Sticker shock! Assessment of one home in Penfield goes up $133K

PENFIELD, N.Y. (WHEC) — Families in Penfield are finding out what their town thinks their homes are worth, and they cannot believe it.

The re-assessment letters are arriving at homes in Penfield this week.

Last week the Town of Irondequoit postponed its reassessment because the numbers were so big. The homeowners I spoke to in Penfield think the timing of their reassessment isn’t fair to them.

"My aunt and uncle live down the street. Uh, $90,000," Nickole Lobdell said listing the increase in assessed value.

"Yep. Next door is $160,000," her neighbor Colleen Goole replied.

Lobdell and Goole compared their reassessment numbers. The letter to Lobdell’s home said the assessment of her home is going from $301,100 to $406,700, a net increase of $105,600.

Goole’s letter said her home is going from $307,600 to $440,700, a net increase of $133,100.

"If we accept the assessment as it is it opens us up for future increases in that tax rate that we are then going to be held responsible for," Goole said.

"Believe me, as a new supervisor this really isn’t what I wanted to start with," Marie Cinti said.

Cinti became the Penfield supervisor three months ago.

Brean: "Was there any consideration to postpone the reassessment because of what’s going on in the market?"

Cinti: "The assessment was actually postponed for two years prior to this. Everyone is saying well, why can’t you postpone it like other towns. But frankly, the market conditions aren’t changing. And I don’t really believe in kicking the can down the road."

Last year, the equalization rate for Penfield was 85 percent. That means the town’s assessed value was 15% below the actual market value.

I found homes in Penfield that recently sold for $106,000 to $160,000 more than their assessed value.

The general rule is when assessments go up tax rates go down so towns stay below the 2 percent tax cap.

Brean: "To me, my math says you’re rate should be going down."

Cinti: "Yes, it should be going down."

The fiscal year in Penfield begins on Jan. 1. The budget process begins in June. The school district budget votes are in late May. The neighborhood of Lobdell and Goole is in the Webster school district.

Click here for a link to the Town of Penfield property tax calculator.

The calculator gives homeowners a ballpark number on how much more property tax (county, town, school, fire) they will pay with a new assessment.

For Goole’s family, it would be $1,178 a year.

Here’s how the calculator works:

• Multiply your 2021 assessment by 37 (which in dollars is the combined property tax rate in Penfield).
• Divide that total by 1,000 (you get taxed on every $1,000 your property is assessed at).
• The total is the total property tax you paid in 2021 not including exemptions.
• Then, multiply your 2022 assessment by 28.5 (the projected combined property tax rate in Penfield).
• Divide that total by 1,000.

The total is the approximate total property tax you will pay per year based on the new assessment.