BUFFALO, N.Y. — More and more people are moving into Buffalo, and some neighborhoods are more popular than most.
Johnathan White, who works with the Allentown Association, tells 2 On Your Side that the popularity of certain neighborhoods is part of the increase in the value of properties, even ones that have been there for decades.
"Allentown, where we are, the Fruit Belt, parts of Black Rock, parts of the West Side, the Elmwood Village, and First Ward have seen home values increase very dramatically," he told 2 On Your Side.
White said these home values mean more now than they did before. Buffalo is conducting its first city-wide property evaluation in a decade, and that means the tax bills for homeowners could double or triple what they were in the past.
The result is that more and more people will be forced to leave the city, even those who have lived in some neighborhoods for generations. This could especially impact the elderly and low-income homeowners.
"Once the new assessment goes into effect, it could effectively double or more and for a lot of families, that increase would be unsustainable," White said.
White has been hosting town halls across the city along with several other organizations such as PUSH Buffalo and the Partnership for Public Good for the past few months. Showing people examples of how changing home values could impact them when the assessment is done.
Sarah Wooton, who works with the Partnership for Public Good, says the best thing homeowners can do is contact their Common Council representatives and ask them to move ahead with legislation that would cap the tax rate based on income.
It’s really up to people getting together and speaking out about this that’s going to make that change.
Buffalo's Online Assessment Roll System can be found here.
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