KLW Group hired for reassessment
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

It had been a few months since the Amherst Town Board addressed the 100 percent assessment program, or lack thereof.

At Monday's special meeting, the board accepted KLW Group's bid, thus assigning the company the duty of reassessing the town's 43,600 parcels by Dec. 31.

According to the company's response to the town's request for proposal, the largest project it has completed consisted of 7,900 parcels. The town had asked for a minimum of 10,000 in its request, but the board agreed to accept the bid as is.

Of 11 responses, the field had been narrowed to three: KLW, Tyler Technologies Inc. CLT Division, which is located in Connecticut, and GAR Associates, which reassessed the town for several years.

Interviews of the three companies were conducted, but none of the board members attended, although they were invited. Only Deputy Supervisor Shelly Schratz spoke on the issue, saying on the day of the interviews she was told they would end shortly after she would be able to arrive.

The original resolution, presented by Supervisor Satish Mohan at Monday's meeting, called for the hiring of Tyler Technologies. After hearing from Assessor Harry Williams, the board voted 6-0 to appoint KLW.

Council Member Dr. Barry Weinstein was absent from the meeting.

The contract still has to be finalized by the town attorney. KLW Group's bid is $697,000, compared to Tyler's $627,400 and GAR's $894,125.

While Tyler was $70,000 less than KLW, Williams said he was not impressed with its presentation and also did not feel comfortable dealing with a company that was so far away.

A committee was formed to review the bids, which ranked the companies on a system of points. KLW scored the highest.

"KLW Group hits more on what we need, including staff education," Williams said, adding that the company is located two miles down Cayuga Road from Town Hall. "They are the best choice, they are local and guaranteed this is the only project they will do."

The company will also handle the mailing of notifications to residents about the program.

Mohan said after hearing Williams' presentation he was comfortable with appointing KLW for more money. He said he had suggested Tyler because it had the lowest bid.

The 2008 budget includes $250,000 for reassessment, and Mohan proposed taking $230,000 from contingency. The remainder of the contract will be paid in the 2009 budget; this is a two-year project.

Patricia Valvo, a regional manager with the state Office of Real Property Services, attended the meeting and said the bids were good prices.

"They are low for this type of services ... you were able to get that amount because of the number of parcels," she said.

Valvo added that, from a state level, she was comfortable with the recommendation Williams had made.

She noted that the state encourages towns to be at 100 percent.

"It's the easiest for taxpayers to understand ... we want to be sure everyone pays their fair share," she said.

Mohan said by reassessing and returning to 100 percent, the town will solve the current inequity problem, which includes bringing some commercial properties to the proper assessment.

During the assessment discussion, Council Member Daniel J. Ward questioned how the lack of a reassessment program had affected the town.

"I want to know how much money has been lost in the hiatus, since the program was suspended. What are the total damages?" he said.

His questions were not answered, as Council Member Mark Manna said it was irrelevant to the present business.

The town's reassessment program was suspended at the start of 2007 when funding for the project was reduced in the budget. Unable to remain at 100 percent assessment, the town lost $210,000 from the state last year.

The town dropped to 92 percent assessed value.

Following Monday's meeting, Williams said it is hard to know hard figures on "what was lost." He said there were minimal impacts on exemptions, such as STAR, and the total amount lost from the state will be $422,000 for 2007 and 2008.

"It's hard to say what this cost the residents ... some would have saved by other assessments that would have gone up," he said.

Williams said he hopes to have KLW start the process the beginning of March. When asked if the 43,600 parcels can be reassessed in nine months he said, "We have to."

NorthEastern Appraisal, located in the Walker Center, will also be assisting with the project.

At this point, Williams said it's key that everyone, supervisor and Town Board included, work together to get the town back on track with its assessments.