Read the Tax Assessor’s letter to property owners
By Andrew Harris
It has been close to a decade since the last time the tax assessor conducted a full review of all property in the Town and Village of Wellsville. Since then, two major developments have directly impacted the value of all real estate: A global pandemic and historic inflation in its aftermath. Even in normally sleepy Allegany County local real estate market saw a boom in the wake of Covid-19. Low interest rates coupled with a renewed interested in rural living provided sellers top prices. The sheer cost of building a new home made existing homes more valuable and has created a housing shortage, particularly in the average family home segment.
The goal of this revaluation is to determine the ‘current market value’ of property to determine taxes due to the municipality or school district. During the summer of 2024, the assessor’s office informed property owners of an evaluation of all parcel values. Crews visited properties and utilized the high definition imagery from the recent Allegany County provided Eagleview(,https://www.eagleview.com/) to document all properties.
The results of that re-valuation process is notices that have been arriving in the mail this week and the taxpayers are, in some cases, in disbelief.
Town of Wellsville Supervisor Shad Alsworth explained that statistical outliers always occur and that the grievance process allows for remedy.
“If you feel your estimated assessment is incorrect then please contact the assessor or attend a grievance meeting. In the best interest of every property taxpayer to come prepared with information like data to compare to similar properties and recent sales data,” said Alsworth.
The Assessor’s Office noted that dozens of calls have come in and will be returned as quickly as possible:
“We understand that you have questions regarding the recent revaluation and impact notices. Our office is actively answering calls and working diligently to respond to each inquiry. Due to high call volumes and length of calls, we may not be able to return every call on the same day, but please know that we are addressing concerns as quickly as possible. If you reach our voicemail, please leave a message with your name, phone number, and property address—we will return your call as soon as possible. Repeated calls may slow down response times, so we kindly ask for your patience and cooperation during this process.“
Supervisor Alsworth confirmed that a public meeting for those who need to grieve their assessments will be announced in the near future. In the meantime you may contact the assessor but please be patient considering the volume of inquiries:
Assessor Joe Dannheim
585-593-1780 Ext. 6
sharedassessor@gmail.com
Hours: Mon. – Fri. 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Town and village residents will be receiving this letter with a property revaluation statement this week, if not already:
