Latest news with #GARAssociates
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Canton plans public education initiative before property revaluation starts
May 26—CANTON — The Canton communications and technology committee, a joint village and town committee, is launching a public education initiative to inform residents about the upcoming townwide property revaluation conducted by GAR Associates, Deputy Village Mayor Anna Sorensen said at the Village Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday night. According to Canton Town Supervisor Mary Ann Ashley, the revaluation project has been five years in the making and stems from significant tax roll inequities that have not been addressed since a 2008 assessment. The COVID-19 pandemic initially stalled efforts, but the town has since committed to a $180,000, two-year evaluation process. "This is about fundamental fairness," Ashley said at the Town Board meeting May 14. The committee aims to create and distribute easily understandable materials explaining the revaluation process, increase outreach efforts to aid resident comprehension, and emphasize the importance of responding to official notices. Educational materials will also clarify the revaluation's significance and timeline, while addressing common misconceptions about property assessments. At the meeting, Deputy Village Mayor Anna Sorenson said that the collective decision was to collaborate on a public education project concerning the property revaluation. The aim is to create accessible and comprehensive materials to educate the public on this matter. The material will be developed in June by the committee working alongside GAR Associates and will be available online and in the village and town offices later in the summer when GAR starts reaching out to property owners. GAR Associates is in the data collection phase and is relying on publicly available data and the work of town assessor Cindy Brand. Brand has collected information from every property in the town by visiting each one, taking a photo from the road and updating the information. There are more than 4,000 properties in the town. GAR will compile its information and mail it to each property owner to verify its accuracy sometime around the end of the summer.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Potsdam property owners continue objections to town-wide reval
May 22—POTSDAM — Several property owners once again attended the Town Council meeting in May to voice their objections to their new assessments under the recent townwide property revaluation. Last year, the town contracted GAR Associates, a firm based in Clifton Park, for $385,000 to perform a comprehensive revaluation of all assessed properties. The town had not conducted such a revaluation in 12 years, and officials hoped it would create a fairer and more up-to-date system of tax valuations. However, for some residents, the reassessment resulted in property values increasing by as much as 50% to 100% compared to the previous year. Although the assessments themselves do not automatically translate to higher tax bills, roughly a third of the town's parcels saw increased values from the GAR-led revaluation. These increases are expected to result in higher tax payments for many property owners when the town sets its new tax rate. Potsdam's Grievance Day is scheduled for May 27, with three sessions: 10 a.m. to noon, 1 to 4 p.m., and 5 to 8 p.m. Property owners who wish to formally contest their new valuations can attend any of the sessions and can bring photographs or appraisals to support their case. At the May 13 Town Board meeting, several residents criticized what they saw as poor work by GAR. Fred Stone, who lives at the corner of May and Reagan Road, argued that GAR appeared to have based its assessment of his property almost entirely on square footage. His 65-year-old raised ranch was valued at $335,000, just $10,000 less than a nearby newly built ranch home, despite being only 36 square feet smaller. Stone noted that, even accounting for the town's equalization rate rising to 100% this year, his property's assessment still increased by 59%. He questioned how his older, less modernized home could be appraised so closely to a newer one. "There are a lot of errors in this assessment. And it's affecting people across this township and in the village. GAR did a poor job," Stone said. John Burke, a county legislator and local property owner, echoed Stone's frustrations, particularly criticizing GAR's use of dissimilar properties as comparables in assessing his lot. Other residents also challenged the accuracy of GAR's appraisals, saying the listed conditions of their properties did not reflect reality. Property owner Eric Backus emphasized the need for transparency in GAR's methodology. "One of the biggest challenges with the assessment at this point is that the consultant that was hired did not provide a clear and open understanding of the process in which they were using to do the reassessment. And I think that disclosure is required. It's not something that's optional," Backus said. "If the board takes the assessment as is without clarity on that I believe that there are going to be, and I will already say to you, in addition to petitions, there are probably going to be legal activities," he added. "And I don't think it's worth the value of the time or the money of the town to be in the litigation over these issues." Tracey Haggett-Sloan was sharply critical of the decision to hire GAR at all, arguing that the town could have used the same funds to hire a dozen assessors and performed the work internally. "What you have done here by making this decision to hire this company is a disgrace. This was an improper, lazy and, dare I say, illegitimate process of a reevaluation. We relied on a company that I compared to being a parasite that lays in wait, latching on to any municipality that happens to fall below a certain level of assessment. Then they get their $385,000 from this township and they walk away scot-free," Haggett-Sloan said. "What did we get? Not much. They did most of this process by satellite imagery drones or drive-by photos. Many of the people that have come to me have said, there's no data available. And I've looked and there's not one thing there," she said.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Potsdam residents express anger over 50-100% assessment hikes
