It would appear that the city is trying to make sure that nobody appeals their tax assessment in court because they're afraid that they may lose and then every resident would take them to court and the city can't afford to do that.
SCHENECTADY — The long lines on Grievance Day were the residents’ fault, and no changes need to be made for next year, said Board of Assessment Review Chairwoman Alberta Madonna.
She was called to Monday’s City Council committee’s meeting to discuss the process that left most grievers waiting for at least three hours on Grievance Day. Councilwoman Barbara Blanchard grilled Madonna for nearly an hour and pushed for grievance hearings to begin a month early in 2010. But Madonna strongly opposed the idea.
“[The line] was largely caused by owners’ panic at the twelfth hour, deciding to research and try to file,” Madonna said, adding that the city’s “inadequate staffing” created a bottleneck as those owners tried to finish their grievances at the assessor’s office. Others in line behind them had to wait even though they had completed their forms and simply needed to turn them in and get a number so they could wait for their turn in front of the board.
Madonna also said the City Council — which has criticized the long lines — made things worse.
“A little more cooperation on your part, and less politics, will help us greatly,” she said.
Blanchard said the board should return to its previous policy of scheduling hearings all month each May, rather than waiting until the end of the month and doing it all in one day.
“Many years ago, I had my appointment during the month of May. It was very relaxed. I felt it was very respectful, and everything was calm,” Blanchard said. “It was the exact opposite of this year.”
The city code calls for hearings to begin on May 3, she noted.
But Madonna said a month of hearings would waste the board’s time.
“No-shows, people arriving on the wrong day — it was wasted time. Therefore, the board is very firm,” she said, explaining that she plans no changes for next year.
“I think we ran it very smoothly,” she added.
Blanchard invited one resident, Pamela LaBrake, to respond. LaBrake, who was vehemently critical of the process on Grievance Day, said a month of hearings was clearly better than doing 500 grievances in one day.
“If some people didn’t keep their appointments, just drop them and let the next one in,” she said.
Madonna rejected that idea, so LaBrake suggested giving out Grievance Day numbers as soon as residents filed their grievance — which can be as early as May 1.
That would sharply reduce the line on Grievance Day; roughly half of the 2009 grievers filed in advance.
Madonna responded by explaining that those who didn’t want to wait in line for a number could simply file their grievance without a face-to-face hearing, or appoint a representative to speak for them.
“But I wanted to be there,” LaBrake said.
Assessor Patrick Mastro then argued that lines are not necessarily unreasonable.
“People want to go to Disney World, and they wait in lines. When I see a concert, people wait in line for hours,” he said. “People file their taxes on April 15 knowing that they’ll wait in that parking lot for hours. Am I sympathetic?”
He paused, looking at LaBrake, and then said, “Of course I am.”
Madonna added that state law may forbid hearings before Grievance Day. The city will determine whether the city’s code conflicts with state law — in which case state law would supersede.
If early hearings are not allowed, Blanchard said, issuing numbers in advance of Grievance Day would at least diminish the lines.
“And it would encourage people to hand it in early,” ...
City braces for assessment fights Specially appointed officers could hear about 400 legal challenges filed after Schenectady revaluation
By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer First published in print: Friday, August 7, 2009
SCHENECTADY -- The city is preparing to defend itself against about 400 legal challenges from property owners upset with their new assessments.
The Schenectady County Clerk's office was inundated with filers as the July 31 deadline approached.
After the city recently revalued all its 20,500 properties, many owners were shocked by their new assessments because some values hadn't been updated in more than 10 years and property assessments were raised from 64 percent market value to full market value.
County Clerk John Woodward said the city's filings were double the response after previous revaluations in Rotterdam and Niskayuna, when legal challenges for those municipalities totaled about 200 each. City Assessor Pat Mastro said 400 challenges represent only about 2 percent of the city's properties. Mastro said Wednesday he has received 207 commercial challenges and 143 residential challenges but will likely receive more as owners have 10 days to serve the city after filing with the county clerk's office.
About 1,100 grievances were filed against the city in May, and 68 assessments were reduced by the city's Board of Assessment Review.
The next step for unhappy residential property owners was to file these legal challenges for a small claims hearing, which will be heard by specially appointed officers in County Court over the next two months. Commercial property owners must file a tax certiorari claim, which is handled more like a civil suit in county court.
Mastro and a city attorney must attend each residential hearing, and more legal time must be spent on tax certiorari claims.
