The affordable housing project coming to the Village of Cayuga is challenging its tax assessment in court.
According to court documents obtained by Finger Lakes News Radio, the Wheat Street Housing Development Fund Corporation is petitioning the Cayuga County Supreme Court to have its tax assessment reduced. The Assessor and Board of Assessment Review (BAR) for the Town of Aurelius, the Town of Aurelius, and the Village of Cayuga have been named as respondents.
The property at 255 Wheat Street within the village has been assessed at $1,249,000 for the 2024/25 tax year. The challenge claims this number is excessive and greater than fair market value. The corporation seeks to have the court reduce the valuation to $280,000, the price paid for the property.
Wheat Street challenged the assessment with the BAR; however, the BAR did not modify the assessment leading to the petitioning of the court.
The not-for-profit is turning the former Cayuga Elementary School into 31 apartments with an additional 16 units spanning three townhouses being constructed on the property.
The apartments could potentially add 140 residents to the village that, according to the 2020 US Census, only has a population of 472.
The village’s current residents have expressed their concerns over the project with primary concerns being the strain that additional residents could have on emergency services and infrastructure, potential tax increases due to said strains, the lack of jobs in the village for new residents, and how these new residents will fit into the tight-knit community already present in the village.
Some also see the project as a “bait and switch.” The property was originally acquired by the Gavras Center in 2020 with the stated goal of housing seniors 55 years or older and those with mental disabilities. Apartments will now be rented based on income level with nine units being set aside for those with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Cayuga Mayor Don Wilson Jr expressed his dissatisfaction with the path the project has taken at an April community meeting hosted by project manager Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services (INHS) and the Gavras Center saying “Every part of this presentation is a lie to the people of Cayuga.”
Speaking about the petition with Finger Lakes News Radio, Wilson added that he couldn’t say much but found it disheartening.
“I have no comment at this time, but this is disheartening since INHS said that they ‘wanted to be good neighbors’ while at the open to the public meeting at BOCES.”
Applications for the Wheat Street Apartments opened last month with a lottery anticipated to take place on September 30 to determine which applicants will move on to the review process.
INHS stated the first units to become available will be the townhouses; the first two buildings are expected to be completed in December with the third completed in January.
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