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Ogdensburg City Council hires GAR Associates to conduct citywide property reassessment

Posted 1/24/22

BY JIMMY LAWTON North Country This Week OGDENSBURG — Ogdensburg City Council has hired GAR Associates, Williamsville, to conduct a citywide reassessment of properties at a cost estimated at …

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Ogdensburg City Council hires GAR Associates to conduct citywide property reassessment

Posted

BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG — Ogdensburg City Council has hired GAR Associates, Williamsville, to conduct a citywide reassessment of properties at a cost estimated at $200,000 to $225,000.

City Planner Andrea Smith said the city budgeted $275,000 for the project and that two proposals were received.

She said GAR Associates came in at the lowest cost and has been quick to respond to any requests made by the city.

“We feel very confident in recommending this to council,” she said.

Smith said that the revaluation would not impact the city tax roll until 2024, but said the school taxes would be impacted in 2023.

“It’s a lengthy process, but we do believe it’s the correct process and the only process that will let us revaluate the entire city at the same time,” she said.

City Manager Stephen Jellie said the citywide assessment is intended to create an equal playing field for all property owners. He said a long stagnant housing market has led to piecemeal assessment increases that have created a culture of people not wanting to improve their homes due to fear of assessment hits.

He said the idea is to get the process working as it should by getting an accurate assessment of city properties, which should allow the city to reduce or stabilize the tax rate and keep the levy increases in check.

He said a recent spike in property values along with an increase in the number of properties sold makes it a prime time to perform the citywide assessment and establish a new base.

It is common for municipalities to use revenues generated by increased assessments to keep tax rates flat while still increasing the amount of taxes collected.

Mayor Jeffrey M. Skelly said he wants to ensure that when the assessments jump from the revaluation the tax rates are brought down accordingly to make sure residents are high with a massive tax bill.

“I’m all for it. I think this is a great approach. This should be very fair covering the whole city,” he said. “I hope that we are in a place that as assessments go up we will counter it with a lower tax rate to not burden people.”

City Manager Stephen Jellie said it would be important to discuss the plan with the city school district to ensure they are aware that assessments will likely jump for them in the 2023 year so they can budget accordingly.

He noted that the Ogdensburg City School District has a high tax rate, which means if the assessments jump substantially and the tax rate is not brought down, taxpayers could be hit with the large bills the city is hoping to avoid.