Schuyler County (population 18343)
Name of service/government operation: Shared Real property Assessment
Form of sharing: County perfroms assessment function on behalf of all towns
Services affected: Real Property Assessment
Year started: 2008
Partners: County and all eight towns
Primary goal(s)/motivation(s): To develop a uniform system of property assessment. To bring all municipalities to full value assessment. To reduce costs associated with performing this function
What planning process preceded the sharing? Council of Government initiative that was supported by Town Assessors at time of request
What governance structures and/or agreements are required to maintain this agreement? IMA with a five year duration
Challenges: Local control issues drove the drafting of IMA. Towns retain appointment power but assessors becam county employees
Benefits: We now have county wide full valuation with parity among properties. Cost was initially reduced by 50% at town level with no increase in county expense.
Impact on budget: 50% reduction in town costs plus cost avoidance in excess of $400,000 by conducting full value appraisals in house.
Impact on labor: Consolidated this service without loss of positions and maintained level of service in face of reductions through attrition. had the towns had to replace retiring assessors it would be difficult due to a lack of qualified applicants
Impact on service: Improved dramatically. Centralized staff, parity in assessment practices are but two benefits.
Key contact: Tom Bloodgood RPS Director