BERNE — Kim Collins, a candidate for town assessor, is excited to work for the people of Berne, she said.

This is the first time Collins, who is enrolled in the Independence Party, is running for office in Berne. She is running on the Republican line and the Independence line for a two-year term, to fill a vacancy.

Collins, 43, is a legal assistant at Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti P.C., a law firm specializing in intellectual-property law, including patents and copyright rulings. Before that, she did bookkeeping, accounting, and customer service for the Golub Corporation, the Schenectady-based company that owns Price Chopper and Market 32 stores.

She previously lived in Clifton Park, but moved to Berne about 14 years ago, where her husband’s family has lived for the last 40 years, to care for his family and raise their children in a small school district.

“Because Shen is very big,” she said, referring to the Shenendehowa Central School District based in Clifton Park. Her oldest daughter is a senior at Berne-Knox-Westerlo, and her two younger children attend Helderberg Christian School in Berne.

Collins said her experience as a legal assistant involves organization, multi-tasking, and bringing different subject matters together, which she says would serve her well as an assessor.

She said she was approached by Randy Bashwinger, the chairman of the Berne Republican Party, about running.

“I know them from Little League,” she said, of Bashwinger and his family.

Collins said she was asked to consider it as a way to make a difference in Berne, and she decided to run.

She feels the position is important because she will be responsible for making fair assessments of residents’ property. It will be an intricate process, but she said she hopes to be fully knowledgeable of it following her training. The state requires assessors to become certified.

“I think if you have a fair assessment of property, people will be happy,” she said. She added that she is looking forward to getting to know people and help them as an assessor.

Collins said that, while she is not aware when the last revaluation took place and if it’s needed, she said it is always beneficial to reassess because properties are constantly changing, and there is a huge range of types of properties.

She said she would be excited to take on the job of assessor, and has enjoyed meeting people on the campaign trail.

“I’m here to work for the people,” she said. “That’s what this job should be: working for the people and giving them a fair assessment of property.”