Mossy Bank annexation would up school taxes a fraction
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

BATH - A public hearing last week on the Village of Bath's proposed annexation of Mossy Bank Park helped clarify the action's positive impact on village taxpayers.

Haverling school officials meanwhile warned the annexation would have a corresponding negative impact on taxpayers throughout the school district, including those living outside the village.

While owned by the Village of Bath, the 170-acre property is located just outside village limits in the Town of Bath and therefore is liable for town, county and school taxes. Under state law, a municipally owned property is tax exempt only if it is located within that municipality's borders.

The proposed annexation is geared to realize savings from that exemption, Bath Mayor David Wallace explained.

In response to the only question asked during the five-minute hearing, Wallace noted the annexation would guarantee the village annual property tax savings of about $6,000. At the same time, the mayor said the Town of Bath has forgiven property taxes in the past, and the Steuben County Legislature earlier this year declared the property exempt from future property taxes.

That leaves the Haverling school district as the sole remaining taxing entity, with the current school property tax bill totalling about $3,000. Thus, the impact of the proposed annexation, said Wallace, "is not a big impact, dollar and cents, but it's something."

The impact becomes even smaller when the local impact of annexation is measured against its impact on Haverling school taxes.

According to the school district's business office, the municipality's $3,000 tax bill would have to be redistributed among other school taxpayers if the park comes off the tax rolls.

Business Manager Roger Parulsky estimated that addition would add one cent to the real-value tax rate of every taxable property in the district.

For a property worth $50,000, Parulsky said, the annexation of Mossy Bank would boost the school tax bill by about 50 cents.

Village taxpapers would see tax rate savings of about three cents per $1,000 of real value - or about 75 cents for a property worth $50,000 - according to the village clerk's office.

Members of the Bath town and village boards attending the hearing offered no specific remarks regarding the proposed annexation. According to Bath village attorney John Leyden, both boards were required to wait another 10 days for any written comments on the action. The boards also must vote on the current proposal within a 90-day window, Leyden said.

Bath town Supervisor Fred Muller said the town board would likely take its vote during the November meeting of the board. If the town approves the annexation, the village board would then vote on a local law formalizing the property change.