With the end of winter, the crocuses begin to shoot up from the ground, and the Tompkins County Department of Assessment releases its latest batch of property tax assessments for the year.
As we’ve covered in previous years, the county’s setup is rather unique in the state. In most communities, the towns handle their own assessments. For the past 51 years, however, the county has handled all the assessments for Tompkins County, which results in greater time and staffing efficiencies. The staff of about one dozen is kept busy all year long. Tompkins County has 16 municipalities and 35,625 tax parcels (+219 since last year) with a combined value of $14.3 billion, and over $8 billion of that in tax-exempt properties. (If you’re looking for an in-depth exploration of their work, have a read through 2018’s write-up here.)
For this year, residential reassessments were carried out for the city of Ithaca, the town and village of Groton, the villages of Dryden and Freeville, and the West Hill and South Hill areas of the town of Ithaca. On the commercial side, the department reassessed a number of apartment complexes, fueling stations, convenience stores, car dealerships, horse farms, manufacturing facilities and bed and breakfasts.
Published by The Ithaca Voice
