Residents ask for a pause on the reassessment at the Speak to Council meeting

ROCHESTER N.Y. (WROC) – City Councilman at Large, Willie Lightfoot is among those who are for the pause on the city reassessment plan.

He says not only is he asking the mayor and other fellow council members for a 2-year pause on the reassessment but also to have a public hearing similar to tonight allowing everyone’s impact to be heard and questions answered after more data is collected on the plan.

“Who’s taxes are going up, who’s going to be impacted, what zip codes are being impacted the most, what did they see as a trend of when people did do their formal assessments did it go up, at what rate did it go up, or did it go down, what rate did it go down? which we believe shows flaws in the process,” said Lightfoot.

One resident who felt passionately about the issues rising cost of housing and rent says this could negatively impact children.

“Today it’s us. Tomorrow it will be you. and when voting comes we’re not going to vote for any of you who ain’t helping. If you ain’t for us, you against us, and right now you’re showing you’re against us. These children sleeping in cars and are homeless and you’re jacking up rent and prices of houses and you’re sitting there like you’re comfortable,” said Louise Morales.

Lightfoot says they are calling for two public hearings. One at the end of May which he says will be enough time to have more information on the plan and again in June before the budget vote.

A spokesperson for the city gave a response to those at the speak-to-council event saying:

“The City has been working to counter the misinformation being spread by individuals who are advocating for a “pause” in this established process and has communicated numerous times that there is no option to delay the process.

Since December 2023, the City has provided numerous opportunities for property owners to get individualized attention regarding their new assessments; in fact, between the informal review process, five reassessment information sessions, and formalized Board of Assessment Review (BAR) process, the City has met one-on-one with more than 7,500 property owners who have had questions or wanted to contest their assessment.

The administration continues to assure property owners that the increase in assessments across the city will result in a lower tax rate across the board. Even with an increase in assessed value, many property owners will see a decrease in their taxes.”

The next city council meeting will be Wednesday, April 24th.

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