The evening of 2023-09-25 was a meeting of the Mendon Town Board.
The bulk of the meeting was eaten up by budget discussions. Which was fitting enough, as it is an important topic to work through. Although, it took long enough I would not be surprised if the process is changed for next year.
Either way, the primary discussion points seemed to be around the Building and Grounds Department. First, if there should actually be a department for that function, then how best to manage it. I believe the discussion continued into the executive session, although that is speculation on my part. Regardless, budget remains in it’s tentative form, and the Board will be discussing it further at their next meeting.
To some extent, it was anticipated that the budget would move to the ‘Preliminary’ stage tonight, as a number of later agenda items operated on that assumption. It was rather amusing observing a string of items being tabled, as they needed to wait for the budget.
Before the budget discussion there was a presentation from Jim (Assessor) on assessments. Primarily on doing a full reassessment, but other related topics came up.
I think the big take away here is that your property tax shouldn’t significantly change because a full reassessment occurs. Your property value would go up, but so does everyone else. The tax rate should go down, leaving the actual tax amount roughly the same. Mind you, that’s the theory. Actual results will vary (because life tends to be more complicated then a simple theory).
I highlight that tax impact (or lack thereof) as people often get upset when they see changes to property value. With good cause, as there is a degree of logic that an increase in value would translate to an increase in taxes. And no one (that is sane) wants to pay more taxes. But since property taxes are based off a levy, it’s more about how your property value compares to other peoples. Again, in theory.
And those are my Observations From Audience Land for the September 25, 2023 meeting of the Mendon Town Board.