Hoosick Hires Firm To Do Revaluation of Town Real Property
by Alex Brooks
The Hoosick Town Board unanimously voted to accept the proposal received at its last meeting from GAR Associates Inc to do the Town revaluation for $265,000.[private]
Town Attorney Jonathan Schopf said he had reviewed the proposal and spoken with people from GAR. He said the base price will get the Town a new tax roll for 2019, with 3,500 properties visited and evaluated. The only issue is how much GAR will be willing to do to defend its appraisals if they are challenged after the new tax roll is implemented. Schopf said the people at GAR that he spoke to are open to negotiating with the Town.
He said when Troy did a revaluation, they had 80 lawsuits against them that resulted. But Troy is a much bigger town, and there is a lot more commercial property. Commercial valuations are more likely to be challenged. He said he thought in Hoosick it is more likely to be two or three suits against the Town. But in any case the Town should see what GAR will be willing to do to defend its appraisals after they are in place.
The Board asked Schopf to conduct that negotiation with GAR.
Dave Sutton said he was pleased to see the Town going ahead with revaluation, because he believes the Town should “stop discriminating against people who want to come here and build new homes.” He said he believes the Town should be welcoming those people.
Town Assessor Tony Rice said he doesn’t know yet how much State aid the Town will get for the revaluation. He said it is less than it used to be. He is expecting somewhere between $3 and $5 per parcel, which would be perhaps $15,000 total – a small fraction of the cost.
Tax Cap
Supervisor Surdam said the budget he presented contained a 1.99% tax increase. The tax cap, originally billed as a 2% tax cap, is actually at 0.68% for the Town of Hoosick this year, so in order to go forward with the budget presented, they would need to override the tax cap. To do this they need to hold a public hearing, so they scheduled one for 6:30 pm on November 14, just prior to the regular meeting.
A budget workshop is scheduled for Wednesday October 26 at 6 pm, and a Public Hearing on the budget is scheduled for Thursday November 10 at 6 pm.
The Board heard a presentation from Clark Howe of Integra LED about switching lighting to LED to save on electric bills. The Town now has two companies who have offered to change the bulbs, and must examine their proposals and choose the better one.
Supervisor Surdam said the Comptroller’s office performed a fiscal stress evaluation and gave the Town of Hoosick “NO designation” status, which means they detected no fiscal stress.
The Board accepted the resignation of Gary Kjelgaard from the Planning Board, and appointed Joyce Brewer to a full 5 year term on the Hoosick Housing Authority Board.[/private]