City Sheeple pack City Hall to protest their new and improved assessments. An out of control Assessor who should be fired, a Mayor who can't stop wasting taxpayer money and his rubber stamp City Council that should all be booted out of office. Keep takin about "renaissance". If you really want our views you haven't done nothin. RESIGN!
They moved the hearings to the Hellenic Center and even that proved too small. Lines go across the first floor of City Hall. Seniors waiting an hour to pick up a number to wait several more hours to have their voices heard. The pathetic School Board is not the only body in Schenectady that needs a complete house cleaning.
My friend is grieving their taxes today also. They told me it was packed. They left and will go back this afternoon. They also told me that everyone has only 3 minutes per parcel to grieve.
If they have already set a 3 minute time slot for each grievance, than why couldn't they have set up appointments ahead of time? People having to take an entire day off from work for a 3 minute slot. Seniors waiting in line for hours. This just seems ridiculous to me.
3 minutes to grieve and decades to pay up. Had enough-YET?
The contempt, the arrogance, the gross indifference, of these tax and spend pigs. Nobody can believe the mob that has formed. This assessor is out of his cotton picking mind. Remember in November!
A poor lady, around 90, on a cane was forced to wait for these useless bureacrats. All because they refuse to give appointments. That could be anyone's granny or mom. Another new low in a City that has alot to be ashamed about.
Hundreds line up to fight reassessments in Schenectady Long wait for many in line Tuesday, May 26, 2009 By Kathleen Moore (Contact) Gazette Reporter
SCHENECTADY — By 10 a.m. today, residents were already out of patience. About 120 homeowners had waited for two to three hours by then, and many were still stuck in the first line, waiting for an appointment number so they could wait again to see the Board of Assessment Review. The first resident got in line at 7:07 a.m. and finished his appeal just before 10 a.m. He was one of the lucky ones. Those who started at 8:40 a.m. had to stand in line for an hour and 50 minutes just to get their number. Then they walked to the Hellenic Center, just a block down the street, and sat gratefully at tables to wait their turn. It went slowly. About 40 residents were heard in the first hour. “I think this is a personal injury to the city of Schenectady taxpayers to make us wait like this,” said Carmela St. George, who had to take frequent breaks while friendly strangers held her place in line. Leaning on her cane, she hobbled toward a chair and said, “People have to go to work. Senior citizens have to wait in line. It’s terrible. Why are they treating us like this?” Part of the delay was because some residents had not properly filled out their grievance forms. At the assessor’s office, three workers checked each form for errors, looking up assessments and other required data before stamping the forms and giving out numbers. The process took, on average, three minutes per person. But that added up to hours of waiting for those at the far end of the line. Several residents calculated their wait time and gave up, despite a chorus of encouragement from those who had stood through the wait. Larry DeAngelus, who waited nearly two hours just to get his appointment number, said the city should have given out tickets — and specific appointment times — well in advance of today’s hearing. “I personally think this is done on purpose as a deterrent. The more people who leave the line, the more money the city gets to keep,” he said. Two police officers were called to keep order. Other than some shouted complaints, the crowd was generally well behaved...............>>>>.......>>>>................http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/may/26/0526_reassess/
Selfish people? You mean seniors that can't give away there homes because of 35 years of KRATS that can't budget nor cut anything?
Son of Sam should resign today. He keeps defending this stuna assessor. They chase away business and refuse to listen to the anguished cries of oppressed City sheeple.
I never realyzed there were that many selfish people in my town and I am sad there is now over here.
You didn't know? I'm sure you and your 'people in the know' over there, over here and everywhere, voted them in!
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 never realyzed there were that many selfish people in my town and I am sad there is now over here.
I'm sure that if you wanted to show how un-selfish you were, you could send in a check to help some of the selfish not have to pay so much. And if you don't, well, I guess that just leaves you in the same boat as the selfish now, doesn't it?
