Latest phase of 2012 revaluation coming to close; Assessor’s office planning to file town’s tentative roll
Informal meetings that have been held for Town of Webb property owners to discuss their new 2012 assessments will be coming to a close on Saturday, March 31.
The meetings have allowed property owners to meet with a representative of the town’s appraisal firm, KLW Group, at the Park Avenue Building in Old Forge.
Property owners that met with KLW have tended to show an understanding of the broader assessment process, according to Town of Webb Assessor Jean Murdock.
“The questions we are receiving are generally specific to individual properties,” she said.
“People want to know how to go about locating other properties that may have similar assessed values,” she said.“They want to know how their land value compares to their neighbor’s, for instance.”
Property owners also want to know about recent sales— particularly those tied to the new 2012 assessments.
“Generally we’re referring them to the website, townofwebb.org, where they will be able to locate most of that information,” Murdock said.
For those not comfortable using the internet, a roll book has been prepared and is available at the Assessor’s Office, she added.
“It has the same information you’d find on the website,” she said.
Seasonal residents and absentee property owners have been participating in similar meetings by phone, according to Murdock.
And they’ve been going pretty smooth with no negative feedback, she said.
Property owners can also contest data in their assessment file at these appraisal firm meetings.
Though many of the corrections had been squared when data inquiries were mailed to property owners last fall, some required further documentation that may not have been available.
Potentially these documents include survey maps and letters from a state agency.
“If a property includes wetlands that have been identified by either the APA or the DEC, [the property owner] should bring those letters in,” Murdock said.
That information could alter a property’s assessment, she said. Murdock said she wants everyone to feel free to contact her office.
“Our door is always open, and we encourage people to stop by,” she said. “If there’s an issue they think hasn’t been resolved, they should definitely contact us.”
The 2012 assessments are still preliminary at this point. A Tentative Roll is scheduled to be filed with the state on May 1st. After that the Board of Assessment Review will convene to hear assessment grievances in the Town of Webb.
