Irondequoit residents question why home reassessment values have almost doubled

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – News10NBC has been getting a lot of calls from residents in Irondequoit, saying their reassessment values nearly doubled. These letters went out over the weekend.   

The town is doing it’s first full reassessment since 2018, and the results are giving some homeowners sticker shock.

Brian Urquhart’s property value on Eaton Road has climbed the last couple of years. So naturally, he was expecting an increase this year. But he didn’t realize his value would nearly double in the last five years.

“I bought the house in 2012 for about $90,000. And then in 2018 our assessment was $92,000,” he said.

Now, his home with one bathroom is assessed at nearly $160,000.

Town Assessor Amy Jorstad said because of the current housing market, property owners are seeing increases across the board.

“The jumps are reflective of what is happening in the real estate market, so right now in the market in Irondequoit, we have been seeing steady increases in values, sales,” she said.

In other words, what are people willing to pay for a home?

I asked Urquhart if he believes his home would sell for the new assessed value of $158,000.

“I seriously doubt it could, it’s 1,100 square foot with one bathroom,” he said. “I’m getting close to retirement age, I have to worry about health insurance, how to upkeep the house. They want us to keep our houses looking nice and we want to keep our houses looking nice, but when you add on hundred dollars in taxes, that takes off what we can do to put into our house,” said Urquhart.

Jorstad said it’s possible tax rates could eventually go down, because municipalities have a cap on how much they can raise levies. This happens when the taxable value in the town increase is so significant.

It happened in Penfield — rates went down about 70 cents since 2020.

Penfield Town Tax Rate:

2020: $2.7786

2021: $2.7792

2022: $2.7762

2023: $2.0972

“In terms of grievance applications, we had 1,007 grievance applications [in Penfield] for our 14,000+ parcels. Of those, 726 were reduced to some degree,” said Christopher J. Tanea, spokesperson for the Town of Penfield.

This remains to be seen in Irondequoit.

“Take a breath, read through the letter closely,” said Jorstad. “Ask your questions, get information. Understand this is a give-and-take situation, we have 21,000 properties in the Town of Irondequoit. We are not going to get them all correct, it’s just inevitable we may have made a mistake.”

Now keep in mind, Urquhart said his school and fire taxes have also gone up, adding onto his concern. He said he plans on challenging his assessment ahead of Grievance Day.

If you live in Irondequoit and are wondering what next steps you should take, Jorstad said you can start with the two phone numbers on the back of your assessment letter. You can also get grievance information here.

A meeting is scheduled for this Thursday, sponsored by the Irondequoit Chamber of Commerce. Those in attendance can ask questions and talk to Jorstad in person.