Town-wide property reassessments underway in Irondequoit. Got questions?

Irondequoit, which completed a town-wide reassessment of property values three years ago, is now in the throes of another one.

Last week, the Assessor’s Office announced on social media it will host an informational presentation about the revaluation at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30, on Facebook Live on the town’s Facebook page. The presentation also will be shown on ICAT 1303, and the live broadcast will be re-aired in the days that follow.

However, the reassessment of 21,162 parcels has been underway since July, after the Town Board approved assessor Amy Jorstad’s request to hire Emminger, Newton, Pigeon & Magyar, Inc. to do the work at a cost of $298,000.

Homeowners should expect to get letters in March 2022 outlining changes to their assessed property values, Jorstad said.

The Facebook Live presentation will give residents a chance to ask questions about the process, the goal of which, she said, is “to make sure assessments reflect current market values and make sure they are all fair and equitable.” (The town’s website — irondequoit.org — has posted a form for questions to be submitted in advance.)

Presumably, there will be a lot of them.

Almost immediately after posts about the presentation went up, people began expressing skepticism, particularly about the reassessment’s timing, given that the previous one concluded in early 2018 and current real estate prices have been driven to new heights by pressures created by the coronavirus pandemic, which started less than two years ago. (Irondequoit is not alone, by the way. The towns of Chili, Greece, Henrietta, Rush and Sweden did reassessments in 2021, according to the state Department of Taxation and Finance.)

Why now?

Jorstad has seen the comments but said Irondequoit home prices were rising before the public health crisis emerged.

Back in 2008, Irondequoit did a town-wide reassessment. By 2017, on average, prices were outpacing assessed values by 6%, which led to the reassessment that wrapped up in 2018, according to a Democrat and Chronicle story from that time.

By 2019, on average, homes were selling for 3% more than their assessed 2018 values, according to Jorstad's data.

So far this year, on average, they are selling for 12% more, she said.

According to data reported Nov. 5 by the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors, the median sales price for a home in Irondequoit during 2021 is $170,000, up 13% from the same point last year. It was $150,000 in 2020 and $132,000 in 2019. (Monroe County-wide, the median sales price in 2021 is $195,000, up 16% compared to the same time last year.)

But what if the increases don’t hold?

“We don’t know what’s going to happen next year with sales prices,” Jorstad said. “In the hypothetical where the market crashes and values start to decline and we find out that the sales prices are getting far away from assessments — if we were starting to see a trend where assessments are rising above sales prices — we would have to readjust the assessments again.”

What does it mean for your taxes?

New York municipalities rely heavily on property tax revenue to fund government operations, and homeowners assume that higher assessments mean higher property taxes.

That is often the case. But not always, Jorstad said, because there are instances in which property values may be adjusted down, and overall, property values are just one of the ways tax bills are calculated.

Town budgets, county budgets, school district budgets, sales tax revenue and state and federal aid are among the other factors that come into play.

In addition, municipalities are prohibited by the state’s tax cap law from using reassessments to increase their total tax burden to a level that exceeds 2 percent annually.

All of that said, Irondequoit is one of the highest-taxed municipalities in Monroe County, as many on social media have pointed out.

The combined county/Irondequoit town tax rate for 2021 — which does not include taxes for special districts, such as fire and sewer districts — is $15.18 per $1,000 of assessed property value, according to MonroeCounty.gov. The town of Webster is higher at $16.26 per $1,000, but the town of Pittsford is lower at $11.54, as is Brighton at $13.11.

The school tax rate for the East Irondequoit district for 2021 is $30.04 per $1,000 of assessed property value, the county's highest, according to MonroeCounty.gov. The rate for the West Irondequoit district is $28.20, which is among the highest.

What can you do?

Jorstad said she is sensitive to those facts, but, again, her job is to make sure the assessments reflect the true market value of properties in Irondequoit, the county's second-largest town by population.

“I do expect a lot of questions,” she said, referring to the Nov. 30 Facebook Live presentation.

She also noted there are many avenues available to homeowners who want to contest their reassessments.

Informal hearings will happen in March and April; a formal grievance period will begin May 1; and May 24 is grievance day.

A lot of people challenged their reassessments in 2018, when lines wound through Town Hall.

“I expect that to happen again,” she said.

Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @MarciaGreenwood.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Irondequoit NY property reassessments 2021: What to know