Hilltown Archives — The Altamont Enterprise, October 29, 2009
Unopposed in Berne
O’Malley for receiver of Taxes
BERNE — Gerald O’Malley, the chairman of Berne’s Democratic Committee, has been Berne’s receiver of taxes for 19 years and is unopposed again in this election.
A resident of Berne since 1946, O’Malley, 68, graduated from Berne-Knox High School and attended The College of Saint Rose.
He could not be reached for comment this week, but told The Enterprise in his last campaign four years ago that he enjoyed his work. “I keep in touch with the people,” he said. “I get to know my neighbors.”
A retired Key Bank computer analyst, O’Malley said he felt his professional background, both in finance and computing, made him right for the job. He said that he prides himself in his availability.
At Key Bank, O’Malley started working with computers just as the company began using computers. “They weren’t actually computers when I started,” he said in 2005, “just adding machines.”
So, he has no problem keeping the town’s tax records on a computer file.
O’Malley explained his job then as receiver of taxes. He sends out bills to taxpayers, and then collects their payment. If taxpayers don’t pay their bills, O’Malley said, it’s not his job to make them. At the end of the tax period, he sends his records to Albany County, which is responsible for tracking down delinquent payments.
Though paying taxes isn’t anyone’s favorite thing to do, O’Malley said, “I try to make it as pleasant as possible.”
— Melissa Hale-Spencer