Thanks Darla for your help! Here ya go……………
Clayton Taxpayers Group Meeting minutes - 7-12-08
The meeting began at 6:05p.
Where do we go next??
-The general consensus is that everyone is unhappy with their assessments. Some people
were able to get theirs lowered through grievance and some were unsuccessful.
Three options were discussed on what could happen next:
Option #1: Small Claims Court
-There is a small filing fee and you must have grieved your assessment.
-You must also file in the month of July.
-This is another opportunity to try and make your case to have your
assessment lowered. You will present in front of an arbitrator. The
arbitrator is not suppose to be affiliated with the Town of Clayton in any
way.
-Forms to file are accessible on the website and must be filed in Watertown.
-Residents should request their Cost Evaluation Report form the assessor.
This is the data on your property in which your assessment is based. It does
cost 75 cents per page. Apparently you need to make your request through
the Town Clerk and she will in turn get it from the Assessor.
After receiving this you can compare the costs for your property with the
Assessor’s handbook. (This is accessible on the website).
You must also submit a $ value that you think you property is worth.
-Once you have filed in small claims and presented your case, you cannot
appeal if you are unhappy. Also it is unclear whether you can be a
participant in Article 78.
-The Assessor may also decide or raise your
assessment next year back to were it is now. Whatever the decision is it is
only valid for one year.
Option #2: Article 7:
-There is a larger filing fee for this: $420.00
-You must also file in the month of July.
-You must get an appraisal that meets the reassessment challenges, not just
a regular appraiser. This can cost you up to $2000. The Town of Clayton
must also hire an appraiser at this cost. Both appraisals are submitted to the
Judge and a decision is made.
-With Article 7, you may be able to appeal the decision made, however,
this decision is also good for only one year.
-If a group of residents wished to file under Article 7, an appraiser and
lawyer may be found for all filing and a discount may be able to be given.
Option #3: Article 78: Class Action Lawsuit.
-The cost of this is $40,000 to $50,000, and is on behalf of a group of
residents.
-This must be filed by the end of September.
-The more people in the lawsuit the less it will cost everyone.
-The lawsuit will challenge the assessment process and the work the
Assessor stated she did with each assessment. Per Steve Wallach’s Letter to
the TI Sun Editor, (7-9-08), The Town of Clayton assessment was done in
direct violation of the NY State Office of Real Property standards. The
assessor failed to follow State standards in conducting the reassessment:
without obtaining adequate information or performing the required interior
inspections and also incorrectly projecting future taxes in her 2008
Assessment Notification.
-Many residents did not grieve their assessments, because they were led to
believe that their taxes would not go up, by the assessor. These residents
cannot file in Small Claims Court or file under Article 7, HOWEVER, they
may join in on Article 78.
-Such a Class Action Suit was filed In the Adirondacks and was recently
settled. The individuals who were part of the suit, had their taxes rolled
back to 2007 and have a fixed rate for 5 years.
-If the suit takes a while to settle and is won, all excessive taxes paid during
the course of the suite, will have to be refunded.
Steve Wallach has spoken to Bob Beebe, the lawyer representing others
who have filed Article 78s, and the issues we have in Clayton are the same
as those he is representing.
-In order to proceed with this option, more volunteers are going to be
needed to help recruit residents that may be willing to file the Article 78.
The more residents we have filing, the less cost to everyone.
-Steve Wallach and Michael Fairbanks will meet and work on a letter for
volunteers to refer to when approaching, friends, neighbors, family, etc.,
who are unhappy with their assessments and may want to join in filing.
This will be e-mailed to everyone within the next week.
The general consensus was that when people get their tax bills the first
part of September, there will be a bigger interest in joining the suit.
However,
we do not want to wait till then to begin the process. Remember the more
people the less money per person and most of all, the bigger the voice!
Also discussed at the meeting was the following:
-Please continue writing letters to the editor.
-Will Salisbury has been speaking with others throughout the state in
relation to the problems with assessments. As many of you know, the
Town of Clayton is not the only ones with assessment issues. There will
be a conference on 8-23-08 in Saranac Lake, about assessments, the
problems and issues and what we as taxpayers can do about it. It wouldn’t
be a bad idea to have Clayton represented at this conference.
The group decided to let Will be are contact person with others through
out the state, since he has had the most connection with them thus far.
-Part of the group’s goal is to educate the community/residents about
assessments and how they affect what you pay in taxes and the grievance
process.
A committee was formed to develop a pamphlet to assist residents in
filing grievances next year and in the future. This pamphlet will be user
friendly and hopefully not as hard to understand than the website.
-In order to assist with costs of advertising about future meetings and
Article 78; The Class Action Suit, donations were taken from those at the
Meeting: $160 was collected and will be used towards these expenses.
The Next Meeting Will Be Saturday, 7-26-08, at 6pm. This will be held once again at the Knights of Columbus. Please tell you neighbors friends, etc..