BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week
OGDENSBURG — Ogdensburg residents can expect an update in March on the citywide revaluation which will likely raise assessments for most property owners in the city.
In January of 2022, the city hired GAR Associates, Williamsville, to conduct a citywide reassessment of properties at a cost estimated at $200,000 to $225,000.
While the assessment change will not impact the city tax roll until 2024, school taxes will likely be impacted this year.
City officials say the project is designed to continue to create and maintain fair and equitable property assessments for the 2023 tax roll.
Former City Manager Stephen Jellie, who resigned his duties in November of 2022, 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 in 2021 and 2022 along with an increase in the number of properties sold makes it a prime time to perform the citywide reassessment 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.
The process has raised concerns from Mayor Jeffrey M. Skelly who has repeatedly stated that he wants to ensure that when the assessments jump from the revaluation, the tax rates are brought down accordingly to make sure residents aren’t hit with a massive tax bill.
“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,” he said in a June 2022 interview.
In June, residents were notified that staff from GAR associates would be collecting data and taking photos of properties located within the city.
A few residents contacted North Country This Week after receiving documents from GAR which listed the wrong number of rooms, type of heating and square footage for their homes.
At the time North Country This Week requested comment and details about how widespread such complaints were but did not receive a response.
It’s unclear what the update will entail, but the meeting will be held at City Hall on March 13 at 6 p.m.
