— Nicole Fay Barr

GUILDERLAND — Tuesday was chaos at Town Hall as hundreds of angry residents waited for hours to have two minutes each with the board of assessment review.
The board, which meets once a year on state-set "Grievance Day," acts as a safety-valve, allowing people to dispute their property values set by the town’s assessor.

Guilderland completed a town-wide reassessment of properties this year, where the value of the average home increased about 40 percent.

From 8 a.m. until midnight, 238 residents went before the board. They filled chairs in empty meeting rooms and sat on the floor in the Town Hall lobby. Many clutched manila folders or envelopes that contained information they hoped would convince the board to lower their assessments.

Some read newspapers or magazines as neighbors brought coffee to them. The atmosphere was grim, however, as many voiced anger or brooded as they waited in line.

Meanwhile, workers from the town assessor’s office ran back and forth, struggling to accommodate the growing number of residents and deal with the flow of paperwork.

This was no surprise to Assessor Carol Wysomski. She told The Enterprise Monday that she anticipated at least 400 residents would grieve. She said Wednesday that this number was accurate, with nearly 200 people filing forms, and 238 others speaking before the board.

This is because, after six years, Guilderland’s properties have been reassessed and at a shocking rate.

In March, Wysomski’s office was bombarded with calls and visits from people who were alarmed with the level of increase to their homes, since taxes are based on property values.

The Enterprise reported then on the informal hearings Wysomski had scheduled for residents. Nearly 600 people came to her office and she explained to them how she came up with their assessments, she said.

The 400 people not satisfied with this, however, chose to come to Grievance Day.

For the past five years, the average home in Guilderland has been assessed at $125,000, Wysomski said earlier. The new average is about $180,000, she said.
"The market is up because interest rates are down," Wysomski said of the reason for the large increase. "I have 1,200-square-foot ranches in Westmere that were $119,000 that are now $180,000."

A review of Guilderland’s new assessment roll — which is available on the town’s website — shows that almost all properties have increased in value; very few have decreased or remained the same. Overall, the tax base has increased by about $800 million, Wysomski said earlier.

Of the residents whose assessments have increased, a third will have their taxes increase, a third will have lower taxes, and a third will pay the same tax rate as now, Wysomski said.

Revaluation is fair, Wysomski explained, because, without it, as newcomers move to a town, they pay taxes based on the price they paid for their property while parcels that haven’t sold usually remain at a lower rate, skewing the tax rolls.

Every May, the town-appointed board of assessment review meets on Grievance Day, the fourth Tuesday of the month, to hear from residents who believe their assessments are not accurate. The board then decides if it agrees with Wysomski’s assessment or if it will lower the resident’s property value.

Chairman Kevin Forbes told The Enterprise that the board will have several meetings to review its notes and it will make decisions in the next four weeks.

Several people called The Enterprise Tuesday to complain about the long lines and disorganization at Town Hall. Some said they left without being heard by the board because they had to return to work or take care of other business.

Wysomski said Wednesday that only 10 people left before being heard by the board.

Tuesday afternoon, The Enterprise asked Jeff Gloak, of the state’s Office of Real Property Services, about the town’s ability to handle the many residents who wanted to be heard by the board.

Gloak said that, as long as written complaints or grievance applications are given to the board by the end of the day, those who did not get a chance to go before the board can do so later. That is, he said, if the town decides to hold another hearing session.

Wysomski said Wednesday that all those who wanted to be heard were heard and another session is not anticipated.

Of those upset about the long lines, Wysomski explained that the board does not schedule appointments and has no idea when people will show up. The majority of people came in the morning, she said.
"Some people were upset and it takes one person to get others upset," she said. "But, everyone was nice to the board. It all went well."

Waiting to grieve
Linda and Paul Forand came to Town Hall at 7:30 Tuesday morning and found 37 people ahead of them in line. They then waited for over four hours.

Residents were given numbers so they could be heard in the order in which they had arrived at Town Hall.

The Forands, who live at 148 Main St. in Altamont, told The Enterprise that their house has an assessment that’s $80,000 higher than others on their street.

Their home was assessed at $129,600 last year and is now valued at $238,600. A scan of nearby homes on the assessment role shows figures in the low $100,000 range.
"We feel our property is not assessed in line with our neighbors," Linda Forand told The Enterprise. "That’s what we plan to present here."
"It’s 84 percent higher than the last assessment," Paul Forand said. "We feel that’s excessive."

Wysomski uses computer software to calculate assessments, she said earlier.
"The program pulls five sales from the immediate neighborhood or similar ones that have sold in the last three years," she said. It then makes adjustments relevant to the house in question for differences in square footage and for extras, like whether the house has a pool, central air-conditioning, or a fireplace, she said.

Also when assessing homes in Guilderland, Wysomski and her staff walk throughout town, looking at each home in each neighborhood, to see if its computer value seems accurate, she said.

Keith Whipple, a middle-aged man who owns an acre of land with a house on Vosburgh Road in central Guilderland, sat on the floor outside the board’s meeting room Tuesday. At 11 a.m., he told The Enterprise that he had been waiting since 8:30.
"I’m number 88 and they’re working on somebody in the 20’s," he said. "Some people got angry and left. They said the board doesn’t make a decision for a month. But, I think I have to go in there and explain."

