After lengthy negotiations and extensive legal action which included our retaining the services of a nationally recognized commercial appraisal firm, the Town of Waterford and the Waterford-Halfmoon School District have agreed to settle the assessment lawsuit.

In their lawsuit, Momentive had demanded that the property’s taxable assessed value be reduced from $195 million to $54 million. They also demanded a total refund in excess $12 million from the School District, Town of Waterford and Saratoga County for overpayment of taxes from 2016 – 2019.

The settlement establishes a taxable assessed value of $95 million and a total refund of $5 million to Momentive. The refund will consist of an approximate $3.5 million from the School District, approximately $1 million from the Town, and $500,000 from Saratoga County. The settlement prohibits any further assessment challenges by Momentive for a period of 5 years.

The $1 million Town refund and the ensuing loss of future tax revenues as a result of the reduction in the assessment is expected to negatively impact the Town’s 2021 operating budget. The Town Board will make every effort to offset this by reducing operating expenses and utilizing surplus funds to minimize the impact on Town taxpayers.  

The final settlement reduced the potential tax refund liability by more than 50% and prevents Momentive from bringing future assessment challenges for five years. Given the potential for a much larger refund and an even greater reduction in the taxable assessed value, we are confident this settlement is in the best interest of our tax payers.