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Assessor outlines tentative roll, grievance timeline and ADU exemption plan
Summary
City Assessor Kathy Martin reviewed the assessment process, timelines for change-of-assessment notices and grievance day, how assessments relate to tax bills, and a proposed ADU exemption that would phase out over eight years.
Kathy Martin, the city assessor, told council members at the workshop that she had signed the tentative assessment roll and that change-of-assessment notices will be mailed shortly, with the board of assessment review scheduled for the fourth Wednesday in May (grievance day) and the final roll to be published on July 1.
"A change in assessment does not necessarily result in or correlate to an increase in taxes," said Kathy Martin, explaining that assessments divide the tax burden while tax rates are set later by the city and school district. She reviewed the reassessment program in Beacon, saying the city uses an annual reassessment to keep assessments aligned with market value and to promote equity among property classes.
Martin described the valuation methods used: residential values rely primarily on comparable sales data, while commercial properties generally use an income-and-expense approach. She said the assessor’s office will send both increase and decrease notices and will post the tentative roll online and at city hall. Property owners will have about four weeks to review notices and either meet informally with assessor staff, reach a stipulated agreement that waives grievance-day appeal rights, or proceed to the board of assessment review on grievance day.
Martin told the council that residential assessments rose approximately 6.5 percent in the latest tentative roll and that the valuation date for this cycle is July 1, 2024, meaning sales used for comparisons are drawn from roughly July 2023–July 2024. She also explained that the city’s assessment program aims to maintain assessments at or near a percent of market value (the assessor noted an operational target around the mid-90s percent range when certifying with the state but did not give a single fixed figure).
On exemptions, Martin thanked the council for increasing the income limit for the senior/disabled low-income exemption from $30,000 to $50,000 and said more residents will benefit. She also described a proposed ADU exemption under New York State Real Property Tax Law §421‑p that staff plan to bring to the council: the local proposal would exclude up to the first $80,000 of increased assessed value from taxation for qualifying ADU work, with the exemption phasing out over eight years (about 12.5 percent of the benefit removed each year).
Martin said taxpayers may contact the assessor’s office to schedule appointments; stipulated agreements reached before grievance day remove the right to appeal to the board of assessment review. She reminded the council that the assessor’s office is available year-round to meet with residents and that formal grievance procedures and small-claims remedies remain available after the board’s determinations.
Council members asked about valuation methods, the public availability of commercial income-and-expense information and the timing of assessment changes relative to sales; Martin described standard documentation practices and the state certification process for equalization ratios.
No council action was taken at the workshop; the assessor will publish notices and proceed with the public process required by state law.