His house was assessed at $188,000 last year and at $360,000 this year.
"I’m the only one in my neighborhood that went up in assessment," Whipple said.

He pulled papers out of a manila folder that showed the assessments of 28 neighbors on Vosburgh Road and 11 on Drahos Drive. Assessments for three of those went down and the rest stayed the same.
"I was shocked," Whipple said.

His higher assessment is based on a 20-by-22-foot, two-story addition he built onto his house in 2003, he said. But, he said, the addition cost $35,000 and, after it was constructed, his assessment rose $16,000 in 2004.

The town, he said, shouldn’t be claiming the same addition when figuring his house is worth more than others.
"We purchased the house for $141,000 in 1993. So, in 12 years, it’s increased $220,000, which seems high," Whipple said. "We feel the house is worth $200,000 to $250,000."

He also said his house was built in 1979 and new houses in a development on Drahos Drive are assessed at $100,000 less than his.
"I don’t know how we’ll be able to afford the taxes," Whipple concluded.

Elissa Sanborn, who lives on Fuller Road in McKownville, came to grieve because, she said, revaluation is causing her property taxes to increase 51 percent.

But, unlike some of the other residents The Enterprise spoke to, Sanborn, whose husband is an attorney, said she is ready to take the town to small claims court if it does not lower her assessment.
"I don’t mind paying my fair share of taxes, but they can’t not reassess for six years and then increase the values by 60 percent," she said.

After Sanborn attended an informal hearing in March and told Wysomski she disagreed with her assessment, Sanborn hired someone to appraise her house and property, she said.

It was appraised at $35,000 less than the town’s assessment, Sanborn said. She submitted the appraisal to the board of assessment review at the beginning of April, she said.
"I don’t think they even looked at it," she said. "They blew me off and I paid 350 bucks for that appraisal."

Sanborn and her husband moved to Guilderland in 1971, buying a small Cape Cod style house. In 1979, they put a large addition on the house, she said.

So, Sanborn said, when assessing, the town doesn’t compare her house to her neighbors. Rather, it compares hers to similar-sized homes in cul-de-sacs.
"But it’s not the same," she said. "Fuller Road is a busy street."

Six years ago, the Sanborns tried to sell their home, but couldn’t get one offer.
"At the time, the biggest complaint was that it’s a busy street and you can’t live here with kids," she said. "...It is over-built for the neighborhood, but it’s a nice house."
She concluded of the town, "You can’t solve all the problems of a community by dumping them on the taxpayers."

Hearing every resident
At around 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday, the board of assessment review decided to split its members into two groups. This way, the board was able to hear two cases at once.
"I’m not sure if splitting the board is fair," Paul Forand told The Enterprise when he heard of the split. He’d rather get a chance to present his case to all of the board members, he said.

Linda Forand, however, said that she’s not worried about a split board. The board members will take several weeks to review the evidence presented before making a decision, she said.

Sally Ketchum, who went to Town Hall Tuesday to contest the assessment of Ketchum’s Service Station in Altamont, called The Enterprise Wednesday. Her family is trying to sell the property. (See related story.)

Ketchum said it took her hours to compile information for the board to review and she felt that she wasn’t given enough time or consideration.
"They never opened my booklet; they never asked me questions. It loses the whole merit of my presentation," Ketchum said. "I’m very unhappy. I’d like to get a group together to go to the next town board meeting. We should tell the town about this."

Tuesday morning, after waiting for several hours, William MacGregor was called before the board of assessment review. He was heard by Chairman Forbes and board members Norine Malloy and James Lamar.

On the other side of the room, a different resident was heard by board members Dee Jones and Martin Green.

Forbes turned on a tape recorder and had MacGregor state his name and address. Forbes then told the elderly man that he had three minutes to state his case.

MacGregor has owned his home, at 84 Okara Drive, for 14 years, he said. He purchased it for $140,150, he said, and, last year, it was assessed at $138,700.

The reassessed valued, however, is $241,300.

MacGregor told the board that his assessment is too high. His property was not compared to his neighbors, on Okara Drive, but to others on Old State Road. He wants to be assessed in comparison to his immediate neighbors, MacGregor said.

Forbes asked if there were major improvements or additions made to the home.
"I haven’t even painted the inside of it," MacGregor said.

Forbes then asked other questions, such as how many bathrooms are in the house and if it has a pool.

Board member Lamar asked MacGregor about his house being larger than his neighbors.
"I admit that," MacGregor said. "But I don’t know why it went up so much percentage-wise...My neighbor put an addition in and his didn’t go up."
Before he left, MacGregor told the board, "I’m not going to be happy until you reduce this considerably."

Outside the meeting room, MacGregor told The Enterprise that he thought the board would give him a small reduction. He added that, when he visited the assessor’s office in March, Wysomski had lowered his value by $9,500.
"That was to try to make me happy so it wouldn’t come to this," he said.