If you find a strange man or woman at your door in the next six months, don’t assume he or she is a solicitor or a scammer. Beginning in June, tax assessors will be combing the village and knocking on doors to ask permission from homeowners to enter their homes for an assessment.
The first step in the village-wide revaluation is a physical inspection of all properties, and the process will extend from June 2012 to December 2012. Assessors will stop by your house twice to see if they can find someone at home. Once inside, they will measure the interior and evaluate the quality and condition of the home. According to John J. Valente of Tyler Techonologies, the company that has been retained by the village to do the work, assessors are not concerned about your dog, whether or not the house is clean or beds are made. The visit should take 15-20 minutes. If the assessor cannot get in after two attempts, they will send you a letter to schedule an appointment.
After the physical data collection, Tyler Technologies will use additional data to assess the value of your home. They will look at digital images taken from the street, consider recent comparable sales, make an assessment of the neighborhood and develop a valuation model using mathematical techniques.
And what if you decide not to let the assessor in? Will that help or hurt your assessment? According to Valente, if the assessor is not given access, the company will evaluate the house based on the exterior appearance. If the home appears to be in good condition, they will assume it has a full finished basement and give it an “A” rating. So it probably would behoove you to let the company do their work. Assessors will be carrying identification, so if you are skeptical, ask to see their paperwork before letting them in.
In order to inform everyone about the revaluation process, the company will be meeting with village organizations, issuing press releases and posting information online. From similar work in other towns, Tyler expects to gain entry to 75% of homes, though in Bronxville, 93% of homes were inspected.
Since the village sets the total tax levy, the reassessment will not change how much is collected in total. Rather, the reassessment will change the apportionment of the collection. Current thinking is that following the reassessment one third of homeowners will see their taxes go up, one third will have a decrease and one third will remain the same.
And, if a homeowner is unhappy with their reassessment, what is the process? There will be informal hearings and a grievance day where homeowners can come to Village Hall and state their case. Tyler also estimates that following the process, 10% of Scarsdale taxpayers will file formal tax grievances.
If all goes as planned, the new tax rates will go into effect for the 2014-15 tax roll.
For more information, visit http://www.reassessment.scarsdale.com or email Project Director John J. Valente at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
The Westchester Festival of the Arts returns to Scarsdale for the third year, this weekend May 19th and May 20th. Painters, sculptors, photographers, jewelers, and other talented artisans will display and sell their work on Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm and on Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm. This year the work will be shown on Chase Road and admission is free. The Scarsdale Chamber of Commerce is hosting the show. For more information, visit 
Saturday May 12 was the perfect day for a carnival, and all five elementary school events were a success. The warm, sunny day brought out the entire community to enjoy games, activities and good food.
It’s carnival time at all five elementary schools in Scarsdale this Saturday. Here is some information we received from a few of the schools about what to expect.
All aspects of green living and sustainability were on display at Sustainable Scarsdale Day on Saturday May 5. There were electric cars, ecologically responsible home products, new technologies to power your home, gardens to grow your own and more.
native perennials and shrubs around the pond at the Scarsdale library. These plants will help to control flooding and will attract butterflies and dragon flies. The planting plan was drawn by landscape designer Beverly Isis. To fund the project, Stanley received a grant from the Scarsdale Friends of the Parks and raised the rest. She will receive a Silver Award for the project. Planting will take place this Saturday May 12 at Scarsdale Library Pond and volunteers are needed. 
few minutes, a mountain of leaves was shredded, and became compost, a rich organic resource for the ground.
toilet paper and art paste that will be sent to the mall in Washington D.C. to represent those who died in genocides in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Funds from this initiative will be used to build schools in these countries in an effort to educate children and create a sustainable economy.
