Jbg. assessor's term ends Sept. 30, re-appointment in limbo

NORTH CREEK | Who will serve in the position of Johnsburg Town Assessor after Sept. 30 was undetermined as of Aug. 10, because the term of present town assessor Letitia Williams expires on that day, and the Johnsburg Town Board has not yet made an appointment for the post. According to a resolution passed relatively recently, all appointed town positions must be advertised when the end of each term approaches, so the selection of the person to fill the subsequent term is a competitive process. Early morning on Aug. 11, a Johnsburg town official confirmed that an emergency meeting would be held at 11 a.m. that day, primarily to approve ordering a newspaper advertisement for the position of Johnsburg Town Assessor. Near the conclusion of the Aug. 5 town board meeting, the town board went behind closed doors into an executive session for 33 minutes. Emerging from the session, Johnsburg Town Supervisor Kevin Bean said no action had been taken. The specific purpose of the executive session was not announced to the audience. During Williams' tenure, Johnsburg's first revaluation of real property since 1953 was conducted, and most properties were assessed at far higher values — to be expected if a revaluation isn't conducted on a regular, timely basis. In the revaluation process, many properties' values increased by 50 percent or more, with 642 properties experiencing increases of 100% or more — to be expected since it had been 69 years since the prior revaluation. The revaluation results prompted 175-plus people to turn out at Johnsburg's March 2022 town board meeting, with local homeowners, primarily year-round residents, voicing their fears of soaring taxes. Andrea Hogan, Johnsburg's supervisor at the time, responded to the outcry in 2022, saying that increased valuations did not cause higher taxation, as the total valuation of the town had increased substantially, increasing the tax base proportionately. She had noted that the properties that had the highest increases in assessed value — and most vulnerable to tax increases- were likely second homes and seasonal residences. She also observed that with such low property valuations, the town of Johnsburg's share of state sales tax revenue was substantially lower for many years than it should have been, stressing the town's finances, and causing local property taxes to be higher than they would have been otherwise. Also, for decades, the state has urged assessors to strive for 100 percent valuation, a status that boosts eligibility for state aid. In the aftermath of the 2023 revaluation, many local year-round residents expressed criticisms of Williams for the increased valuations, but others praised her expertise and her work on the revaluation as fair and equitable. At that time, Hogan told area news media that the revaluations conducted by Williams for Johnsburg and the town of Minerva were reviewed by two separate units of the state Board of Assessment Review and they concluded they were conducted properly. Months later, after Johnsburg residents received their 2023 tax bills, few complaints were heard about boosted valuations or increased taxation. The short-lived outcry over increased property values prompted a subsequent town board to hire a company to review the assessment increases at a cost to local taxpayers of about $90,000, and the firm concluded that the revaluation had been conducted in an equitable and proper manner, according to former supervisor Mark Smith. Smith characterized the independent review as a waste of money. Williams is now serving as assessor for the city of Mechanicville and the towns of Minerva, Newcomb and Ticonderoga, in addition to Johnsburg. The next meeting of the Johnsburg Town Board is to be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19, according to the town website's calendar.

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Jbg. assessor's term ends Sept. 30, re-appointment in limbo

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