The largest commercial challenge is now off the table, it appears. General Electric had filed a claim to protest its new $77 million assessment for the main campus -- up from $36 million. But GE spokeswoman Chris Horne says the company will drop its challenge after the Schenectady Metroplex Authority worked out an agreement this week to freeze the campus' assessment at $65 million for the next 10 years.................>>>>.............>>>>.................http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=828724&category=YTSCHENECTADY
But GE spokeswoman Chris Horne says the company will drop its challenge after the Schenectady Metroplex Authority worked out an agreement this week to freeze the campus' assessment at $65 million for the next 10 years.
So, let me get this straight. Now Metroplex is negotiating tax agreements ... and the company that's getting many millions of dollars and introducing a brand new battery division that's supposed to make major headlines for the next 10 years - won't see one penny in tax increases?
For commercial property, Grievance Day was even worse
Regarding the Aug. 4 article [“Official faults public for long lines”] on tax Grievance Day, I’d like to summarize my own experience. I opted to grieve my revised tax assessment after being notified that the city of Schenectady determined that my commercial property was now worth almost twice the amount it was purchased for less than nine years ago. Ultimately the Board of Assessment Review denied my appeal, but adding insult to injury was the ridiculous process leading up to this event. Highlights included: the inconvenience of needing to use the computer terminal in the assessor’s office because commercial data was not posted online (“not enough space,” according to city staff); the additional inconvenience of a “bug” in the computer terminal’s software, which did not allow a search of commercial property sales; the lack of printed commercial sales data, especially given that residential sales data were available (“That [belongs to] the assessor” was the staff’s reply); an informal meeting with the assessor, where he provided little to no insight into the formula used to determine the value calculated for my building; being told by the assessor that I may not be charging enough rent to my retail tenants (apparently all the persistently vacant storefronts along this block of Jay Street are charging an appropriately high rent); no acknowledgment, let alone response, to three questions I submitted to his staff — and followed up on several times; standing in line for about an hour on Grievance Day to submit my grievance form with supporting material and then receive a number to await a hearing with the Grievance Board; waiting for at least another hour for my hearing, only to find out that it was simply a formality, with no attempt made to either review my claim or answer any questions; and finally receiving a form tersely indicating my assessment had not been reduced because “the supporting data was insufficient,” despite having provided a map of comparable properties, a map showing vacancy rates along this block, copies of all three tenant leases, a summary of utility usage, and income and expense information, and an updated analysis used by the previous assessor to establish the property’s value in 2006. The merits of the Board of Assessment Review’s decision are debatable. The process to reach this outcome was unnecessarily difficult, unreasonable, unprofessional and entirely unacceptable. And by the way, Mr. [Assessor Patrick] Mastro, I’ve waited in line at amusement parks, and while I do feel I’ve been taken for a ride, this process was not amusing.
The largest commercial challenge is now off the table, it appears. General Electric had filed a claim to protest its new $77 million assessment for the main campus -- up from $36 million. But GE spokeswoman Chris Horne says the company will drop its challenge after the Schenectady Metroplex Authority worked out an agreement this week to freeze the campus' assessment at $65 million for the next 10 years
,,,battery plant and concessions......incestuous gumba gangstas........ooooohhh,,,,,the scandel of it.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Grievances over Sch’dy assessments used to be heard for weeks
I can’t resist commenting on the botched Grievance Day debacle for the hapless property owners of Schenectady. I was on the board of assessment review in the early 1980s. We held daily hearings for a period of weeks, and handled all the complaints in routine order. Everyone had an opportunity to express their positions to the board in a calm and orderly fashion. Of course that was an era when municipal officials were somewhat conscientious and still had a semblance of consideration for the hard-working taxpayer of the city. Obviously, that has now changed to benefi t only the arrogant patronage plums. Our salaries back then were a couple thousand dollars. I’m curious how many thousands of dollars the board members were paid for their one day of work this year.
SCHENECTADY Grievance Day ire draws reform promise Assessor: More staff, express line next year BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Kathleen Moore at 395-3120 or moore@dailygazette.com.
