Oct 23, 2013 12:44 PM

Most East Quogue homeowners can expect to shell out more in school property taxes than originally projected—more than double in some cases—due to an overall decline in the assessed value of land in the hamlet.

At their meeting last week, East Quogue Board of Education members, acting on the recommendation of district business manager Betty Lev, tentatively set the 2013-14 tax rate at $11.35 per $1,000 of assessed value, which, if it stands, would be an increase of 9.3 percent from the prior year’s rate of $10.38.

In the spring, school officials estimated that the district’s tax rate would increase by ONLY about 4.6 percent, to $10.86 per $1,000, under the approved $22.4 million budget for the 2013-14 school year. But Ms. Lev said the tax rate had to increase due to the dwindling assessed value of homes in East Quogue: Land values in the hamlet declined overall by more than 6 percent last year, from $1.89 billion to approximately $1.77 billion, she said.

“We’re not alone in that,” Ms. Lev said. “Assessed values have been on the decline all over.”

Therefore, a taxpayer whose home is assessed at $500,000 can now expect to pay $5,675 in school taxes this year, or approximately $485 more than last year. Originally, those same taxpayers were expecting to pay about $5,430 in school taxes, or $240 more than last year.

The average assessed value of a home in East Quogue is now $618,000, according to the Southampton Town tax assessor’s office.

Even with the overall decline, tax assessments for most of the 3,400 houses in the East Quogue School District either stayed the same or increased, according to Southampton Town Tax Assessor Lisa Goree. She noted that less than 1,100 homes, or about 31.8 percent of those in the hamlet, have actually decreased in value. The owners of the remaining houses, including the 223 that saw an increase in value, will bear the full brunt of the tax increase.

Ms. Goree said land values declined overall in the hamlet, noting that the net worth typically fluctuates from year to year.