My name is John Kwiatkowski, and I own Rotterdam Auto Services at 417 Westside Ave. in Rotterdam. I recently received a notice from our town assessor, Craig Surprise (attached .pdf) indicating that he raised the assessed value of my body shop from $150,000 to $279,600 – an increase of $129,600 or 86.6%! I don’t understand why the assessment changed so much given the fact that it was recently assessed for $150,000 by GAR Associates, Inc. – a professional organization that the town hired that specializes in appraisals. I looked online at assessments of other business in my area with the same property type of “433/Auto Body”. They ranged between $29.63 per square foot and $39.26 per square foot with an average of $35.65 per square foot. My building is assessed at $74.44 per square foot. I met with Mr. Surprise on May 14, 2009, and asked for a rationale for his valuation. He would not give me an answer; instead he insisted that my building was bigger than indicated on the tax roll (which it’s not). He announced his intention to review all the buildings in Rotterdam, and seemed to think that most of us were not paying enough taxes, and that assessments were low. He also requested my financial statements for 2006 and 2007 (his request is in the attached .pdf). Since when does personal income have anything to do with property assessments? I own the building, and do not rent it. I am the only similar business in my area that I am aware of that was increased. Businessmen in Rotterdam keep people working, and support the town economy. Rotterdam is not a nice place to live and definitely not a nice place to do business, as it says on Mr. Surprise’s business card (attached .pdf). Our town officials are not doing their job of attracting new business and definitely not trying to keep the ones we have. Businessmen beware -- after an increase like mine, you can expect similar treatment. You too may be in for a surprise when you get your new assessment from Craig Surprise, our town assessor.
Things are tough for all of us. Don’t make it worse, particularly now.
Regards,
John J. Kwiatkowski
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Why is this building assessed at $74.44/sq.ft when everyone else's is about $35.00/sq.ft.? I really don't understand asking for his personal income tax records. Is Surprise trying to play hardball here? I never heard of such a thing. I'd call Tommasone AND get an attorney!!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
It would appear that if your business is doing good then the town wants to take a larger portion of your income for themselves. The reval has already been completed and John's business was assessed at $150,000 how can the value of his business almost double without any improvements being made to it. It would sure appear that John is being punished for running a successful business in the town of Rotterdam.
Did you by any chance change political parties - to one perhaps not in the majority of the current administration? (I know, personal question, I'm just trying to think of a motive)
This is insane.
I'm assuming you'll file a grievance, without releasing personal income statements - but do you have plans on what to do if the grievance fails?
I question if the GAR reval is complete. If so, and if Mr. Kwiatkowski has not made any improvements (e.g., renovations, additions, etc.) to his property (with or without a building permit), it is my understanding that the practice of spot (i.e., selective) reassessment is illegal in New York State. A single parcel cannot be reassessed even if it recently changed title as a result of a real estate sale. For the subject parcel to be reassessed this year, there must have been either another town wide or neighborhood reassessment. Though illegal, there are Tax Assessors who routinely reassess property values when they are sold. Most taxpayers don't know enough to protest. I believe that the law is called the "Welcome Neighbor Law".
As to the request for Mr. Kwiatkowski's income taxes, I recollect that there are three methods of assessing commercial property based on; comparable property values, replacement costs, and/or income based. Personally, I would not willingly provide my tax returns to anyone in local government.
I would recommend to Mr. Kwiatkowski that he secure the services of a real estate attorney who specializes in grieving property tax assessments. Something does not sound legitimate in this account. The Town of Rotterdam Tax Assessor will have to provide evidence that the initial ($150K) assessment was erroneous for the new value to be upheld.
I'm not an attorney, but the above is my (limited) understanding.
Another Surprise from Mr. Surprise? What a perfect name for an assessor.
Think that's bad on Jay St in horrible Downtown Schenectady, one business received a $200,000 increase in his assessment. He can't give the building away. Many of the storefronts have been taken over by non-profits that pay no taxes. This whole County has gone nuts.
It would be interesting to hear if other businesses received this same fate. It would also be interesting to know if there are any properties that are NOT on the tax roll and should be.
Perhaps John should contact our friend Justin Mason from the gazette. Perhaps he could get to the bottom of all this.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I have received several requests for documents from readers that cannot open the attached .pdf files. Be advised that he images take a few seconds to load...
make the guy pay he is a business man and he HAS THE MONEY what is the problem over here people? Its the seniors that dont have the money and need the breaks
I am not sure that I'm reading the letter from the Tax Assessor correctly. The statement that
"New York State law requires all properties in each municipality to be assessed at market value or at a uniform level of assessment each year"
is misleading. It may mean that each property in a municipality must be on the assessment role each year that property taxes are levied. If, however, it is meant to imply that revals must be performed annually, this is clearly false.
A few years ago, I spoke at length with representatives at the New York State Tax Department. I was informed that there is no law in NYS that requires that revals occur at any minimum periodicity. The are municipalities that have not had property revals in many years. Duanesburg, for example, last had a property reval in the early 1980s. It was stated to me that the NYS tax law only requires that people are treated "equitably". Presumably, this would suggest that properties of like values be assessed similarly.
Given the above, the question comes to my mind, why was there a reassessment done in 2009?
Does a municipality have the legal right to ..................
a. ask for personal income tax? b. re-assess a single property that they feel has been incorrectly assessed?
Perhaps they are just trying to build a case against GAR? Yes? No?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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Another Surprise from Mr. Surprise? What a perfect name for an assessor. 