SCHENECTADY Many taxpayers unhappy Long, slow lines on Grievance Day spark frustration BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
By 10 a.m. Tuesday residents were already out of patience. About 120 homeowners had waited for two to three hours at City Hall. Many were still stuck in the first line, waiting for an appointment number so they could wait again — to see the Board of Assessment Review. Assessor Patrick Mastro said it was a busy Grievance Day, as expected after a reassessment. Schenectady had 850 grievances filed by the end of the day, just over 4 percent of the city’s total properties. By comparison, after Glenville’s reassessment in 2006, owners filed 726 grievances, representing 6 percent of the town’s parcels. In Niskayuna, the last reassessment brought a grievance rate of 5 percent. In Rotterdam, 3.5 percent grieved in 2007. The first Schenectady resident got in line at 7:07 a.m. and finished his appeal just before 10 a.m. He was one of the lucky ones. Those who started at 8:40 a.m. had to stand in line for an hour and 50 minutes just to get their number. Then they walked to the Hellenic Center, just a block down the street, and sat gratefully at tables to wait their turn. It went slowly. About 40 residents were heard in the first hour. “I think this is a personal injury to the city of Schenectady taxpayers to make us wait like this,” said Carmela St. George, who had to take frequent breaks while friendly strangers held her place in line. Leaning on her cane, she hobbled toward a chair and said, “People have to go to work. Senior citizens have to wait in line. It’s terrible. Why are they treating us like this?” Part of the delay was because some residents had not properly filled out their grievance forms. At the assessor’s office, three workers checked each form for errors, looking up assessments and other required data before stamping the forms and giving out numbers. The process took, on average, three minutes per person. But that added up to hours of waiting for those at the far end of the line. Several residents calculated their wait time and gave up, despite a chorus of encouragement from those who had stood through the wait. CONSPIRACY THEORY Larry DeAngelus, who waited nearly two hours just to get his appointment number, said the city should have given out tickets — and specific appointment times — well in advance of Tuesday’s hearing. “I personally think this is done on purpose as a deterrent. The more people who leave the line, the more money the city gets to keep,” he said. Two police officers were called to keep order. Other than some shouted complaints, the crowd was generally well-behaved. And the line died down just a few hours later. By 2:30 p.m., only 12 people were waiting at City Hall, and some of those who had left earlier came back and breezed quickly through the process. But the line grew long again when residents got out of work, with 150 grievances filed in four hours. Nearly half of Tuesday’s filers asked to meet with the board, an unusually high percentage, Mastro said. By evening it became clear that not everyone could be seen Tuesday, so the board decided to hear the last 25 filers this morning at 9 a.m. ................>>>>..............>>>>...............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....3&Continuation=1
Editorial: Sch'dy shows how not to conduct a Grievance Day Thursday, May 28, 2009
It’s safe to assume that someone who takes the trouble to come down to city or town hall to grieve his property assessment is in a bad mood before he even gets there — kind of like the anticipation before a root canal. The last thing the municipality should subject him to at that point is a two-hour wait just to get a number so he can go someplace else and wait some more before his hearing. Unfortunately, that’s the treatment several hundred Schenectady taxpayers got Tuesday when they went to formally complain about their new assessments. It was clearly a case of adding insult to injury — the prospect of higher tax bills, unless they win their argument. But they probably won’t know for weeks, and in the meantime hundreds are understandably steamed. There has to be a better way. Municipalities don’t perform full-scale property revaluations that often, but there have been enough of them done in the area in recent history that assessors should have a pretty good idea about how many people will show up on Grievance Day. As yesterday’s Gazette story indicated, the percentages in recent years have ranged from 6 percent in Glenville in 2006 to 3.5 percent in Rotterdam in 2007. So Schenectady officials should have been a little better prepared Tuesday when approximately 4 percent of the city’s total property owners — roughly 850 — showed up. Part of the problem was that many in the crowd hadn’t properly filled out their forms, but it hardly seemed fair that those who did were held up by the former............>>>>.................>>>>...............http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/may/28/528_printss/
"A root canal. Adding insult to injury." Stop pussyfooting around and put the blame where it belongs. A horrible Assessor who was not up to the job and must be fired. Son of Sam who is silent about this disgrace and refuses to do anything. Except walk his dog. Ignoring a problem, like with the crime wave, does not a solution make.
One more outrage, the Chamber of Commerce is complaining about the new assessment at the Gillette House! You can't make this stuff up. They cheer for every tax, every new fee, every stuna plan that chases away private business. Over ONE MILLION DOLLARS of your county tax money was flushed down the pishaloo here. Only one County legislator, Joe Suhrada said Hell No! Nobody else said nuthin. Now, they can't give the property away and are complaining about the conditions they supported for decades.
Fire who??? Ya think Mastro should be fired for doing his job?? This aint Rotterdam Joe where the administration lynched Macejaka for doing his job. Fire away at the administration for high tax rates but the assessor is only doing what the state "mandates" they do. Your ignorant and self serving and would be perfect for a seat on the Rotterdam Town Board. Get a frickin clue BS
This aint Rotterdam Joe where the administration lynched Macejaka for doing his job.
No...Majecka wasn't doing his job. I'm not saying Surprise is better....the jury is still out on that one!
As far as the city goes.....they should have made appointments. Their grievance day was a disgrace. Utter disrespect for the residents. They were herded like animals at best! The elected officials are there to 'serve' and not to be 'served'.
And Kathleen Moore who penned the last gazette article, made it sound like the residents were unprepared and 'stupid'. And that it was the residents fault that it was such a long process.
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
How did Macejaka not do his job?? The Gazette editorial points out that HE only had 3.5% of the total parcels file grievences after a fifty year lull. C'mon Bumble I told you before you don't want to pay your fair share or didn't get a reduction for you or your family members but don't take it out on the guy who was DIRECTED to manage the reval by the elected officials! By the way bumble I m curious to know what Macejaka did to piss you off? I bet Schdy wish they had him on Tuesday. Another Stevie Ego blunder.
City Sheeple pack City Hall to protest their new and improved assessments. An out of control Assessor who should be fired, a Mayor who can't stop wasting taxpayer money and his rubber stamp City Council that should all be booted out of office. Keep takin about "renaissance". If you really want our views you haven't done nothin. RESIGN!
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