Reporter:  Loralyn Light

Bob Riter

Cornell Community Cancer Partnership

 

Meeting on Zoom only

 

The Four-Way Test was recited in unison by all members attending.

 

There were no guests or visiting Rotarians.

 

 

Kellyann O’Mara read a while ago that had Dr. Seuss distilled his thoughts about the importance of reading to children’s learning, he might have said something like, “You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild to pick up a book and read to a child.”  Although penned by someone else for a national reading campaign celebrated each year on Dr. Seuss’s birthday, the quote does have that “Dr Seuss” ring to it.

 

It is safe to assume, that all of us are familiar with The Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who!, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and the list goes on.  These whimsical stories filled with made-up words and repetitive sounds are favorites with children and adults the world over—well, that is until you are asked to read the same book over and over, like I do with my grandchildren, day after day… until suddenly, there is a new BBF (best book forever) to read or add to the list of favorites!

 

Reading is a great habit to form at any age.  In fact, evidence from a study at Yale University (yes, Yale!) found that people who read live, on average, 23 months longer than those who do not.  Specifically, reading books, as opposed to magazines and newspapers, is what appears to add that longevity.  Some of the life-extending benefits are attributed to new knowledge and wisdom, as well as increased understanding and empathy for individuals who often have little in common with the reader.  Reading immerses us in someone else’s story… whether fact or fiction.  It invites us to walk a mile in their shoes.

 

 

“Increasing Assessments and Their Impact on the Property Taxes”

Brian Wilbur introduced speaker Jay Franklin, Director of the Tompkins County Assessment Department.

 

Jay said that the TC Assessment Department is the only true county assessor’s office in the state, as most other assessors are elected or appointed by towns.  Jay’s father Don worked in the same office from 1970 (its inception) to 1996, including 12 years as director.  Jay started his career there a year later in 1997, becoming director in 2011.

 

Jay first offered some definitions:

Every year the Tompkins County Assessment Department reviews several thousand of Tompkins County’s 35,000 properties rotating through different property types and locations in an effort to keep everything up-to-date.

 

In the 1990s, the City of Ithaca’s total tax value decreased from just under $900 million down to $816 million—but since then the total tax value has been increasing steadily to its value in 2021: $2,240,147,928.

 

“Personally, I’d like to see property values continue to increase.  That means we live in a desirable community.  As a civil servant with 12-year-old triplets, my biggest investment will be my house.  I like to know I made a wise investment by seeing it increase in value.”

 

Jay sought to assuage some of the worries over rising assessments; he described it as not necessarily a bad or scary thing, and that it depends on external actions beyond the tax assessment.  He then showed a few examples using the Lansing Central School District’s 2021-22 numbers (tax base=$1,012,383,172; tax levy=$21,323,524; tax rate=$21.062701).  Based on those values, a house assessment of $200K would yield a tax bill of $4,213.  Now if the Tax Base DOUBLED, the tax bill would remain the same; and if the Tax Base was HALVED, the tax bill would still remain the same!  However, if the Tax Levy was doubled, the tax bill would also double to $8,425.

 

People correlate increased values with increased taxes, which is simply not the case.  If the values doubled, the tax rate would be cut in half and everyone’s taxes will remain the same.  If values increase, the tax rate can decrease.  But unfortunately, sometimes the taxing jurisdictions will say that they kept taxes flat as they didn’t increase the tax rate—but the value of their property went up 9.14% so they now have 9.14% more of a tax levy.  The tax rate is simply a function of the tax levy; that is, how much a taxing jurisdiction needs to do their business and the tax base.

 

How to reduce your taxes, according to Jay:

 

 

Newsletter Reporter:  Loralyn Light

Photographer:  Mike Brown

Newsletter Editor:  Loralyn Light

 

Set-up Zoom:  Brett Bossard

Recording Archive:  Paul Martin; click here

Club Service Facilitator:  June Losurdo