Diana residents take assessment complaints to grievance board

HARRISVILLE, New York (WWNY) - Several taxpayers in the town of Diana are unhappy with a recent reassessment of their property values that could mean an increase in their property taxes.

On Tuesday they brought grievances before the board of assessment review, asking it to consider lowering the reassessed value of their properties.

Jessie Phillips says the majority of his property is landlocked, which is why the reassessment numbers took him by surprise.

“The tax assessment went up 58% for our property and we felt like it was too high for just some land and a building that’s not livable anymore,” he said.

Phillips says the land has been passed down through the family for generations.

“Tenth generation to own it,” Phillips said, “so don’t want to see anything happen to it, that’s for sure.”

Town Assessor James Snyder says it is valid for folks to be concerned over what reassessments could do to their wallet.

“How i try to explain it, is if you went up at a higher percent of the overall value then you can expect an increase in your tax liability, but if you didn’t go up more than the average, they don’t understand that their assessment went up but their tax liability could stay the same or be lower next year,” Snyder said.

Snyder also says given that a lot of properties in the town of Diana have a waterfront, the demand for homes like these has gone up, and so has their value.

“You get a lot of people wanting that, so you got a lot of demand and a little supply,” he said. That has an effect on the market that we’re not used to. We’re in an economically depressed area, so we don’t see a lot of fluctuation.”

The board says those who filed grievances can expect a response in two weeks.

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