Apr. 10—POTSDAM — With the deadline now passed to challenge increased property assessments through the company responsible for the town-wide revaluation, frustrated property owners voiced their anger once again before the town board. GAR Associates, based in Clifton Park, raised property assessments for homes and businesses by 50 to 100%, leaving residents facing a much steeper cost of living in Potsdam. Many property owners say the company has been unresponsive and difficult to contact. Some reported that GAR representatives have been entirely unreachable. The town contracted GAR in 2023 for $385,000 to conduct the reassessment. The updated property values were mailed out in early March. Residents were instructed to speak with GAR representatives and complete a form by the end of March if they wanted to request a reduction in their assessments. However, many homeowners reported dissatisfaction with how their concerns were handled. Numerous residents said their assessments contained inaccurate information about home size, features, and property characteristics, often inconsistent with similar homes in the area. Property owners will still have an opportunity to formally challenge their new assessments with Town Assessor Danielle Mitchell on Grievance Day, scheduled for the end of May. During the town board's regular meeting on Tuesday, residents filled the meeting hall and voiced their frustrations directly to officials. Homeowner Bill Paige described GAR's reassessment of his property as "false." "I brought pictures of my property in and I brought the assessment that was sent by GAR to my place. I updated it because it was false. I give it to the assessor. I've heard nothing back," Paige said. He added that since early March, he has visited the assessor's office twice and made multiple calls to GAR with no response. "They won't answer my call and I want to know what the status of my property is," he said. Paige, who lives in a capped basement with his medically disabled wife and relies on Social Security, said he originally intended to build a ranch house but couldn't afford to complete it. "The cost of living goes up two, two-and-a-half percent a year. I've got a 300% increase on my property and I live in a capped cellar that I had appraised back the last time at $70,000 and now it's $232,000. I don't think it's fair," he told the board. "I don't think I'm getting the help I need to get it moving." "The roof needs replacing, the bathroom needs redoing, the bees are coming through in the upstairs. And I brought that in, they had the size of the house wrong," Paige said. "Nobody is going to give me $232,000 for my property no more than they would give me $100,000." Another homeowner, Tracey Haggett-Sloan, submitted a packet to the board that raised questions about GAR's methods and procedures. She accused the company of failing to adhere to state-mandated ethical standards, which require objectivity in assessments. "Are they not biased in favor of the township to raise the assessment and increase the LOA and try to capture unrealized capital gains for the purpose of taxes? Wouldn't that be considered biased? That's against the conduct," she said. She claimed GAR was specifically hired to increase property values. "Didn't GAR rely on the unsupported conclusion that the town had to raise assessments?" Haggett-Sloan said the process was sloppy and unfair to property owners. She noted that residents requesting records of comparable sales that informed their assessments were not provided with that information. During her floor time — and using time donated by other attendees — she criticized GAR's approach, saying the company lacked the "geographic competency needed" under state law to conduct accurate assessments in Potsdam. She cited incorrect square footage and missing details or photos in assessment documents. "To date I have not received any tangible information as to the type and or extent of the analysis utilized by GAR," she said. She also criticized the online complaint form used by GAR, which she said many residents struggled to use effectively. According to Haggett-Sloan, the assessments were supposedly based on local property sales, but only 161 properties were sold last year — just 0.3% of all parcels in Potsdam. Only 36 of those sales were over $250,000, or 2% of sales and 0.07% of total properties. She also cited the town's poverty rate of 17.3% and questioned whether GAR considered that in its valuations. She said state law restricts property assessment increases to 6% annually or 20% over five years — far below the increases announced by GAR. "Are we little more than in-service to the tax?" Haggett-Sloan asked. She said she plans to speak with Canton Town Supervisor Mary Ann Ashley about reconsidering the use of GAR for a similar project in that municipality. Several other property owners echoed these concerns, sharply criticizing both the town officials and GAR. Some pointed out that Waddington chose to delay implementing its reassessment due to similar issues and suggested Potsdam should do the same. They also cited complaints from Troy and Ogdensburg about GAR's work and questioned the company's credibility. Others claimed GAR used outdated satellite imagery rather than up-to-date property information. Some reported that structures no longer on their land were still listed, including misidentified "patios" that were actually old concrete pads from removed mobile homes. The final assessment roll is available to view online at The town's Board of Assessment Review will meet around May 27 to hear unresolved grievances from property owners. The final assessment roll is scheduled to be submitted on July 21. Mitchell, the town assessor, holds office hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 18 Elm St. She can be reached at 315-265-2810.
