Village of Castleton-on-Hudson (population 1473)
Name of service/government operation: Property Asessments
Form of sharing: Town assesses village properties
Services affected: Village taxes are based on town assessments
Year started: 2010
Partners: Town of Schodack
Primary goal(s)/motivation(s): Village did not have the trained personnel to provide accurate assessments
What planning process preceded the sharing? Spoke to Town assessor, identified gap,properties between Town assessment and Village assessement (both municipalities assessed the same property and there were often different values for the same property).
What governance structures and/or agreements are required to maintain this agreement? Village board passed a resolution that the village now accepts the town's assessement of all village properties.
Challenges: None so far.
Benefits: Assessement value is the same for both village and Town tax bills so there is less confusion with how a property was assessed. All assessement challenges go through the Town.
Impact on budget: Some assessement a went up, some went down, overall it was a wash.
Impact on labor: Village doesn't need to spend time doing property comparisons for challenges. town and Village are receiving fewer calls wondering why a property was valued in one jurisdiction different from another.
Impact on service: everyone involved has indicated that this sharing of service is working beautifully.
Key contact: Mayor Joe Keegan - village of Castleton