OGDENSBURG — In preparation for collecting taxes in Ogdensburg this January, St. Lawrence County has rented office space in the city.

Ogdensburg residents will receive an early bill in January for their county taxes. City taxes will not be due until April.

The change came as part of failed sales tax negotiations between the city and county, which led Ogdensburg to stop collecting property taxes on behalf of the county.

Because the county collects taxes earlier, Ogdensburg property owners received notice that their tax bills would be coming more than three months earlier than normal.

To help address the issue the county is spending on an Ogdensburg satellite office to provide “a centralized location with other county services, currently occupied by the Department of Motor Vehicles, Pobartion, and Community Services’ Addiction Services Clinic,” at 206 Ford Street.

The office will be open from Jan. 1 through May 31, 2022.

The office rental will cost the county about $2,000.

“Property taxes due to St. Lawrence County for property located within the city of Ogdensburg (have) historically been collected by the city and remitted to the county,” the resolution says. “The city of Ogdensburg has taken formal action to cease collection of property taxes due to St. Lawrence.”

The change in collection drew outrage from City Manager Stephen Jellie who accused the county of putting an undue burden on the city’s property owners by changing the collection date.

St. Lawrence County Treasurer Renee Cole fired back at Jellie stating that the county collects all property taxes at the same time and that the change in collection was due to actions taken by the city, not the county.