City Assessor Patrick Mastro bowed to residents’ complaints Tuesday and said he will change Grievance Day next year to avoid most of the long lines that plagued the process this year. He will create an express lane at the Assessor’s Office for those who need to simply turn in their completed forms. In another location at City Hall, assessment workers will staff tables with property data, recent house sales and other information needed to fill out a grievance. Those who wait until the last day to research their grievance will have to wait in line for help, Mastro said, but everyone else will be able to simply drop off their form. He estimated that more than 300 of the 500 who stood in line for hours at City Hall this year did not need to do research. They were simply waiting to file their form. “If we can clean up the process on Grievance day, if we have an express line, that would help,” he said. He’s still on fence about whether to give out tickets for the Board of Assessment Review hearings before Grievance Day. The hearings usually begin at 9 a.m. and continue late into the night, with residents called in order according to their ticket. Mastro has said that if he gives out tickets in advance, many filers will accept a ticket and then decide not to bother showing up. But he said Tuesday that advance numbers would not slow the process. .................>>>>..............>>>>.............................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01401&AppName=1
SCHENECTADY Get a number to get in line for grievance BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
There’s only one day left. City officials sent out that plea Friday to all residents who want to grieve their assessment but haven’t filled out their paperwork yet. “Do it now. Now, now, now,” said Finance Commissioner Ismat Alam. Monday is the last day to avoid the crowds — if that’s even possible. On Friday, 155 people filed grievances. In the past three weeks, only 170 fi led. But however busy City Hall is on Monday, it will be worse on Tuesday. So officials are begging everyone to get their paperwork done. For those who want to simply file and leave, there will be no need to come back Tuesday. But everyone who wants to make a personal appeal to the Board of Assessment Review must wait their turn on Tuesday, where they will be given 3-minute appointments in the order in which they turned in their paperwork. That means those who turn in their grievances Monday will get into the BAR hearing long before those who wait until Tuesday. Technically, residents can fi le grievances as late as Tuesday. But last year, they had to wait for hours in lines that stretched the length of City Hall. Others who had filed in advance were stuck in line too. This year, city officials have reorganized the process, hoping to keep all lines to a minimum. Those who have already fi led should head straight upstairs on Tuesday. Anyone with numbers 1 to 100 should get there before 9 a.m., Director of Operations Sharon Jordan said. Filers receive their number when they turn in their paperwork at the Assessor’s Offi ce. The BAR will run two sessions at once, so they can get through 100 filers in about 2 1 /2 hours. ..............>>>>..............>>>>................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01102&AppName=1
The same idiots are all still running this circus. Mastro, Lady Madonna, Stratton, etc. Unbelievable that no one has been fired. Another only in Schenectady.
Why bother filing? It will only be rejected due to "lack sufficient of documentation".
SCHENECTADY Grievance changes do the trick Process made much less painful this year BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
Tuesday was not a true test of Sharon Jordan’s rigidly reorganized Grievance Day, but no one was mourning the lack of a crowd. Unlike last year, when hundreds of grievers stood in line at City Hall for hours, only three people were waiting as the building opened Tuesday. Even they were taken aback by the quiet. “I figured it would be mobbed,” said Frederick Neal, who came to City Hall at 7:10 a.m. to try to avoid the crowd. He depends on a portable oxygen tank and wanted to make sure he wouldn’t have to wait at City Hall all day. So he fi led his grievance early — he was the third griever to file this year, turning it in on May 3. That worked out well. At 9:03 a.m., he presented his case to the Board of Assessment Review. Three minutes later, he was on his way home. In previous years, it wouldn’t have mattered how early he fi led his paperwork or how difficult it might be for him to wait. The board used to work on a strict fi rst-come, fi rst-served basis. But last year, that system left some elderly and disabled residents feeling faint as they stood in line for hours in the early summer heat. They had to beg others to hold their place in line while they left to find a chair to briefl y rest. Even the able-bodied were infuriated by the long wait. Most spent the entire day waiting, logging nine or more hours in their quest to personally ask the board to lower their assessment. Some of those who lost last year came back Tuesday to try again. They were pleasantly surprised by the organization this year. “It’s better,” said Dolores Kwolek, who filed her grievance in advance and was thus able to get a quick appointment with the board without ever standing in line. “Plus they’re providing seating. We had to stand for hours,” she said of last year’s experience. Fellow waiter Jim Aldi added that last year’s crowd was so large the board seemed overwhelmed. .............>>>>..............>>>>..................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00902&AppName=1
Sharon Jordan reorganized it? ROTFLMAO! Nobody came because its an exercise in futility. Waste of time trying to reason with Lady Madonna, Ruth Bergeron and the other DEM fossils. They still believe Mastro is doing a job!
Nothing will change until we change everything at City Hall.
Logged
The same idiots are all still running this circus. Mastro, Lady Madonna, Stratton, etc. Unbelievable that no one has been fired. Another only in Schenectady. 
