The Secret Cornell

The Secret Cornell 30

A few years ago: when a nearby home was being sold – I was curious about the sale. The listing claimed that it had been in one family for 50 years. I remember the times I passed by and seeing the front porch half-filled with firewood; and half family members. It was the kind of rural subsistence home that was not trashy; but everywhere in need of unaffordable maintenance. A home that was not at risk from bank payments; but from the one-two punch of the rising assessments/rising taxes tag team that has KO’d rural Lansing. The listing sat unsold for 6 months at its assessed value; and the assessors came around again and upped the assessment another twenty percent. It finally sold for a price that in no way reflected the official judgement. I was able present this situation to the County Assessment Director at a public meeting; and he replied: “We always find that when a house sells for less than the assessed value; the owner is hiding something from us.” It’s the sort of self-serving statement that populates every poorly attended, meaningless public meeting. Tompkins County Assessors claim they are not political; but then, neither is greed.