Assessor's office procedures examined
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

Questions from town resident Ron Nowak about Amherst's assessment procedure had board members questioning it themselves.

Nowak wrote to the Town Board about what he called unfair assessments, lack of documentation and unexplained assessments.

The board responded by requesting a review of the department by Robert P. Strell, president of MBA Consulting and Appraisal Co. in Williamsville. He presented his findings at Monday's work session.

Strell said, "For many years Amherst has been a model for the State of New York, it's done a terrific job."

He estimated that he and his staff spent 40 hours over three weeks reviewing the assessor's office. Strell complimented the grievance procedure, saying it gave ample opportunity for residents to challenge their assessment.

"I have been doing this a long time and have yet to see a perfect assessor's office," Strell said. "It's good to have people like Mr. Nowak out there to check, and if it's wrong the town can fix them."

Strell recommended the Town Board consider Nowak's suggestion to place commercial assessments on the town's Web site.

He also agreed with Nowak's complaints about the Amherst Industrial Development Agency's payment-in-lieu-of taxes procedure.

"I found there isn't a lot of protocol on how the IDA PILOT works; there doesn't seem to be a formal procedure," Strell said. "For the sake of transparency communication between the town and IDA should be improved."

Strell said some of Nowak's complaints could be explained by the assessment process.

Nowak, who was in attendance, said he is not completely satisfied with the review, claiming there is still some coverup in the Assessor's Department.

"I'm going to send another detailed letter back to the board," Nowak said, adding he plans to do more research on the assessment process.

According to Nowak he started questioning the assessment process a year ago and found some assessments he thought were unfair.

For example, the assessment for a house on Forestview equated

to $127 per square foot, a figure Nowak said he could not find anywhere else in town.

Prior to the presentation by Strell, Assessor Harry Williams said he had reviewed questions from Nowak.

He said assessments are not based on a set formula and are subject to many variables - such as vacancies, improvements and changes made after the May 1 state deadline.

Williams said he admits the procedure isn't perfect, especially with 43,000 parcels to assess. He said mistakes happen and they can be addressed.