Mohan, Williams divided on assessment process
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

(This is the second in a two-part series on the Town of Amherst's efforts to return to a 100 percent assessment program. Town Assessor Harry Williams and Supervisor Satish Mohan have opposite views on the issue.)

"For every day we aren't out there it's going to be less possible," Town of Amherst Assessor Harry Williams said about making the town 100 percent assessed. "Can it be done easily? No. But there is an outside chance."

And it won't be cheap.

According to Williams, he estimates it will cost the town between $400,000 and $500,000 to meet the end-of-the-year deadline.

He said there are 65 neighborhoods in the town, plus commercial property, for an estimated 43,000 parcels needing to be reassessed.

(See editorial on page four)

A staff member from the assessor's office goes to each neighborhood, rating the properties based on several characteristics - such as whether the property has a swimming pool or if it's located on an extra large lot.

Once a neighborhood has been assessed it takes at least three hours for someone to submit the information into a computer.

"It takes evaluation; it's not just pressing a button and the assessment is spit out," he said. "A computer doesn't drive into the field; it can't analyze. Computers don't buy homes, people do."

In order to complete the requirements of the 100 percent assessment program, Williams said he would need six additional staff people and as soon as possible - January 2007 would have been the ideal time to start.

He is also operating with limited mileage and overtime funds as a result of cuts in his 2007 budget.

In addition to hiring six people for the assessor's department, Williams said someone from the IT department would have to learn the computer program for inputting data.

Should the town not hire employees, Williams suggested hiring a contractor, such as GAR Associates, which the town has worked with for more than 30 years on various levels.

"GAR has been here before ... they are experienced and know the town," he said.

GAR Associates' contract with the town ended in December 2006. According to GAR Associates Vice President F. Cindy Baire the Town of Amherst still owes the company $20,000.

She said in the past 30 years there has never before been a problem with payment of invoices.

In order to meet the requirements to be at 100 percent assessment in 2008, the parcels would need to be done by September and all the paperwork completed in December, Williams estimated. The estimate was based on a state timeline.

Why a town would want to be assessed at 100 percent is based on many reasons, Williams said, including amounts concerning exemptions, the portion of county sales tax received and school district taxes.

At 95 percent, instead of 100 percent, Williams said the town will pay more to the county based on the current, complicated formula.

Mohan responded to the concerns about meeting the deadline and said the town will be assessed at 100 percent for 2008 and also believes there is more than enough time.

"We will have a plan in a month or two. There is a fear, excitement," he said about the reassessment program.

He added, "We will look at the 43,000 parcels, everything."

When asked how the town will pay for the effort, Mohan said, "We will have to get a consultant and pay only $211,000. We will have to find the funding resources."

He said that all 65 neighborhoods in town will be reassessed in eight months. In the past, he added, the town has not looked at each neighborhood but only those that had at least a 5 percent change in sales, either an increase or decrease.

He added that with the use of computers it will be easier for the town to submit the assessment information.

One of Mohan's main reasons for pushing for the assessment department changes is the number of complaints he said he has dealt with.

Town resident Ron Nowak addressed the Town Board during Monday's work session on such concerns, including properties that haven't been reassessed in years and others that are constantly reassessed.

He also questioned the value of vacant lots compared to the amount for which they are sold. Nowak told the board he had been compiling information for more than a year.

During Monday's meeting, Mohan had recommended Nowak for the Assessment Review Committee. The board voted to hold the decision. Those serving on the review committee are paid $600 a day, Williams said.

Nothing had been settled by the close of Monday's meeting.

The Town Board also discussed forming an assessment committee, including input from the school districts, to analyze the process.

Last week, Joseph Muscarella, from the state's Office of Real Property Services, told the board that if the town were to be at 100 percent assessed value in 2008 it should have already started reassessing the 43,000 parcels.

The town is also required to have a six-year plan that, according to Williams, has been sitting on Mohan's desk since February. Mohan said the plan doesn't have to be signed and submitted until October.