Mohan: I will never reappoint Williams
Board asks Albany to audit supervisor
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

In a heated debate over the Town of Amherst's assessment program, Supervisor Satish Mohan said he would never reappoint Assessor Harry Williams.

Williams' current term expires the end of September, and despite Town Board support, the reappointment must have Mohan's vote, as it falls under the executive branch. Williams has been an employee of the town since 1986.

Words exchanged between the board members and Mohan at Monday's Town Board meeting started with the supervisor's resolution, accusing board members of breaking town code and their oath by creating resolutions asking for Williams' reappointment.

"I know you will vote it down, but wanted to tell you, you are violating code of office by going against the law," Mohan said.

The supervisor claimed that he had been told by assessment firms that they would not work with the town while Williams was in office. Mohan also claimed he had submitted a letter laying out the accusations against Williams but would not comment in public, saying it should remain a private communication.

"The department is a mess. He can't continue where he is. I can't let the people suffer one more year. I will not reappoint him," Mohan said

Council Members Dan Ward and Bill Kindel were the most vocal in their support of Williams, saying Mohan, not Williams, was responsible for the town's failure to remain at 100 percent assessment.

The debate is one that started last year during the budget process for 2007. Mohan refers to a letter from Williams stating that the town should not go forward with the reassessment program. Williams said the letter was sent after more than $400,000 in funding was cut from the assessor's department budget, removing funding for GAR Associates that had been handling the majority of the reassessment process for several years.

"We are desperately trying to keep (Williams) as assessor," Kindel said. "If we don't return to 100 percent we are doomed as a community."

Mohan's second resolution on the topic was to accept a new offer from Emminger, Hyatt, Newton & Pigeon for $388,000. The company's first bid for $590,000 was withdrawn last month. Mohan's attempt was to complete the 2008 reassessment program in three months.

Mohan said he spoke with GAR Associates on Sept. 11 who said the firm could not do the work this year.

Kindel, supported by the majority of the board, said the job took 10-12 months and could not be done in just three. Council Member Deborah Bruch Bucki agreed, saying if the program couldn't be done properly in three months the town should wait.

"If we can't do it right in a timely fashion, the only thing we can do is an RFP (request for proposal) for 2009," she said.

The motion to hire Emminger, Hyatt, Newton and Pigeon failed.

Mohan's motion was the first time he acknowledged the drop in equalization rate in 2007 affected the town's school districts' tax rates. In August, The Amherst Bee asked Mohan for a response to letters from the districts about their taxes increasing, and he said the town's change in assessment was not to blame.

He could not be reached for comment on why he changed his mind.

Ward sponsored a resolution to retain Williams, which passed 4-3, but without Mohan's vote it is not official. Ward said he didn't know how long the four votes to deny any proposals from Mohan, and thus retaining Williams, would last.

Ward is also seeking a change in town code to put the appointment of assessor in the special agencies branch instead of the executive.

The resolution also calls for a special audit, conducted by the town comptroller and the New York State Comptroller, to review the "supervisor's entire handling of the assessment function since he commenced his term of office, to determine exactly how much money he has cost the town."

The 43,000 parcels in Amherst were not reassessed in 2007, bringing the equalization rate to 92, down from 100 percent, where it had been for the past seven years. The town has attempted but failed numerous times to put a program together to return to 100 percent in 2008. A letter from the Office of Real Property Services sent in August, said Amherst didn't have enough time to return to 100 percent in 2008 and was pulling its aid.

When asked about the sequence of events, Williams said he was glad to have the support of four board members. He expects to have until January to decide what to do.

"I have put a lot of my life into the Town of Amherst, and I work with excellent people," he said. "Mohan will create a lot of problems for good appraisers and good people."

Williams said he doesn't understand the accusations against the department after being noted for excellence for several years.

"He failed to change the assessment process and stopped a program that was functioning and working," Williams said of Mohan. "The reality is, the people who are experts in this field aren't being listened to. You can also say that about the police chief, Planning Department, highway."

He added that if all funding and resources to do a job are taken away, the town's current situation is the end result.

Town Attorney Tom Jones said that to move forward with Ward's resolution, a local law would have be drafted and a public hearing held. Then if the Town Board adopted the local law, a mandatory referendum would be required because the law would shift power away from the supervisor to the Town Board.

It is too late for such a referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot, and a special election would have to be held, Jones said.

When asked about an audit by the state, Jones said the state comptroller does review town matters but at that office's discretion.