The recent Times Herald-Record article about school taxes implied a dramatic increase in tax for the City of Newburgh. However, that is not really what taxpayers are likely to experience. At the September 29 Newburgh Board of Education meeting there was a presentation by John Wolham of the New York State Office of Real Property. He explained how the tax rates are computed for different municipalities based on assessed values and an equalization rate.
His presentation included numbers showing the actual amount of the Newburgh School District tax levy assigned to different towns.
| Town | 2008-2009 tax levy amt | 2009-2010 tax levy amt | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cornwall | 18,033 | 18,468 | 2.40% |
| City Newburgh | 24,356,567 | 22,971,740 | -5.7% |
| Town Newburgh | 43,055,802 | 42,406,197 | -1.5% |
| Town New Windsor | 27,236,155 | 29,330,213 | 7.7% |
So what threw the Record's computations so far off?
The City of Newburgh went through a property reassessment last year and the total "Taxable assessed value" of property subject to school tax dropped significantly, from $1.58 billion to $1.32 billion. So a property valued at $200k last year was most likely to have been assessed at a lower value this year. At the Newburgh Board of Ed meeting, Steve Reulke, the assessor for the City of Newburgh, commented that the average decline was around 17%.