Village eying new tax exemption for vets

By Dan King

The village of Whitehall is looking to alleviate some more tax burden for those who served the country.

Tony Scrimo, a veteran and village resident, asked the village board last month to consider raising the tax exemption for veterans, citing similar practices by both the town of Whitehall and Washington County.

Scrimo said that the current village tax exemption law was established in 1999 and that it maxes out at an exemption of $9,000. He added that the exemption has not been changed since it was implemented 16 years ago.

Meanwhile, Scrimo said, the town and county have amended the exemption to mark the change in times. The town and county reportedly use an exemption of “up to 15 percent of assessed value up to $180,000.”

“All we’re asking is for the village to consider raising the exemption to the same level as the town and the county,” said Scrimo, who attended the meeting with other veterans.

Mayor Ken Bartholomew, a fellow veteran, said that he was open to considering the proposal, but he pointed out that the policy could have an adverse impact on non-veterans.

“I’m definitely not against the exemption,” Bartholomew said. “But, when you have an exemption, taxes are going to increase on everyone who doesn’t get that exemption.”

After Scrimo rattled off some potential numbers and best guesses for how the exemption would impact village residents, Bartholomew said the village would contact Washington County Real Property to run reports showing the exact impact that the increased assessment would have on all of the village taxpayers.

Scrimo said that he didn’t think the change in the exemption would impact taxpayers too much, because the assessed value of most properties in the village of Whitehall isn’t particularly high.

According to officials, the town uses a sliding scale to determine the exemption that will be given, and village clerk Stephanie LaChapelle said that ask town officials for a copy of that sliding scale.

Village officials heard back from Real Property and found out that changing the exemption would change the total exempt amount from $1,392,120 to $1,975,180, based on 2015 tax information.

“The total exemption increase is $10,912 this comes to a .0065% tax increase on the village amount to be raised by taxes of $1,670,526.24,” said Bartholomew. “

The board is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, July 14, at 6 p.m. in the village offices at the corner of Saunders and Williams Streets.