbell@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Property reassessments in Rochester NY shock residents. The latest