Petersburgh Town Board Action – Reval Discussed

by Alex Brooks
Petersburgh Assessor Craig Surprise talked to the Board about doing a Revaluation of Real Estate in the Town.  He said the Board passed a resolution last year to do a Revaluation in 2012 and right after it passed the State of New York “put everything on hold.” Now the State has put forward a new set of regulations on the subject. Surprise said a reval would cost $20,000 to $25,000 if he did it himself with hired help. He said if you hire an outside firm to do the reval, it might cost $100,000.  The State will pay $5 per parcel, which will cut the cost to the Town by a little under $5,000.
Supervisor Peter Schaaphok blanched at the hefty price tag and asked what happens if we don’t do it? Surprise said, “Nothing. You can do what you want.” But he also said that it is his understanding that a Town that lets its assessments fall way below market value gets less in revenue sharing from the County and pays more in school taxes because of the equalization rate.
Dave Green said he thought the Town is due or overdue for a revaluation. Surprise agreed, saying it’s best to keep assessments close to market value.
Schaaphok said the Board can see about fitting it into the budget during the budget process this fall, which is beginning now.
Aqua Vista Again
For the second month in a row, there was a long discussion about building permits and assessments for structures built by tenants at Aqua Vista Campground.
The criteria for whether a structure needs a building permit and should be assessed as a permanent improvement are primarily size and portability. The building code says any structure with a footprint larger than 144 square feet needs a building permit. Assessor Craig Surprise said there are a lot of structures at the campground larger than that, some more than twice that big.  An RV parked at the campground is not assessed, of course, because it can be started up and driven away any time. But Surprise said he thought the “Park Models,” which have no hitch are more like mini-mobile homes. Although they are in some sense portable, they cannot be easily moved. Schaaphok illustrated the conundrum by asking if he bought a structure at Shed Man which was larger than 144 square feet and if he brought it home and set it on the ground it would be assessed as a permanent structure, but if he left it on the trailer it would be portable and therefore not a permanent improvement to the property.
A further complication is that these structures are built by the tenants of the park, but if they were assessed, the taxes would be paid by the owner of the park, so he would have to pass that new expense on to his tenants in some way. Dave Green was concerned that a bunch of new assessments on these kinds of structures might “drive this business out of Town,” something that nobody wants to see happen.
The conversation then veered into the more general topic of people building houses or additions without building permits, a practice which was rampant in Petersburgh in the past but which Assessor Surprise and Building Inspector Doug Hull have been trying to rein in.  There was discussion of giving notice to the people that building codes will be enforced, including penalties for non-compliance, and possibly linking this to some sort of amnesty program for unpermitted structures built in the past.  Bill Seel said what you need really is a big public education campaign, clarifying the laws and getting the word out that the Town has every intention of enforcing them. No action was taken on the matter.
Fire Alarm Repair
Town Clerk Callie Crisp said she had met with a fire alarm repair man. He came highly recommended and inspired confidence in all the Town officials he spoke with, but he would not give the Town any pricing guidelines, so the Board did not feel it could authorize hiring him until it had some idea what the cost would be. Supervisor Schaaphok said he would talk with him. Many parts of the fire alarm system at the Town garage need to be replaced because it was hit by lightning, and the other Town buildings need to have their systems cleaned and evaluated so that the service man can certify the panels and replace any parts that are not working right.
In other business:
• Supervisor Peter Schaaphok reported that he climbed a very tall ladder and plugged the small hole in the water tank with a wooden plug whittled to fit the hole. Schaaphok said the hole was about 5/8″ in diameter and not perfectly round. It’s a mystery what created the hole, but everybody assumes someone shot the tank with a gun sometime last winter.
• Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison reported that a FEMA check for about $8,000 arrived to assist the Town with the cost of cleaning up from a storm last Christmas time.
• Town Clerk Callie Crisp reported that the Town has received just under $7,000 from Water District patrons from the July billing and $7,988 remains to be collected. Schaaphok said the Water District’s finances are OK for the time being with the influx of new money, but he continues to think the District’s revenues are not going to meet expenses over the full year.
• The Board approved changing the mileage reimbursement rate from 50 cents to 55.5 cents per mile, following a change in the IRS mileage rate.
• The Board approved a deferred compensation plan for Town employees, which is a pre-tax savings plan administered by the State, with an array of investment options. Approval of the plan does not cost the Town anything, and participation in the plan is voluntary.
• Town Librarian Sharon Hodges said 50 kids completed the Library summer reading program.