On November 24, 2020, during a public meeting and hearing at the Montgomery County Legislators’ meeting room, Resolution No. 199 was passed approving the construction of a new facility for the County Highway Department. See the Resolution Here

Background

• Our current revenue from real-property taxes is $223,000 annually.
• Currently, we have a total of $19,073,243.00 in assessed commercial property within the Village of Fonda.
• We do not collect the assessed value on $9,152,224.00 – meaning the properties are Wholly Untaxable.
• On real-property tax alone, we would double our revenue if we were allowed to collect taxes from the Wholly Exempt properties.
• Based on taxable real property values, the County distributes sales tax within Montgomery County. Therefore we do not receive sales tax on nearly 50% of the properties within the Village, or in cash terms, $100,000.00 plus or minus.
• The Village of Fonda has an interested developer wishing to purchase and develop multiple properties on the waterfront within the Village and Town of Mohawk investing millions of dollars into the project.

The Importance

This action is vital to the Village of Fonda and our residents. The property occupied by the current highway department is one of many non-taxable properties within the Village of Fonda. Why is this important?

1. It opens the door for an interested investor to develop the land that would otherwise be within the floodplain and ultimately increase its value.
2. The sale of the land to a non-government entity returns the parcel to the tax base. The current assessed value is $832,500.00.
3. If an additional sale of the property moved forward to the investor, we would experience an additional $748,804.00 returned to our tax-base. In all, this will yield $1,581,304.00 to our taxable properties.
4. As a taxable property, the assessed value will increase the Village’s allocation of the sales tax distribution.
5. Additional revenue will allow improved facilities and services for our current customers and expand current commercial customers’ abilities.
6. Ultimately, it is always the goal to reduce our taxpayers’ taxed percentage rate, and we will consider this immediately once we know the actual numbers.

Net-Results

The moving of the Highway Department and subsequent sales of additional non-taxable properties will benefit the Village, Town, and County.

• Increased revenue and broader tax-base through sales and real property tax revenues, offering reduced tax rates to our current taxpayers.
• Expanded abilities to serve our residents and commercial customers.
• Additional Employment Opportunities.

I will keep you abreast of our progress as we continue to move forward with these crucial strives to improve our Village’s quality of life and financial stability.

Bill Peeler